Colonial churches in the original colony of Virginia; a series of sketches by especially qualified writers

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Cornell University Library
F 229.C71 1908

Colonial churches in the original colony

3 1924 005 835 842

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Olln/Kroch Library

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The Old Clriirch Tower at Jamestown, Va.

IN THE ORIGINAL COLONY OF VIRGINIA

A Series of Sketches by Especially
Qualified Writers

SII|irtg-3Tte illuatratinna

SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND IMPROVED

"Dei gratia (Virginia condila

richmond, va.

Southern Churchman Company

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Copyright 1907 by

SOUTHERN CHURCHMAN CO.

Richmond, Va.

Copyrig-ht 1908 by

SOUTHERN CHURCHMAN CO.

Richmond. Va.

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PREFACE

^-^ p^ HIS book Is issued in response to a recognized need and an ex-
pressed demand.

These papers appeared originally as articles in the Southern
Churchman, and from the beginning of their publication elicited a
■wide interest; hence, it was considered wise to presei-ve them in com-
pact and permanent form.

The object of this book is two-fold: First, to show that this Church
is no intruder in this land, but was the first religious body to claim
possession of the English Colonial Possessions for Christ and Holy
Church; that the very first settlers in these Colonies were Church-
men, intent on the spread of the Church and the preaching of the
Gospel; and that before any other body of Christians had located
in the territory of the English Colonies the Church had taken formal
and permanent possession.

Second: To show that this possession was not an ephemeral or spo-
radic act, but that it was continuous and permanent; that where the
Colonists first landed, there the ministrations of the Church were
begun, and there permanent church buildings were erected; that these
ministrations have continued unbroken to the present day; and that
permanent and handsome structures marked the progress of Colonial
growth, and remain to-day as monuments to the piety and churchly
character of the American forefathers.

Incidentally, this book will show the amazing effect which Church-
men had on the founding of the Colonies, and the tremendous part
they played in the upbuilding and development of the nation and the
formation of national ideals and character.

And this work is done by no polemic or argumentative process, but
simply by reciting and putting on permanent record the historic facts
In connection with Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary

History, as it affected the Church.

For too many years Churchmen have allowed those who are anti-
pathetic to her character and purpose to write her history as it
touched Colonial development and legislation; and it is far from sur-
prising that she should have been misrepresented and maligned; and
It Is more than high time that her own sons should give to the world
the facts as they really were and are.

The papers constituting this book have been prepared by many
authors, each specially qualified for the special work undertaken, and
the whole represents a labor of love and loyalty such as has never,
so far, been equalled in the history of the American Church. What
the writers of these articles have done has been done without hope of
other reward than that of placing their Mother Church, the Mother
Church of this Land, right in the eyes of all fair-minded men. They
deserve the gratitude of the Church at large for their faithful en-
deavors.

To the American Church this book is dedicated, with the hope and
prayer that in this Tercentenary year it may not only silence the
detractor, but may strengthen the position of every Churchman who
believes in the historic position and claims of his Mother Church.

W. M. CLARK,
Editor Southern Churchman.

NOTE TO SECOND EDITION.

The first edition of "Colonial Churches" was exhausted in a few
months after its publication. This second edition is issued in response
to a continuous demand for the book. The improvements and additions
in this edition will be patent to all who read the first edition.

CONTENTS

Preface 3

List of Illustrations .- g

A Preliminary View of American Church History 7

The Church at Jamestown I5

The Church in Virginia in the Days of the Colony 26

The Fall and Rising Again of the Church in Virginia 34

St. John's Church, Henrico Parish, Richmond, Va 51

St. John's Church, Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, Va 57

St. Paul's Church, Elizabeth River Parish, Norfolk, Va 68

The Old Brick Church (St. Luke's), Isle of Wight County, Va SO

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Va 87

The Parishes in Accomac County, Va 93

Hungar's Church, Northampton County, Va 98

Merchant's Hope Church, Martin's-Brandon Parish, Va 112

Westover Parish, Charles City County, Va 118

The Colonial Churches of York County, Va 125

Suffolk Parish, Nansemond County, Virginia 132

Lynnhaven Parish, Princess Anne County, Virginia 142

Blandford Church, Bristol Parish, Virginia 163

Abingdon Church, Gloucester County, Va 1'''7

Ware Church, Gloucester County, Va 193

Vauter's Church, St. Anne's Parish, Essex County, Va 207

St. Peter's Church, St. Peter's Parish, New Kent County, Va 212

Yeocomico Church, Westmoreland County, Va 224

Christ Church, Lancaster County, Va 229

Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va 243

Aquia Church, Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, Va 254

St. Paul's Church, King George County, Va 265

Washington as a Vestryman 270

Christ Church, Alexandria, Va 285

The Old Falls Church, Fairfax County, Va 290

Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Va 295

The Fork Church, Hanover County, Va 302

St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster County, Va 308

St. Thomas' Church, Bath— St. Paul's Church, Edenton, N. C 313

ILLUSTRATIONS

Abingdon Church, Gloucester County 177

Aquia Church, Stafford County 256

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg 88

Blandford Church, Petersburg 168

Christ Church, Alexandria 288

Christ Church, Lancaster County 23,2

Christ Church, Middlesex County 248

Eastern Shore Chapel, Princess Anne County 144

Falls Church, Fairfax County 290

Fork Church, Hanover County 304

Glebe Church, Nansemond County 136

Grace Church, Yorktown 128

Hungar's Church, Accomac County 104

Jamestown Church Tower Frontispiece

Jamestown Church Restored 48

Madison Bishop 32

Merchant's Hope Church, Prince George County 112

Old Brick Church (St. Luke's), Isle of Wight County 80

Payne's Church, Fairfax County 40

Pohick Church, Fairfax County 296

St. George's Church, Accomac County 96

St. John's Church, Hampton 64

St. John's Church, Nansemond County 132

St. John's Church, Richmond 56

St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster County 312

St. Paul's Church, Edenton, North Carolina 316

St. Paul's Church, .^ing George County 265

St. Paul's Church, Norfolk 72

St. Peter's Church, New Kent County 216

St. Thomas' Church, Bath, North Carolina 314

Vauter's Church, Essex County 208

Ware Church, Gloucester County 193

Washington as a Vestrjanan 272

Westover Church, Charles City County 120

Yeocomico Church, Westmoreland County 224

A Preliminary View of American Church

History

BY THE EEV. COKBIN BEAXTON BRYAN, D. D., OF PETEBSBUKG, VA.

THE Importance of tlie settlement at Jamestown lies in the fact
that then, at last, the English race began to come into perma-
nent possession of their portion in the New "World, and to
shape the destiny of this continent. They were belated in
so doing, but when they came they brought with them princi-
ples, civil and religious, which in the circumstances, they could hardly
have brought sooner; and to which, under God, they owe the supremacy
they have achieved.

As introductory to these historical papers, a brief review of the
conditions under which Virginia was settled seems appropriate.

When in 1493 the Portuguese had rounded the Cape of Good Hope,
and begun to explore the East Indies, and the Spaniard was taking
possession of the Western World, Pope Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Bor-
gia) was appealed to by the Kings of Spain and Portugal to adjust
their claim in their new discoveries. This he did by dividing the
privileges of discovering and colonizing the unknown parts of the
world between these two great powers, the line of division being an
imaginary line which was supposed to be drawn from pole to pole
one hundred degrees west of the Azores. No account was taken of
any interest which the rest of the world might have or might come
to have in discovery and colonization; all was turned over bodily by
the Pope to Portugal and Spain. We smile at such a performance
now; but it meant a great deal when it was done.

With the work of Portugal we have nothing to do; that lay eastward.
But after more than one hundred years of amazing activity, Spain
had possessed herself of the West Indies, Mexico, the richest parts
of South America, and had reached across the Pacific and laid her
hands upon the Philippines. She had established herself in Florida,
had traversed the land from Florida to South Carolina and across to
the Mississippi, and claimed it all, along with what we now call Vir-

s

ginia, as a part of her West Indian territory. Out of these vast re-
sources she had reaped incalculable treasure.

England as yet had not a sin,gl6 colony. But England had not been
idle. She, too, had made great gains. During the ninety-four years
between the death of Henry VII. and the accession of James I., Lon-
don had become the greatest mart of trade and commerce in the civil-
ized world. The ships of English merchants were on evei-y sea; and
in exploration, and in all naval matters, from being comparatively in-
significant, England had come to the very front. This was equally
true in social advancement, and especially in literature. But most
important of all, the Reformation of the English Church had been
accomplished. During the reign of Elizabeth, and in the midst of
her great strugle to maintain the independence of England, the
Church of England had become gradually and permanently Protestant;
and for forty years previous to the settlement of Jamestown, England
stood as the leader and champion of the Reformation.

For two generations the power of Spain, armed with the exhaustless
wealth of the Indies, and directed by the fanatical minds of the Em-
peror Charles V. and his son Fhilip II., bent upon the aggrandizement
of the Kingdom of Spain and of the Church of Rome, had threatened
the civil and religious liberty of every Protestant power in Europe.
During that period, any settlement of Englishmen in America had
proved impossible. It was all England could do to maintain her in-
dependence at home, and assist others struggling in the same cause.
This she did throughout the long reign of Elizabeth, giving assist-
ance and a refuge for the French Huguenots, and fighting the battles
of the Dutch against Spain in the Netherlands. At last, in the over-
throw of the Armada in 1588, the liberty of England was assured;
and upon the accession of James I. peace was established between
Spain and England, and a better opportunity was thereby afforded
for the settlement of an English colony in America. But though peace
had been declared, war was in the hearts of both nations, and many
of the English who, under Elizabeth had been fighting Spain tor years,
went over to the Netherlands, and continued the fight there in behalf
of the Dutch.

In the meantime, the great question of religion, on which all the
rest hinged, had been determined, and so a colony could be estab-
lished homogeneous in faith as Protestants; and no sooner was the
peace declared than the minds of the English turned again to Virginia.

Under the diflSculties which existed during the former reign, the

task of colonization had proved too great for even tlie heroic enter-
prise and the princely fortune of Sir Walter Raleigh, aided by his
chivalrous and pious brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and by that ter-
rific fighter, Sir Richard Grenville. It was now to be attempted by
many English men of wealth and power operating in two stock com-
panies. The plan was taken in hand by Sir John Popham, the Lord
Chief Justice of England. The charter granted for the settlement
of Virginia was granted by James I. on April 10, 1606; and as was
natural, those patriots and Churchmen who were sustaining the move-
ment looked for their leaders among those who had distinguished
themselves in the English struggle in the days of Elizabeth, or who
had been or were still assisting the Dutch in their long battle for
liberty and the Protestant faith.

The first name on the list of those to whom the Letters Patent were
granted is that of Sir Thomas Gates, who had fought with Drake
against Spain on the sea, and was still later keeping the fight up in
the Netherlands. When he himself sailed for Virginia in 1609 he
took with him his old company of veterans in the Spanish wars, with
Captain George Yeardly, afterwards Governor of Virginia, in com-
mand. These were they of whom Hakluyt wrote, "If gentle polish-
ishing will not serve" to bring the Indians in Virginia into civil
courses, "our old soldiers, trained up in the Netherlands, will be
hammers and rough masons enough to square and prepare them to
our preachers' hands." Next to Gates on the Letters Patent stands
Sir George Somers, a most devout and knightly Christian, who had
distinguished himself as a commander in victorious voyages in the
West Indies in Elizabeth's days, and who, later, left his seat in the
House of Parliament to go to Virginia. The Reverend Richard Hak-
luyt stands next. He was Prebendary of Westminster, and more learn-
ed in the history of English voyages than any man of his times. His
great book on the subject is still an inspiration. And having recorded
the heroic exploits of the English nation on the seas, he now sustain-
ed with all his influence this, their latest effort to gain a foothold
in America, and lived to see it succeed. Edward Maria Wingfield,
another veteran of the Spanish wars, is named next, and went to
Virginia himself in the first ships.

Such were the men to whom the Letters Patent were committed.
Captain Newport, the commander of the first fleet, and Lord
De la Warr, the first Captain-General of Virginia, and Sir Thomas

10

Dale, who succeeded him, were all veterans in Spanish wars; and so
were many more who took prominent part in the colonization of Vir-
ginia. And now in the establishment of this Protestant colony they
saw their opportunity not only to enlarge the realm of their king, and
the bounds of the Kingdom of Grod, but also, as Sir Thomas Dale ex-
pressed it, "to put a bit in the mouth of their ancient enemy," the
King of Spain, and to check the power of Rome; and with all their
heart and might they set themselves to do it.

The Colony of Virginia is sometimes conceived of as a mere com-
mercial and mercenary venture, in which "to get the pearl and gold"
was the chief idea; and those who founded the colony are represented,
as for the most part, mere adventurers, without principles either po-
litical or religious. Doubtless "the pearl and gold" was the only idea
with many "adventurers" who stayed at home, and adventured a sub-
scription to the Company's stock, and also of many "planters" who
adventured themselves into the wilds of the New World. But the
conception and purpose of those who planted and maintained the Col-
ony was of the broadest and most far-reaching character. There were
already buccaneers, English, French and Dutch in plenty in the West
Indies; and the fear that Virginia would be just one more nest of pirates
haunted the Spanish mind. But the mature determination and pur-
pose of those who received the King's Letters Patent for this Colony
was the spread of the English dominion, carrying with it English
liberty, and the English Church into the New World, and there to
contest with Spain her claim of the Western Hemisphere. Their Let-
ters Patent guaranteed to the colonists and to their heirs forever all
the liberties, franchises and immunities of Englishmen, born and abid-
ing in England. The third article of their Letters Patent reads:
"We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their desires
for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the Providence
of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of His Divine Majesty,
in propagating of Christian religion to such people as yet live In dark-
ness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of
God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those
parts to human civility and a settled and quiet government; do," etc.

In the Instructions given to the colonists, it is provided that the
President, Council and Ministers shall "with all diligence, care and
respect provide that the true Word and Service of God and Christian
Faith be preached, planted and used, not only within every of the said

11

several colonies and plantations, but also as much as they may amongst,
the savage people who doe or shall adjoin unto them, or border upon
them, according to the doctrine, rights and religion now professed
and established within our realm of England."

The establishment of such an Englisii Colony of Protestants in_
America under the authority of the King, and with the support which
they saw it have was what Spain regarded with far more concern than
she did the buccaneers in the West Indies.

The preparations for planting the Colony were jealously watched
by the Spanish Ambassador in London, and promptly reported to King
Philip; and the Spanish Board of War declared, in protest, that "This
country which they call Virginia is contained within the limits of
the Crown of Castille," and that "according to this and other consid-
erations which were of special Importance, it was thought proper that
with all necessary forces, this plan of the English should be prevented,
and that it should not be permitted in any way that foreign nations
should occupy this country, because it is, as has been said, a discovery
and a part of tlie territory of the Crown of Castille, and because its
contiguity increases the vigilance which it is necessary to bestow
upon all the Indies and their commerce — and this all the more so if
they should establish there the religion and the liberty of conscience
which they profess, which of itself already is what most obliges us to
defend It even beyond the reputation which is so grievously jeopardiz-
ed, and that His Majesty (of Spain) should command a letter to be
written to Don Pedro de Zuniga (the Spanish Ambassador in Lon-
don), ordering him to ascertain with great dexterity and skill how far
these plans of which he writes, may be founded in fact, and whether
they make any progress, and who assists them, and by what means;
and that when he is quite certain he should try to give the King of
England to understand that we complain of his permitting subjects
of his to disturb the seas, coasts and lands of his Majesty (of Spain),
and of the rebels being favored by his agency, in their plans, the rebels
of the Islands and of other nations (the Netherlands); and that he
should continue to report always whatever he may hear, charging him
to be very careful in this matter, because of the importance of pro-
viding the necessary remedies, in case he should not have any by
those means."

This was the attitude of Spain towards Virginia in the outset, and
as the work progressed the opposition increased. Never was there a.

12

more observant diplomat than Don Pedro de Zuniga, and in his obser-
vations we have the very best reflection of the spirit of the times, and
especially of the deeply religious feeling and purpose which he recog-
nized in the movement.

In March, 1609, he writes to the King of Spain: "There has been
gotten together in twenty days a sum of money for this voyage which
amazes one. Among fourteen Counts and Barons they have given
40,000 ducats; the merchants give much more, and there is no poor
little man nor woman who is not willing to subscribe something to
this enterprise." "They have printed a book, which I also send your
Majesty, * * * in which they publish that for the increase of their
religion, and that it should extend over the whole world, it is right
that all should support this Colony with their person and their proper-
ty. It would be a Service rendered to God that Your Majesty should
cut short a swindle and a robbery like this, and one that is so very
important to Your Majesty's royal service."

And the next month, April, 1609, he writes again: "Much as I have
written to Your Majesty of the determination they have formed here
to go to Virginia, it seems to me that I still fall short of the reality,
since the preparations that are made here are the most energetic that
can be made here, for they have actually made the ministers in their
sermons dwell upon the importance of filling the world with their re-
ligion, and demand that all make an effort to give what they have to
such a grand enterprise. Thus they get together a good sum of money,
and make a great effort to carry masters and workmen there to build
ships. Your Majesty will see the great importance of this matter for
your Royal service and thus, will give order, I hope, to have these
insolent people quickly annihilated."

Such was the testimony of their enemies as to the spiritual enthu-
siasm and devotion which marked the leaders of the movement; and
also as to the violence and intensity of the opposition which their
greatest enemy felt towards the Colony. Philip would have acted as
he was warned to do; but mindful of the losses he had sustained in
the past, and fearful lest the sea-dogs should be again let slip upon
his treasure ships, he restrained his actions, and confined himself to
threats and protests. These were little regarded. With due caution
and with unfailing determination the work was pressed on, and the
liberties and the Protestant Church of England were brought to Amer-
ica, and established in Virginia, never to be lost to this land.

13

A most important characteristic of the Colony of Virginia is that it
was founded before those divisions, political and religious, arose which
brought on the great civil war in the reign of Charles I. The Colony
was shaped and directed by the most liberal and advanced statesmen
of their day; and as it developed they sought and gained for Virginia
more liberty than James I. finally approved; and on this account he
revoked the liberal charter granted in 1612. But the character of the
Colony remained that of a representative English Colony, and, from
the first, Englishmen of all opinions allowed in England came naturally
to Virginia, and they continued to do so. It represented the integrity
of Old England and not a sect or faction of any sort, civil or ecclesi-
astical. They brought no grievance, they nursed no bitter memories,
they were Infected with no morbid tendencies, but only such as are
common to men. It was a genuinely representative piece of Old Eng-
land set down in the New World — ranging in rank in the first com-
pany of colonists from "Gentlemen," like "Master Edward Maria
Wingfield" and the "Honorable George Percy," a brother of the then
Earl of Northumberland, down to "Nat Peacock" and "Dick Mutton,"
"boyes," as we still call our nondescript young servants. And among
them all moved that man of God, their minister, the Rev. Robert
Hunt, whose unselfish fortitude and endurance, as well as his "good
doctrine and exhortation," more than once reconciled them in their
difliculties among themselves; "chiefly by his own devoted example,
quenching those flames of envy and dissension."

It is true, a great proportion of the first planters and the early sup-
plies of men were of poor material; and they and the colonists suffered
according; but the lines on which the Colony was laid down were as
broad, at least, as those of the English nation; and so, as experience
taught and opportunity offered, the quality of the colonists Improved.
And coming as they did in fullest sympathy with all that was best
behind them, to an environment which inspired and developed all that
was best within them, they built on through the years their new build-
ing on the old foundation principles.

Certain it is, that of all the colonists from the Old World, Virginia
has had least occasion to depart from her original lines. Puritan New
England, Dutch New York, the Quaker settlements of Pennsylvania,
the Swedish settlements of the Jerseys, the Romish Colony of Mary-
land and the French elements of Carolina and Louisiana, while con-
tributing, no doubt, most valuable constituents to our New World,

14

Jiave all needed to be readjusted and altered, not alone in government,
but in the spirit and atmosphere of their life and civilization, until
they are far removed from what they began to be; while the Old Do-
minion, beginning with no special eccentricity, has assimilated what
has come to her from every quarter, herself least changed of all. Her
Influence in this particular has been none the less real for having been
wrought with the unobtrusive quietness of a truly natural force. She
has been the Mother of States in more respects than one.

In the celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the begin-
ning of English civil and religious life in America, it should be borne
distinctly in mind that this work from which our national life began
was no mere private or commercial venture. For years life and treas-
ure were poured out in Virginia without stint and without rewai'd. To
accuse the founders of Virginia of making money their first aim is to
accuse them of the greatest folly. Such a man as Sir Thomas Smith,
the Treasurer, and the most influential man in the practical manage-
ment of the Colony, who was also Governor of the East India Company,
and one of the most successful merchant princes of his age, would
never have persevered in such a bootless venture as was the Colony in
Virginia, if money had been his chief aim.

Not money, but the planting of the English race in the New World,
and with it the seeds of civil and religious truth as the English race
held the same — this they aimed at, and this they accomplished.
Dei gratia Virginia condita.

THE CHURCH AT JAMESTOWN.

WHEN it shall please God to send you on to the coast of Vir-
ginia, you shall do your best endeavors to find out a safe
port in the entrance of some navigable river, making choice
of such an one as runneth farthest into the land, and if
you happen to discover divers portable rivers, and among them any
one that hath two main branches, it the difference be not great, make a
choice of that which bendeth most towards thee northwest, for that
way you shall soonest find the other sea."

What an insight into the situation of those who first came to "Vir-
ginia we have in this first item of the "Instructions by Way of Advice,"
given by the Virginia Council, in London, to the outgoing colonists!
Virginia was little more than a name for a vast unknown region, ex-
tending from South Carolina to Canada.

Truly these voyagers "Went out, not knowing whither they went."
Where they will land, what they will find, what coasts, what bays and
rivers; how broad the land will be, how far away, when they land, it
will still be to the long-sought "other sea," all is unknown.

This was in December, 1606.

The two companies which had undertaken to colonize Virginia were
enthusiastic in their work. Already the Northern Company had sent
out one ship in the previous August (1606), and of course she had not
been heard from. In fact, she never reached Virginia at all, but fell
In with a Spanish fleet in the West Indies and was taken, and most of
her oflicers and men were even then in Spanish prisons. Also, in the
following June two other ships were sent out by the Northern Com-
pany. They reached "Virginia," away up on the Kennebec river, in
Maine, where, after much suffering and many deaths, the colony was
frozen out, those who survived returning to England.

The three ships which came to Jamestown came out between these
two disastrous ventures, being sent out by the First, or London Com-
pany. On December 19, 1606 (O. S.), they set sail with between one
hundred and forty and one hundred and fifty colonists; and with the
exception of short stops in the Canaries and in the West Indies, they
were in the ships until April 26, 1607 (O. S.). For six weeks they
were held by unprosperous winds in sight of England; and then it
was that we first hear of the character and influence of their pastor, the
Reverend Robert Hunt.

16

As we have seen in the last paper, the far-sig!ited Christian states-
men and patriots who planned and sustained this first permanent Eng-
lish colony in America were most careful to make full provision for the
religious status and spiritual needs of the colony. There could be no
question as to the religion.

The recent Romish Gunpowder Plot to blow up the King and the
Protestant House of Parliament was yet fresh in all memories. Eng-
land was enthusiastically Protestant, and Protestantism was practically
undivided, and united in the Church of England.

For their pastor Smith records that the Archbishop (BaiiCroft) of
Canterbury appointed the Rev. Richard Hakluyt, the historian of Eng-
lish voyages of discovery, to be minister to the Colony, and that by the
authority of Hakluyt the Rev. Robert Hunt was sent out.

"Master Edward Maria Wingfield" speaks as if the choice of Hunt
to be their minister had rested with him. "For my first work (which
was to make a right choice of a spiritual pastor) I appeal to the re-
membrance of my Lord of Canterbury, his Grace, who gave me very
gracious audience in my request. And the world knoweth Whom I
took with me [i. e.. Hunt] ; truly, in my opinion, a man not any waie
to be touched with the rebellious humors of a Popish spirit nor blem-
ished with the least suspicion of a factious scismatic, whereof I had a
special! care."

Whoever chose him, all agree in praising him. Smith calls him
"an honest, religious, courageous divine; during whose life our fac-
tions were oft qualified, and our wants and greatest extremities so
comforted that they seemed easie in comparrison of what we endured
after his memorable death."

Again it is recorded of him that during the six weeks the ships were
kept ii4 sight of England, "All which time Master Hunt, our preacher,
was so weake and sick, that few expected his recovery. Yet, although
he were but twentie myles from his habitation (the time we were in
the Downs), [from which we infer that his home must have been in
Kent], and notwithstanding the stormy weather, nor the scandalous
imputations (of some few, little better than Atheists, of the greatest
ranke among us) suggested against him, all this could never force from
him so much as a seeming desire to leave the business, but preferred
the service of God in so good a voyage, before any affection to contest
with his godlesse foes, whose disastrous designes (could they have pre-
vailed) had even then overthrowne the business, so many discontents

17

did then arise, had he not, with the water of patience and his godly
exhortations (but chiefly through his true devoted examples) quenched
those flames of envie and dissention."

We cannot follow the long and trying voyage (they were eighteen
weeks and two days on the way). But after they had left the West
Indies "in search of Virginia," they were caught in a "vehement
tempest," and driven helplessly on beyond their reckoning, so that
S')me e\en "desired to bear up the helme and return to England than
make further search." * * * "But God, the guide of all good actions,
torclng them by an extreme storme to Hull [drive helplessly] all night,
did drive them by His providence to their desired port beyond all ex-
pectation, for never any of them had seen that coast."

On Sunday morning early, the 26th of April, corresponding to the 6th
of May, as the calendar is now corrected, they entered Chesapeake Bay,
and landed on the southern shore.

Our first sight of Virginia, through the eyes of these storm-tossed
and cabin-bound colonists, is like a dream of fairyland. It was our
mrpt rharming season — the early days of May. They wandered on the
shore of what is now Princess Anne county, and found, as young Per-
cy, of Northumberland, records, "faire meddowes and goodly tall trees,
with such fresh waters running through the woods as I was almost
ravished at the sight thereof."

It was the Third Sunday after Easter, and if on the ships or on the
.shore that day the service was read, as it is probable that it was, the
appropriateness of the Epistle for the day, beginning with 1 Peter 2:
11, and warning them "as strangers and pilgrims," to practice self-dis-
(.ipline, to submit to authority, and live in love, must have impressed
those who heard it.

To this same point they returned three days later, on Wednesday,
April 29th, the day after they had found the channel at Old Point, and
knew that they could enter the river. Then, after the revered fash-
ion of old Christian explorers and discoverers, they set up a cross at
the spot of their first landing, and called that place Cape Henry.

After two weeks of exploration and examination, of which an inter-
esting account is given by George Percy, they finally determined upon
an island adjacent to the north bank of the river and forty miles from
its mouth. This was selected as their "seating place," and for three
very good reasons: It was suflSciently removed from the sea, and so less
liable to attack from outside enemies; it was an island, (and large

18

enough for their purposes, being two and three-quarter miles long),
and so afforded better protection from the natives; and there was a
channel of six fathoms of water near enough to the shore for their
ships to be moored to the trees, thus affording additional protection
and an easy landing.

To this place they came on May 13th, and the next day, Thursday,
i4th, all hands were brought ashore and set to clearing ground tor
their settlement and making ready timber for their stockade fort. This
stockade was triangular, "having bulwarks at each corner like a half-
moon, and four or five pieces of artillery mounted in them." The
side next the river was 420 feet long and the two other sides each 300
feet long. A road ran all around on the inside next the stockade, and
next to the road and facing inwards were the cabins occupied by the
colonists. In the open space in the middle of the triangle stood the
guard-house, the store-house, and when It was built, which was within
a few weeks, the church. The settlement was at the upper or west-
ern end of the island.

"Now," to quote Captain Smith, "because I have spoke so much of
the body, give me leave to say somewhat of the soule; and the rather
because I have been demanded by so many how we began to preach
the Gospel in Virginia, and by what authority; what churches we had,
our order of service, and maintenance of our ministers; therefore, I
think it not amisse to satisfle their demands, it being the mother of all
■our Plantations, intreating pride to spare laughter to understand her
simple beginnings and proceedings.

"When we first went to Virginia I well remember we did hang an
awning (which is an old saile) to three or four trees, to shadow us
from the sunne; our walles were rales of wood; our seats unhewed
trees till we cut plankes; our Pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two neigh-
bouring trees. In foule weather we shifted into an old rotten tent;
for we had few better, and this came by way of adventure for new.

"This was our church till we built a homely thing like a barne, set
upon cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge and earth; so was the walls.
The best of our houses [were] of like curiosity; but the most part far
much worse workmanship, that neither could well defend [from] wind
nor raine. Yet we had daily Common Prayer, morning and evening;
every Sunday two sermons; and every three months the Holy Com-
munion, till our minister died; but our prayers daily with an Homily
on Sundaies we continued two or three years after till our preachers

■ 19

came," — that is, the next preacher to come after the death of Mr.
Hunt."

Here is a true picture of the beginning of Church life in America.
The pioneers, working in the summer heat, building a fort, clearing
ground, planting corn, getting out clapboard and specimens of timber
to send back to England, with sassafras roots and other crude pro-
ducts of the land.

Sunday comes, and they leave their tools, but still taking their arms,
they gather under the "old saile" to shadow them from the sun while
they hear the familiar words of Common Prayer, and the cheering
exhortations of their man of God.

There, doubtless, the first celebration of the Holy Communion was
held on Sunday, the 21st of June, 1607, corresponding to July 1st in
our calendar. It was the Third Sunday after Trinity; and the next
day the ships were going back to England. Note again the appropri-
ateness of the Epistle — 1 Peter 5: 5, etc.: "All of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud and
giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under
the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. Cast-
ing all your care upon him, for he careth for you."

This probably continued for some weeks, and then was built the first
church building of the Church of England in America — the "homely
thing like a barne, set upon cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge and
earth."

Soon the sickly season of August and September was upon these
unacclimated men, and they died like sheep. Twenty-one deaths are
recorded between August 5th and, September 6th alone. Provisions
were also already running short. There were but two gallons of wine
left, and this the President reserved for the Communion Table. Mr.
George Percy describes this wretchedness: "There were never English-
men left in a foreigne countrey in such miseries as we were in this
new discovered Virginia. Wee watched every three nights, lying on
the bare cold ground, what weather so ever came, and warded all the
next day; which brought our men to be most feeble wretches. Our
food was but a small can of barlie sod in water to five men a day.
Our drink cold water taken out of the river; which was at a flood
verie salt, and at a low tide, full of slime and filth; which was the
destruction of many of our men. Thus we lived for the space of five
months in this miserable distress, not having five able men to man our

20

bulwarkes upon any occasion. If it had not pleased God to put a terrour
in the Savages' hearts we had all perished by those wild and cruell
Pagans." Such was the first church and congregation at Jamestown.

This poor little building of logs, covered with turf and sedges, lasted
only about six months. Early in January, 1608, just after Newport's
return from England, bringing supplies of men and provisions, the
town caught fire and the reed thatching of the huts and church made
a fire "so fierce as it burned their pallizadoes (although 10 or 12 yardef
distant) with their armes, bedding, apparel and much private provl
sion. Good Master Hunt, our preacher, lost all his library, and all
that he had but the clothes on his backe, yet [did] none ever see him
repine at his losse." Newport came to their help, and while the men
were repairing the storehouse and other buildings, Newport's mariners
rebuilt the church, probably on the site of the old one; and this Is
the second church built, and like the first, it was a hurriedly-construct-
ed and poor affair.

Just about a year from the time it was built this church witnessed
the first marriage in Virginia, which took place about Christmas, 1608,
or January, 1609, when John Laydon, a laborer, who had come over in
1607, married Anne Burras, the maidservant of Mistress Forrest. They
had arrived about October, 1608. This lady and her maid are the first
women whose names are mentioned in the lists of emigrants. This
little church must also have seen the last offices performed for that
faithful man of God, "Good Maister Hunt." The time of his death is
not recorded, but it can hardly have been later than the winter of
1608-9. Doubtless his remains rest in the bosom of Old Virginia at
Jamestown, among the hundreds and hundred.s whose lives were laid
down in her foundation.

These two churches are the only ones which Captain John Smith
knew in Virginia, for he returned to England in October, 1609. Hunt
had then been already some months dead.

It witnessed the horrible "starving time" of the winter and spring
of 1609-10, and saw the abandonment of Jamestown in June, 1610, when
Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers found the Colony at the last
gasp, and took them aboard their ships to carry them back to Eng-
land — a bitter trial after all that had been endured. And evidently
It was God's will that Virginia should be tried, but it was not His will
that she should be abandoned. When the ships were actually going
down the river, word came to them that Lord De la Warr was lying

21

at Old Point Comfort with abundant reinforcements and supplies. Vir-
ginia was not abandoned, but rescued in the nick of time. With the
coming of Lord De la Warr and a well-selected company of emigrants,
a new and more hopeful era opened for the Colony. As for the churchi
although only two and a half years old, it was already in very bad
condition. But De la Warr, a deeply pious man, took much pains In
repairing it. Strachey gives a bright picture of the church and its
worshippers: "The Captaine General hath given order for the repair-
ing of [the church] and at this instant many hands are about it. It
is in length three score foote, in breadth twenty-foure, and shall have
a chancell in it of cedar, with faire broad windowes, to shut and open
as the weather shall occasion, of the same wood, a pulpit of the same,
with a font hewen hollow like a canoa, with two bels at the West end.
It is so cast as to be very light within, and the Lord Govemour and
Captaine General doth cause it to be kept passing sweete, and trimmed
up with divers flowers, with a sexton belonging to it; and in it every
Sunday we have Sermons twice a day, and Thursday a sermon, having
true (two?) preachers which take their weekly turns; and every morn-
ing at the ringing of a bell about ten of the clocke each man address-
eth himself to prayers, and so at foure of the clocke before supper.
Every Sunday when the Lord Governour and Captaine General goeth
to church he is accompanied with all the Counsailers, Captaines and
other Officers, and all the Gentlemen, with a guard of Halberdiers, in
his Lordship's Livery, faire red cloakes, to the number of fifty, both
on each side, and behind him: and being in the church his Lordship
hath his seat in the Quier, in a green velvet chair, with a cloath, with
a velvet cushion spread on a table before him on which he kneeleth,
and on each side sit the Counsel, Captaines and officers, each in their
place, and when he returneth home again he is waited on to his house
in the same manner."

Here is great punctilio and formality; but withal De la Warr, Somers
and Gates were men of profound piety. Religion was not a matter of
ceremonies and services with them, but was the foundation of their
lives. They were of the sort that "next to God loved a good fight,"
but they loved both truly, and God was ever first.

As for the two ministers who took their turns at Jamestown in those
days, one was the Reverend Richard Buck, who had come with Sir
Thomas Gates. He was an Oxford man and "an able and painful
preacher." He served the church at Jamestown at least eleven years,

22

and maybe longer, and died in Virginia. He seems to have been of a
Puritanical turn of mind, for he called his children, successively,
Mara, Gershom, Benoni, and Peleg. The other minister must have
come with Lord De la Warr, and his name is not given, but he is
thought to have been the Rev. William Mease, who came at this time,
and was iu Virginia a number of years, being in Elizabeth City par-
ish in 1615. This church, which Newport built and Lord De la Warr
renovated, was of course built of wood; and in it, in April, 1614,
Pocahontas was married to John Rolfe, probably by Mr. Buck. It is
more probable that Pocahontas was baptized at Henrico by the Rev.
Mr. Whitaker, as she seems to have lived there with Sir Thomas Dale
at the time of her conversion.

In 1617 Captain Argall arrived in Jamestown, and served as deputy
governor. He found the church which De la Warr had renovated
again in ruins, and services being conducted in a storehouse. Some
time during his tenure of office — i. e., between 1617 and 1619, a new
church was built at Jamestown, "wholly at the charge of the inhabi-
tants of that cittie, of timber, being fifty foot in length and twenty
foot in breadth"; and this time the site was removed, and the new
church was placed to the eastward of the old stockade (outside of
it) and in the midst of or adjacent to the rueful graveyard, where so
many victims of hunger, heat, cold, fever, and massacre lay buried.
It was erected upon a slender cobblestone and brick foundation, only
the length of one brick in thickness. This foundation was discovered
by the careful explorations of the Association for the Preser-
vation of Virginia Antiquities in 1891, and lies within the foun-
dations of the next building, that is, of the one the tower of which
is now standing. This slender foundation of the church, built between
1617 and 1619, is the oldest structure which has been discovered at
Jamestown. It was within this little building that the first House
of Burgesses met in July, 1619 — the first representative body of English
lawmakers to assemble in America. And "forasmuche as men's af-
faires doe little prosper where God's service is neglected, all the bur-
gesses stood in their places, until a prayer was said by Mr. Bucket
that it would please God to guide and santifie all our proceedings to
His own glory and the good of the Plantation." Then the small, but
august body of Burgesses was organized, and the first laws passed
in America by a representative body were then enacted for the regula-
tion both of the Church and of the State.

2'i

How long this little building, the third church, lasted and was used,
we do not know, but in 1639, January 18th, the statement is made in
a letter from the Governor, Sir John Harvey, and the Council in Vir-
ginia, to the Privy Council in London, that "Such hath bene our In
devour herein, that out of our owne purses we have largely contribut-
ed to the building of a brick church, and both masters of ships, and
others of the ablest Planters have liberally by our persuasion under
writt to this worke." As this letter was dated January 18th, it may
be that the church was finished that year, but there is no definite
statement as to this.

The same letter makes mention of the first brick house at James-
town, which- was the residence of Secretary Richard Kemp. It was
but sixteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions, but Governor Harvey
speaks of it as "the fairest ever known in this country for substance
and uniformity." This fourth church, built by Governor Harvey,
stood and was used until September, 1676, when it was burned along
with the rest of Jamestown by Nathaniel Bacon and his men. But
it is most probable that the tower and walls stood, and that when
Jamestown was partially rebuilt between 1676 and 1686, that the origi-
nal tower and walls built by Harvey about 1639, were repaired and
used. Thus repaired, the church continued to be used for many years.
After 1699 the meetings of the House of Burgesses were no longer held
in Jamestown, but removed to Williamsburg, and the residents at
Jamestown became very few, and the congregation of the churcii at
Jamestown was correspondingly diminished. In 1724 the Rev. William
Le Neve reported to the Bishop at London that James City parish was
twenty miles long and twelve broad, and that there were seventy-eight
families in the parish. He held services at Jamestown two Sundays
in three, there being about 130 attendants, and his salary was £60.
One Sunday in three he preached at Mulberry Island, where there
were about 200 attendants, and his salary was £30 per annum. Every
Sunday afternoon he lectured at Williamsburg to about 100 people,
his salary being £20. Holy Communion was celebrated four times
a year to twenty or thirty communicants. The population was gradu-
ally drifting away from Jamestown, and the minister at Jamestown
would serve other churches also. The fire of 1776 doubtless destroyed
priceless church records, and the names of the clergymen who served
James City parish can only be gathered here and there from other

24

records. I have gathered twenty-seven names, but the evidence of
their connection with the parish is not satisfactory in all cases.

The last minister in the old church was certainly Bishop James
Madison, who served the parish from 1785 to 1812. The old church
was in ruins before 1812, and the last services in the parish were held
in a brick church a few miles off on the road to Williamsburg, called
"The Main" Church — that is, the church on the main land as distin-
guished from the island. This church has now disappeared.

The font of the old church and its interesting communion vessels
were taken to Bruton church, in the new Colonial capital at Wil-
liamsburg, where they are still carefully preserved.

The old tower has kept its lonely watch for more than an hundred
years. After long and Inexcusable neglect it is now strengthened
and guarded. Long may it stand. The principles, the heroic perse-
verance, the sufferings, which the very ground of Jamestown brings
to mind, together with the imperishable fruits and blessings which
went out to the New World from this first English settlement, have
their fittest monument in the tower of the church which, in the provi-
dence of God, was appointed to bring the everlasting Gospel to these
shores.

The following is a list of ministers who are recorded by several
authorities — Bishop Meade, Dr. D ashiell, E. D. Neill and others — to
have served in James City Parish between 1607 and 1800:

MINISTERS IN .JAMES CITY PARISH.

1. Robert Hunt, 1607-08.

2. Richard Bucke, ICIO.

[He was afterwards minister of the church at Kecoughtan in 1G15.]

3. Lord De la Warr's minister, probably William Mease, 1610.

4. David Sandys, E. D. Neill, Virginia Colonial Clergy, page 7, at
CaiJtain Sam Matthew's, in James City, 1625.

5. Thomas Harrison, Chaplain to Governor Berkeley, Neill, page
14, 1644.

6. Thomas Hampton, Henning, 1644, Neill, p. 15; Bishop Meade and
Dashiell, Digest of the Councils of the Diocese of Virginia, 1645.

7. Morgan Godwin, Neill, pp. 18 and 20, 1665.

S. Rowland Jones, Neill, p. 21; Senate Document, p. 103, 1674-88.
9. John Gouch, buried at Jamestown, 1683.

25

10. John Clayton, in letter to Dr. Boyle, signs himself parson at
James City; Neill, p. 21, 1684.

n. James Sclater; Dashiell, 1688.

12. James Blair, Bishop Meade, Vol. I., p. 94, 1694-1710.

13. feolomon Whateley, Dashiell, 1700.

14. Hugh Jones, Neill, p. 27, previous to 1724.

15. Sharpe Bromscale, Dashiell, 1721.

16. William Le Neve, sent report to Bishop of London, 1724. 1722-1724.

17. Wm. Dawson, Commissary, 1734-1751.

18. Thomas Dawson, Commissary, 1752.

19. William Robinson, Dashiell, 1744.

20. William Yates, Dashiell, 1754.

21. William Preston, Perry's Historical Papers, p. 429, 1755.

22. Rev. Mr. Berkeley, Bishop Meade, Vol. I., p. 95, 1758.

23. James Horrochs, Dashiell, 1762.

24. Mr. Gwatkin, Dashiell, and State Papers, 1771-76.

25. J. Hyde Saunders, ordained for James City 1772. Bishop Meade,
Vol. I., p. 95, 1773.

26. Mr. Bland, Bishop Meade, p. 113, note Main Church.

27. James Madison, Bishop Meade, Vol. I., p. 95.

The Church in Virginia in the Days of
the Colony.

BY THE EEV. JOSEPH B. DUNN, OF SUFFOLK, VA.

THE two principal sources of autliority in regard to the Colonial
Church of Virginia are Hening's Statutes and the old vestry
books of the different parishes. During the period of her as-
cendency in Virginia the Church needed no defender nor apolo-
gist, and after the Revolution, when her organization was shattered,
her property taken from her, and her clergy scattered, the Church was
left helpless.

The Church had always been a part of the organic life of the Colony,
but never a part of its politics. She was not organized for political
ends, nor did she have any political traditions nor training. She
was never a party in the Colony. To understand her downfall, it is
necessary to understand the position th'3 Churcli held in the community
during the Colonial period. This position has never been fairly stated.
Dr. Hawks, in the preparation of the History of the Virginia Church,
was dependent for his materials in matters relating to the Church upon
tho works of the Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists, the men who
together wrought the destruction of the Church. Bishop Meade ac-
cepts the thesis of Dr. Hawks, borrowed as it is from the political
briefs of the enemy of the Church, and though he had access to the
vestry books of the early Church, he uses them to defend the thesis.
His work is rather that of an annalist than a historian.

The history of the Church in Virginia reflects fully and accurately
the life of her people; and the reckless condemnation of that Church
has made incomprehensible the lives of her public men, who were in
most cases devoted Churchmen. If we accept the thesis of the Church's
enemies, then Washington, Mason, Nelson and the Lees were all excep
tions to the rule of a corrupt and reckless gentry. This supposition
is so preposterous that one Baptist historian attempts to explain
Washington on the supposition that he was at heart a Baptist.

The Church in Virginia was from tho first the Church of the people
rather than the Church of the clergy. The churches were built by the

27

r.eople, and the demand for clergy was always greater than the supply.
As the people built the churches, purchased the glebes and furnished
and stocked them out of their own means, they naturally contended
that they were the owners thereof. The spirit of independence ex-
hibited in the Virginia Assembly was the spirit of the people, and
found expression in the vestry meeting as in the halls of legislature.
The people of Virginia identified themselves with the Church as they
identified themselves with the government. They were the Church
as they were the State. In the patent which gave to the Bishop of
Ijondon the spiritual oversight of the Colony the right of induction
was expressly reserved to the Governor of the Colony. The vestries
did not fight the letter of this law, but they made it inoperative by
persistently asserting that they, as the representatives of the people,
were the patrons of the livings; and that neither the king nor the
governor, as the representative of the king, could claim the right of
presentation, which was an inalienable right of the people themselves.
The vestry was elected by the people and held office for an indefinite
period. In most cases the vestry was a self-perpetuating body, filling
vacancies in their number by their own choice; and yet the people
never wholly surrendered their authority; for in some cases, upon de-
mand of the people themselves, the vestry was dissolved by an Act of
Assembly. The vestry were generally the most conspicuous and in-
fluential members of the community. Their duties were not wholly
ecclesiastical, for to them was entrusted the care of the poor of the
parish and the holding of all trust funds for such purposes. They
appointed the procession-masters, and to them was made the report of
the processioning. As these processionings established the bounds of
every free-holder's property, the business was of great importance.
They fixed the rate of taxation for tithes, and to them all tithes were
paid. The long tenure of office and the importance and prestige at-
taching to the position of a vestryman inevitably produced an aris-
tocratic and autocratic spirit in the men who composed the vestry.
This august and closely organized body were in very truth "The
twelve lords of the parish."

The status of the clergy was no less clearly fixed. The parson was
the duly appointed officer in the Church, whose duties were well marked
out, and whose authority was carefully defined. The minister was

chosen by the vestry, and they were responsible to the people for the
ehararter and efficiency of their appointee. The vestry madp earnest

28

eftort that the parish might be always supplied with a minister, but
every church and chapel was provided with a salaried clerk, who
read the services regularly, and the lack of a minister did not prevent
the people from attending the services of the Church. No vestryman
could hold the office of clerk. Wherever a sufficient number of citizens
settled in any portion of the Colony, a chapel was immediately pro-
vided by the vestry and a clerk appointed.

The taxes for maintaining the Church establishment were called
tithes. These tithes went for the minister's salary, the salary of the
clerk and the maintenance and building of churches and chapels and
for the support of the poor. Every male inhabitant over sixteen was
tithable, and the tithe varied from thirty to sixty pounds of tobacco
per poll, according to the immediate needs of the parish.

The Church was the People, and the People the Church; but the
attitude of the people towards dissenters was expressed not by the
Church as an ecclesiastical establishment, but by the representatives
of the people in their legislative and executive capacity. So far from
being a persecuting Church, the Church as a Church did not attempt
to control these matters, which were everywhere deemed a part of the
civil order. The expulsion of the Puritan preachers and the breaking
up of the Puritan congregations in Nansemond and Norfolk counties,
a few months before the execution of Charles I., were acts not of the
Church, but of the Governor's Council, and the charge against the
Puritans was disloyalty to the Government and to the King. The
famous and oft-quoted statute against the Quakers, expelling them
from the Colony and providing that if they returned the second time,
they should be proceeded against as felons, takes on a very different
color when the statute is given in full, and not in the garbled form
in which it appears in the partisan histories of the sects. The statute
closes with these words: "Provided, always, and be it further enacted,
that it any of the said persons, Quakers or other separatists, shall,
after such conviction, give security that he, she or they shall for the
time to come forbear to meet in any such unlawful assemblies as
aforesaid, that then and from thenceforth such person or persons shall
be discharged from all the penalties aforesaid, anything in this act
to the contrary notwithstanding." (Hen., Vol. 2, p. 183.) The statute
was directed against organized opposition to the laws and institutions
of the Colony, and no attempt is made to deprive the individual of
his liberty of thought and utterance, so long as he with others did not
attempt to overthrow the civil law.

29

The fact that there was no Episcopal authority within the Colony,
and that the make-shi£t of a commissary was never accepted either by
the clergy or the people, forced the vestries to assume functions prop-
erly belonging to ecclesiastical courts. In the event of the bad be-
havior of any of the clergy, he was summoned before the vestry and
tried; and if the charges were proven, he was expelled, or if by any
chance he had been inducted into the living, he was prosecuted before
the authorities at the seat of government. That the vestry, as the
representatives of the people, did demand a high standard of life and
character on the part of the clergy is evidenced by the fact that
in some cases, even though it brought open reproach upon the Church,
they turned the offending minister out of his office. The fidelity of
the vestries in this matter was one day to furnish to the enemies of
the Church material for a bitter arraignment of the Church itself.

The Church, in its parish organization, reflected the life and social
standards of the Virginians. Birth and position were among the ac-
knowledged requisites for membership in theHouse of Burgesses.and the
like requirements were considered essential in the choice of a vestry-
man. The government of the Colony and the government of the Church
in Virginia were both alike democratic, but it was the democracy of
Athens, not of Rome. The landed gentry both in the Assembly and in
the vestry were the representatives of the people, and till the middle of
the eighteenth century no one questioned the established order. One
class in this social order was gradually crystallizing in its hatred of the
aristocratic form of government. This was the class of overseers. This
class was, in fact, the only element in the Colony which had ever been
subjected to persecution, though the persecutors were apparently ob-
livious of the fact of any injustice on their part. The "overseer legis-
lation" in the Colony was all of a kind to breed a deep and abiding
hatred of the established order in the hearts of those affected by it. It
was provided by law that the overseer should live in a house adjacent
to the negro quarters; he could own only one horse, and he was not
allowed to attend muster, which was the great event of the year in
country life. These overseers were, in the very nature of things, the
most skillful farmers, and accustomed to exercise authority, and yet,
by a curious twist of legislation, they were practically pariahs.

The very church building itself, with the best pews reserved for the
magistrates and their families, and with the private galleries erected
at their own cost by the rich men of the parish, gave an added em-

30

plaasis to the aristocratic nature of State and Church. When the Bap-
tists cojnmenced their efforts they found plenty of inflammable mate-
rial, especially among the large class of overseers; and in the days of
agitation and unrest that preceded the tremendous social upheaval of
the Revolution, the discontented found a golden opportunity. The
Church of England in Virginia became the target for abuse on the lips
iif thise who were proclaiming their hatred of all things English. The
first Baptist Association, which was professedly, in its inception, in
1770, a political organization, was sworn to the destruction of the
Church.

Suddenly the Church found herself attacked by a host of men, who
maligned her clergy, ridiculed her institutions and fought her with
weapons new even to that kind of warfare. The Church was taken
by surprise. She had no weapons with which to fight vulgar abuse,
nor would she be embroiled In what she conceived to be a social rather
than a religious quarrel. Sometimes the agitator, when he became in-
fufferable, fell into the hands of the constable, and straightway the
Church was painted as a bloody persecutor. In none of these so-called
persecutions does the Church appear as the prosecutor. The charge
brought against the victims was "breach of the peace," and the arrest
V. as made by the sheriff or magistrate. The offender was set at lib-
erty when he furnished a peace bond. The persecuted martyrs of Vir-
ginia were offenders against civil law, and were victims not of the
Church's hate, but of the justice of a magistrate's court before which
they were tried for Intemperate speech and creating a disturbance. At
the very time when these supposed persecutions were going on, the law
(if the land gave them the right to apply in court for licensed houses
for the worship of God according to their own conscience. The offend-
ers, failing to comply with the law, were, like other offenders against
the law, punished by the courts.

The forces that led to the final overthrow of the Church were In part
religious and political, but still more, perhaps, were they social and
economic. To destroy the Establishment meant to dethrone the twelve
lords of the parish, to humiliate the aristocrats, and last, but not
least, to do away with parish dues. By depriving the vestry of its
powers and the Church of its property, and then by raising hue and
cry against clergy and Church as English in name and sympathy, the
Church was first despoiled and then overthrown.

When the Revolution was over, the new State presented a strange

31

condUion of affairs. A large element of the population that had for-
merly taken but little interest in public affairs had, during the long
years of turmoil, come into prominence. The Baptists, especially, were
organized as a political party. The spirit of the age was against con-
servatism and aristocracy. The traditions of the Church in Virginia
forbade tier to enter the political arena The legislature was flooded
with petitions from the enemies of the Church, demanding her destruc-
tion. The Church had but one reply, and that was to beg that the
questions at issue be submitted to the people of the State to decide.
This request was denied her. The new religio-polltical parties were
well organized ana very active, and the public men of Virginia found
a strong instrument ready tor use. Political power was still in the
hands of the aristocracy, but a new party, zealous with religious en-
thusiasm, was clamoring for recognition. The men who had put forth
the Bill of Rights found that keen instrument turned upon its authors.
They did not flinch from the ordeal. The committee appointed to re
vise the laws of the Commonwealth reported an act establishing Re-
ligious Freedom. That committee was composed of five men — .Jeffer-
son, Pendleton, Wythe, Mason and Lee. All except Jefferson were ac-
tive members of the vestries of the Established Church, and Jefferson's
name also was in the list of the vestrymen of St. Anne's Parish, though
there Is no record that he exercised the function of his office. When
ihfl Church was dis-established, the deed was wrought by the sons of
the Church. There was no compulsion resting on them to do this thing,
for tne question had not been submitted to the people at large. These
men deemed it a political necessity and a necessary corollary of tho
Bill of Rights, and they, without a dissenting voice, signed the war-
rant for the dissolution of the Church of their affections. Such was
the spirit of the laymen who, from the beginning, had guided the
councils and controlled the destiny of the Church in Virginia.

Bur, tuis act was fraught with consequences undreamed of by Its au-
thors. The enemies of the Church deemed that they had won a great
victory, and they never rested till the Church was despoiled of its pos-
sessions. For the first time In history there was a persecuting Church
in Virginia. The campaign of hostility and invective was unrelenting
and ruthless. The Church, for nearly twenty years, was despaired of
even by those who loved her. The spirit of her despoilers did not win
the allegiance of Churchmen to the only organized religious life in the
State. A period of religious depression followed the overthrow of the

82

Church. Many ot the gentry of Virginia were without a Church; and
love of State became the only religion with many of this class. Bishop
Meade's description of the low ebb of religious life among the upper
classes in Virginia at the beginning of his ministry is doubtless a
faithful picture. The cause of this condition is likewise apparent.
That the character of the men still remained high in spite of religious
apathy, or even hostility, is due to that social code, in obedience to
which the Virginian gave a fuller and richer meaning to the name of
gentleman. They were for a quarter of a century irreligious in their
lack of recognition of the duty of accepting organized and systematized
Christianity, but some of what we now call the Christian graces were
beautifully exemplified in their daily intercourse with fellows.

During the long years of war the clergy became scattered. There
was no possibility of obtaining ministers except from England, and it
was no time for an Englishman to begin his labors in Virginia; and
there was no security for his support, even if he were brave enough to
make the venture. On the other hand, the ministers of the denomina-
tions multiplied indefinitely. It was not until the effects of the Revo-
lution began to die out that the old aristocratic order of society began
to assert itself again. The hatred of all things English was the lever
used to overthrow the Church and to keep her in the dust. The feeling
against the mother country was not allowed to die out, as it was too
valuable a political asset to let slip. So strong and so lasting was the
feeling that Benjamin Watkins Leigh, In the Virginia Constitutional
Convention of 1829-'30, exclaimed; "I know it is the fashion to decry
everything that is English, or supposed to be so. I know that, in the
opinion of many, it is enough to condemn any proposition in morals
or in politics, to denounce it as English doctrine." This statement of
Senator Leigh is a luminous commentary on the history of the Church
in Virginia.

History presents no more striking example of a Church of the people
than is found in the Church of Colonial Virginia. The people not only
maintained the Church as established, but extended it to meet the
needs of a growing population. They voluntarily assumed the care
and support of all the poor in the community. They not only clothed,
but educated the orphan and the waif. They demanded of their clergy
that they lead exemplary lives, and expelled them from office when
they fell short ot this ideal. They held loyalty to God and to His
Church not an accident, but an essential of good citizenship. They

The Rt. Rev. James Madison, D. D.,

First Bishop of Virginia.

33

appointed from among themselves clerks to read the services and ser-
mons in the absence of an ordained minister, and the Church was their
home. The Colonial Church of Virginia produced the largest breed
of men yet seen upon this continent. This Church was overthrown in
a social cataclysm, but even in the hour of her dissolution she was
true to her traditions. She had preacned good citizenship and obedi-
ence to law; and when her enemies despoiled her of her property and
made her splendid lineage the ground of an accusation of shame, she
raised no voice in protest. Her property was taken away by law, and
she submitted to that law, never claiming the halo of martyr nor call-
ing legislation persecution. Even to the end she persistently refused
to become embroiled in the bitter strife of words. Her story has never
been told, and her children to-day know her only from the partisan and
libelous screeds of her destroyers. The Church, in her actual adminis-
trative life, was aristocratic, but so was the life of the people whom
she served. It was the aristocracy of birth, it is true; but it was also
the aristocracy of worth, and its creed of noblesse oblige kept her si-
lent even when men maligned her and robbed her under forms of law.

The Fall and Rising Again of the Church
in Virginia.

An Essay, Read Before the Alumni Association of the Theological
Seminary in Virginia, June 20, 1907.

VIRGINIA SEMINARY ALUMNI ADDRESS

BY THE BEV. EDWARD L. GOODWIN, HISTOKIOGKAPHEB OF THE DIOCESE OF

VIKGINIA.

THE year 1907 will be marked as that in which a re-study was
made of the beginnings of the history of Virginia, and espec-
ially of the Church in Virginia. All eyes are turned this year
to Jamestown, and many minds are seeking to reconstruct the
scenes enacted there three hundred years ago. Orators and writers
are telling the story anew, and with a new realization of its import;
and we are very sure that one result will be a fairer estimate of the
purpose and character of the founders of the State, and a new demon-
stration of the good providence of God in planting and preserving on
these American shores this vine of His Church, which has grown and
filled the land.

I venture to take as the subject for the essay to-day another epoch
in the history of the Virginia Church, which w© must know if we would
truly trace our descent from the Church of Jamestown and understand
the lessons of our long past. Our theme is, "The Fall and Rising
Again of the Church in Virginia." The story would cover, for its
complete telling, a period of about a century of her life, or, say, from
1740 to 1840. At the beginning of this period we see the Church sit-
ting as a queen upon her throne, supported and protected by her lord,
the State, apparently the most stable institution among this new peo-
ple. In the midst we see her dethroned, distrusted and disqualified,
vainly striving to save from the wreck of her fortunes some remnants
of her former possessions, if not of her power. At its end she appears

35

revived, chastened and purified, girded with humility and grace as one
who doth serve, and entered upon the holy work in the doing of which
she has outlived all calumny and been honored of God and men.

That the Church which was founded with the Colony of Virginia
should be an Established, or State, Church was inevitable under the
conditions existing. No other form of Church was known or conceived
of, and as the English government went with her Colonies as the mould
of her civilization and law, so the English Church would go as the
outward embodiment of her Protestant religion. Just what was to be
the permanent form and theological complexion of that Church was
still a question of controversy at home. It seems to have given the
colonists very small concern either now or later; and it is singular
how little echo of the theological strifes of England was heara in Vir-
ginia. The Church established here was the English Church of 1607
and thereabouts, and that has been the norm of Virginia Churchman-
ship ever since. The colonists wanted simply good men like Hunt and
Whittaker and Buck and their immediate followers, selected and sent
out by the London Company, to read the old prayers in their rude
churches, to preach to them and to administer the sacraments as they
had been accustomed to have them at home. They worshipped ac-
cording to the forms of the big Prayer Books in their churches, and
they and their children learned the catechism out of them, and they
obeyed as far as possible the "Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiasti-
cal," which were bound with them at the end, after the Psalms in
metre. When these Canons failed to meet their particular wants, they
made other Canons by their Burgesses, under the guise of Acts or Or-
ders of Assembly, and the county lieutenants and churchwardens saw
that they were proclaimed and duly followed. Those curious Church-
men called Puritans were perfectly welcome in Virginia so long as
they obeyed the laws. Those queer non-Churchmen called Quakers,
(by no means the Quakers of a later day), were not welcome because
they would not obey the laws, and taught men so.

Among the Canons ordained by the General Assembly were those
creating in each parish a Select Vestry, as it would be called in Eng-
land. A vestry was originally the whole body of parishioners, met to
order their parochial affairs; the model, by the way, of the New Eng-
land town meeting. But this was not convenient in Virginia, and the
vestry was ordered to be composed of "the most sufficient and selected
men" to be chosen by the parishioners; the origin of our vestry elec-

36

tions, dating back to 1642. Later the number was fixed at twelve, and
most unfortunately they were made a self-perpetuating body. These
administered parochial affairs, as that term was understood in the wide
meaning of English law.

The Church thus established, and supported by parochial taxation,
seems fairly well to have met the religious wants of the people of that
day. Perhaps under no other conditions could she have done so well
when both the Colony and the Church were in their infancy, and she
was in the position of a Mission Church, but with no missionary so-
ciety or agency behind her to look to for direction and support.

But when a century and a quarter had passed, conditions were differ-
ent. The Colony had grown tremendously in every way; in numbers
and wealth, in political vigor, in the Intellectual and economic progress
of the great body of her people. It was practically no longer a Col-
ony but a Commonwealth. The Church, meanwhile, had grown in size
only; but in vitality, in adaptiveness, in capacity for self-support, self-
government or self-discipline, in ability to meet her altered and in-
creased responsibilities, not one whit! She was rather growing infirm
in her swaddling clothes. She was tied and bound, and all but stran-
gled by the very bonds on which she leaned. Her weakness and in-
ability to meet new conditions as they arose was not inherent in the
Church, but lay in outward and artificial circumstances, which she had
not the power, even if she had the wisdom, to change. What she might
have done and become, undebilitated by State patronage and unham-
pered by political control, none can tell. What she failed to become
and to do, being thus handicapped, is patent enough now.

I lay stress upon this one fatal condition, because it is the sufficient
explanation of all her weakness and her woes. The system of Church
government in Virginia was, I believe, without parallel in history. It
was not Episcopal, nor Presbyterian, nor Congregational, nor yet a
compound of the three. It was a government by a political, local, lay
aristocracy, which was a branch of the civil government of the Colony.
The Church herself was without power to act, to provide for her es-
sential needs or to perpetuate or develop her life.

Among the secondary causes of the weakness of the Church, and the
one which has been almost exclusively insisted upon, was the scarcity
of her clergy and the unworthiness and inefficiency of many of them.
The root of this difficulty lay further back — in her incapacitv to pro-
duce a native ministry sufficient and suitable for her needs. ?he had

37

no power of mission. Occasionally a young Virginian would go to Eng-
land and there seek the ministry, but he would do it of his own initia-
tive. Sometimes a vestry would find a man of sufficient education and
proper character whom they would induce to take orders and accept
their living. The process of securing ordination for such an one was
not difficult. They had but to supply him with their own letter of
recommendation and a title to their parish, to which the Governor and,
pertiaps, the Commissary would add their endorsement. Armea with
these, the candidate would set out on his pilgrimage to the palace of
the Bishop of London, where, for the first and only time in his lite, he
would come in touch for a moment with a source of ecclesiastical order
and authority. If he escaped the dangers of the sea and the ravages
of small-pox in a London tavern, he returned within a twelve-month
in priest's orders, and fully equipped with Tillotson's Sermons and, per-
haps, half a dozen other books, which would constitute his theological
library.

These few native ministers were by far the best, I believe, in the
Colony. Other vestries ordered ministers to be selected and sent from
England by their friends or their factors in London, much as they or-
dered Prayer Books or Communion plate; while others consulted the
Commissary, and took what applicant for a living he might have on
his hands; or they employed from time to time whatever clerical dere-
lict might drift their way and apply for the place. These last, as
might be supposed, were usually the worst. Yet the vestries were
really concerned in trying to get good men for their parishes, and in
being rid of those who proved otherwise. In spite of their efforts,
many unworthy men, and a few impostors who were not in orders at
all, held livings of which they could not be dispossessed. But such
cases were much less frequent than has been represented, and the
great majority of the Colonial clergy were godly, faithful and, In many
cases, able men.

My heart goes out to the memory of these servants of God in those
earlier and less auspicious days of the Virginia Church, who did their
work with patience with so little to animate or encourage them. They
wrought alone and almost unheeded, each in his own Isolated field of
labor, wide as the wilderness in territory, but narrow almost to the
vanishing point in all that could give inspiration, impetus or promise
to their work. Tbey had no great Church life behind them or around
them; no standard to live up to, no competition to rouse their energies.

38

They had no Bishop, no Conventions or Convocations, or clerical asso-
ciations. They had no missions or missionary societies to stir their
zeal; no guilds or choirs or Sunday-school to uphold their hands In
the work of their parishes. They had no books, no papers, no mail.
No Southern Churchvian—thin^ of that! No missionary in the re-
motest foreign field to-day is so completely cut off from the manifold
expressions of religious life and activity as were these men. What-
ever atmosphere of this sort there was around them was of their own
creation. And yet, for a century and three-quarters, these ministers
kept the religion of Christ and of the Mother Church alive here in the
wilderness. If the old parish registers, wherein alone their work
found earthly record, had been preserved to us, the names of those
whom they baptized and catechized and married and buried would form
an almost complete roster of the souls in Virginia during that period.

Wherein they failed to gain and hold for the Church the love and
reverence of the common people, a sufficient explanation may be
found in the conditions of the Establishment. The clergyman was. In
common estimation, identified with and the creature of the vestry, and
the vestry was a close corporation of real or would-be aristocrats. So-
cial lines were closely drawn, with the usual unhappy result. In
church the common people sat in pews assigned them down by the
door. If they did not come to church the churchwardens occasionally
presented them to the grand jury, and they were fined, as they were
also for racing horses or hunting on Sunday and other offenses against
morality and Church discipline, and the vestry got the money. Their
little tobacco crop was taxed heavily for parochial purposes. True,
the twelve vestrymen probably paid one-half the tithes of the parish,
but they laid the levy and the small planter did not. As a contribu-
tion he might have given his sixty pounds of tobacco willingly. As a
tax he paid it grudgingly. If he took up land further back In the wil-
derness, the parish system followed him, with new churches to build
and a new parson, living, perhaps, forty miles away, to be paid his
16,000 pounds of tobacco. The Church was fast becoming unpopular
with the masses whom it not did reach, or at least reached but im-
perfectly and with small power to win their affection.

The rise of the Dissenters in Virginia and the beginnings of their
inroads upon the legal preserves of the Church dates practically from
about the year 1740, though It was nearly twenty years later before
their opposition was seriously felt, and still another decaQe before

39

they began to attack the Establishment with deadly determination.
Their progress, however, among the plain people of the country was
rapid from the beginning, and the reasons are not far to seek. Many
of the dissenting preachers, however ill-equipped in knowledge and
narrow in creed, were men of earnest piety and burning zeal. They
brought religion to the doors of the people who, before, could hardly
reach its exponent by a Sabbath day's journey. They presented it in
such guise as they could understand, appealing to the feelings rather
than the understanding, but touching the hearts as the long sermons
and lifeless services of the parish churches had never touched them.
Moreover, these preachers were men of strong native sense and shrewd-
ness, and they understood their congregations very thoroughly. Their
very weaknesses they turned into elements of strength. Their lack of
education, their being without regular orders, the sporadic and demo-
cratic organization of their churches, the very small expense attaching
to their support and the maintenance of this native and homely form
of religion, as contrasted with that of the Established Church — they
made all these things weigh in their favor. "F^ee Religion" proved
to be a harp of many strings, and they played upon them all. When
at last the magistrates began, in a few instances, to seek to curb their
zeal or reprimand their excesses, they courted prosecution with the
devotion of the martyr combined with the shrewd wisdom of the po-
litical agitator. Fines they did not like to pay, but there was no such
pulpit as the grated window of the county jail. This appealed to the
popular sympathy as possibly nothing else could. The crime of perse-
cution was now added to those ascribed to the Church; and presently
a still more serious charge began to be laid at her doors, and one more
potent to fire the public heart. It was the English Church! The pop-
ular indignation aroused by the Stamp Act grew apace until it burst
into the patriotic flame of Revolution, and the odium which began to
attach to England was not slow to be directed toward the Church which
bore her name.

Meanwhile the Baptist and Presbyterian voter had become an ele-
ment to be reckoned with. As early as 1759 an act was passed de-
claring that a vestryman joining a dissenting congregation thereby va-
cated his office. But few Dissenters as yet found their way to the
House of Burgesses, but they were helping to elect those that did. The
perfectly just, but unwise, course of the clergy who protested and ap-
pealed to the courts against the Option or Two-penny act of 1758, which

40

allowed their tobacco salary for that year, when tobacco was particu-
larly high, to be compounded to them at the miserable rate of sixteen
shillings and eight pence a hundred, and their practical defeat, con-
trary to law and justice, but in obedience to the will of the people, did
much to strengthen the prejudice against the Church and embolden her
enemies.

The boon of Disestablishment came to her, however, from the wis-
dom and convictions of her own sons. Many of the old vestrymen
must have been long ago persuaded that not only the cause of religion,
but the influence and vitality of the Church which they loved were
being hampered and jeopardized by its connection with the State; that
the whole system, however venerable, was false and vicious, and that
the principles of religion as well as the logic of events demanded that
her service should be perfect freedom. For the first time in the his-
tory of Virginia, if not of the English race, an opportunity for declar-
ing and carrying into effect these convictions presented itself in 1776.
Before that time the Church in Virginia had no more power to free
herself from the control of the State than has the Department of Jus-
tice, for instance, to decline its allegiance to the government of which
it is a part. But when the people of Virginia met in Convention to
face the question of Revolution and to proclaim their Declaration of
Rights, the occasion offered, and the promptness with which it was
seized upon to pronounce the principle of Religious Liberty shows that
the conception had long found lodgment in their minds. When that Con-
vention, composed of Churchmen almost to a man, imanimously adopt-
ed the sixteenth article of the Bill of Rights they knew perfectly that
it would lead, and was meant to lead, to the disestablishment of their
Church, though few, perhaps, saw as clearly as did George Mason, its
author, and the father of Religious Liberty, the full extent to which It
would go in guiding further legislation.

Almost immediately after the adoption of the new Constitution, the
General Assembly proceeded to put into effect the principle announced,
by an act declaring null and void in this Commonwealth all acts of
Parliament which limited the right of maintaining any religious opin-
ions or exercising any mode of worship. The same act exempted Dis-
senters from the payment of parish levies for the support of ministers;
and, lest sucJi levies should now fall too heavily upon those who still
adhered to the Established Church, if required to pay the ministers
their fixed salaries, the act providing for such levies was suspended

3

a

41

for one year. All glebe lands, churches and chapels, church plate, &c.,
were, however, expressly reserved and saved for the church in each
parish for all coming time. The act for the support of the clergy con-
tinued to be suspended from year to year until it was finally repealed
in 1779.

The passage of this act of October, 1776, was the crucial test for the
Church. The prop which had been her temporal support, the parish
levy, was removed in a moment and without warning. It came at the
most inopportune time, at the beginning of the Revolution, when the
distractions of war filled the land, when taxation was heavy and prop-
erty depreciated, and when the principal men of each parish wern ab-
sent on public duty or absorbed in the stirring events and doubtful
issues of the day. What steps were taken in the different parishes to-
ward supporting the Church by the new system of voluntary contri-
butions we have little or no means of knowing. In the great majority
of cases probably nothing was done, the matter being deferred until
more peaceful times. The ministers, if they stayed in their parishes,
had their glebes, and from these and such alms as they might receive,
gained their meager living. Some turned to secular pursuits for sup-
port; others drifted out of the State; several entered the army as ofii-
cers or chaplains. At the outbreak of the Revolution, or, say, in 1775,
there were, as nearly as we can gather, about ninety-five parish minis-
ters in the Colony. Bishop Meade, following Dr. Hawks, says that at
its close, or in 1785, "only twenty-eight ministers were found laboring
in the less desolate parishes of the State." But Dr. Hawks' figures are
not accurate, for we can find at least forty-tvx) whose names reappear
after the Revolution, and there may have been others whom age or dis-
tance prevented from coming to the Conventions, and of these at least
thirty were still in their old parishes. During the ten years certainly
as many as twenty-three would die or become disabled, which would
leave only thirty to be accounted for after a decade of upheaval and
war, when the very foundations on which they had rested were over-
turned. We cannot, therefore, justify Bishop Meade's hasty conclusion
that "had they been faithful shepherds, they would not have thus de-
serted their flocks."

With the first return of peace the Church people began to cast about
for means for rehabilitating and maintaining their Church. And here
another source of weakness, due wholly to their former condition as
an Established or State Church, manifested Itself in a way that, to us,

42

seems perfectly amazing. The idea of a Church supported by the free-
will offerings of her people was one that was absolutely foreign to
their minds. Whether such a condition would be desirable or not weis
not at all the question at Issue. To the minds of the very great ma-
jority of the leading Churchmen such a scheme was visionary and im-
practicable. It meant that religion would die out in the land, or degen-
erate into they knew not what form of ribaldry and free-thinking. In
a few places, like Alexandria, for instance, a number of wealthy men
from one or two parishes might unite and maintain the services of the
Church by pew rents, and this Washington took the lead in doing there;
but elsewhere the light of the Church would be extinguished forever.
Such was their firm conviction, and why? Because the duty of giving
had never for one moment been taught, nor an opportunity for its ex-
ercise been offered, in the Colonial Church! I suppose that on Com-
munion occasions an offertory was taken to be distributed by the min-
ister among the poor, a purely formal proceeding. Beyond this I doubt
whether an offering had ever been taken in a Colonial church, or that
the people had ever been asked to give a penny for her support or ex-
tension. The vestry paid all the bills out of the parish levy. The peo-
ple were asked and expected to give nothing, only to pay the tithes
assessed upon them as the law demanded. And so they had never
learned to give, nor to imagine the Church and her ministry being
maintained in any such uncertain and unbusinesslike fashion.

When the law of 1776 was passed, suspending the parish levies, the
question of whether the support of ministers and teachers of the gospel
should be left to the voluntary contributions of each religious society
or be provided for by a general legal assessment, was professedly left
open for future determination. In 1784 the Churchmen in many coun-
ties, with a few others, petitioned the General Assembly for a law re-
quiring all persons to contribute to the support of religion in some
form or other; and a bill was introduced entitled "An Act tor estab-
lishing a provision for teachers of the Christian religion," and known
as the General Assessment Bill. It provided that each taxpayer should
declare, when giving in his list of tithables, to what religious society
his assessment should be appropriated; but its payment was obligatory.
The bill was opposed by three parties in the State, holding very diverse
views. There was an element, influential, if not large or open, who
were indifferent, if not inimical, to the existence of any Church or re-
ligion at all. Secondly, there were the Dissenters generally, but chiefly

43

the Baptists, whose Church methods required little for their mainte-
nance, but who were quick to see the advantage the measure would
afford to the Church of larger requirements upon whose destruction
they were avowedly bent. And lastly, but in effectiveness chiefly, there
were a small number under the leadership of James Madison, who saw
that the whole thing was wrong in principle and contrary to the doc-
trine of perfect liberty in matters of religion. It was advocated by
some Presbyterians at least and by Episcopalians generally, under the
skillful leadership in the Assembly of Patrick Henry, aided by such
men as Edmund Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, John Page and Edmund
Pendleton; while George Washington was an avowed believer in the
principle, to quote his own words, of "making people pay for the sup-
port of that which they profess." It is strange to us to-day that such
great statesmen and devoted Churchmen should have contended so vig-
orously for such a measure. But the traditions and custom of many
centuries are hard to overcome. The maintenance of religion without
the sanction and support of the government in some form was to them
an untried experiment, and one of more than doubtful promise. They
were opportunists because of their fears for religion and the Church.

When Madison saw that the bill would certainly pass if brought to a
vote, he succeeded in having it laid over until the next session. In the
meantime, at the solicitation of Mason and Nicholson, he prepared his
famous "Memorial and Remonstrance," which was widely circulated.
It received so many signatures, and was probably itself so effective as
an argument, that at the next session the bill was defeated with little
difficulty. This victory paved the way for the passage, one year later,
of Jefferson's Statute of Religious Freedom, which had been reported
in 1779 by a committee composed originally of Jefferson, Wythe, Mason,
Peadleton and Thomas Ludwell Lee, but which had hung fire in the
Assembly for seven years.

The real act by which the Church was disestablished, however, was
that for "Incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church," passed at
the session of October, 1784, upon the petition of the Episcopal clergy.
It made the minister and vestry of each parish a body corporate to
hold its property, repealed all former acts relating to vestries or minis-
ters and their duties, or to the doctrines and worship of the Church,
and provided that the Church, in Convention, should regulate all its
religious concerns. The act, as we shall see, was repealed two years
later, but in the meantime the Diocese of Virginia was organized under

44

its provisions on the IStli of May, 1785. In that first Convention sixty-
nine parishes were represented by thirty-six clerical and seventy-one
lay delegates. It was by no means a small or insignificant body, and
as one reads the names of the laymen who chiefly composed its mem-
bership, he sees that it represented, to a large degree, the foremost peo-
ple of the State in substance, position and character. They were
trained legislators, and every page of their proceedings shows their
skill in this regard and the patient and thorough consideration they
gave to the matters before them. Not one of these delegates had ever
sat in a Church Legislative Convention before, except Dr. Griffith.
Their ecclesiastical training aad been gained as vestrymen solely. They
met to organize a Church under conditions never before existing. They
had no precedent to guide them, no model to which to conform. Their
work under such circumstances was truly remarkable. In their re-
sponse to the overtures from the North In regard to forming a General
Convention, and in the body of Canons whicli they enacted under the
title of "Rules for the Order, Government and Discipline of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church in Virginia," so admirably adapted to the
peculiar conditions in which they stood, they manifested that genius
for Constitution-making which seemed to be Inherent in the Virginian
of that day. In these respects they knew clearly what they wanted,
and spoke with plainness and confidence. But in another direction
their work seems to us to leave much to be desired. In view of the
vital needs of the Church, not as an organization but as a living work-
ing body, they lacked comprehension, initiative and the foresight of
faith. In the face of the actual situation confronting them in each
parish, of the problems and demands of the hour calling for practical
solution and aggressive effort, they seemed almost powerless, and can
only recommend to the several vestries to take the most effectual meas-
ures for the support of their ministers, and issue an address to the
members of the Church, mildly reviewing the advantages of religion,
explaining the present situation, and exhorting them in this crisis "to
co-operate fervently in the cause of our Church." "Of what is the
Church now possessed?" they cry in plaintive accents, and answer,
"Nothing but the glebes and your affections." This was the sum-total
of her estate, real and personal. One can hardly fail to see the longing
backward glance at the fleshpots of Esypt made while taking the in-
ventory. The glebes seemed to them much the more tangible and de-
pendable asset of the two. It was of the sort they had been accustomed

45

to look to and to estimate. They did not realize yet by what an un-
certain tenure even that was held, as their Baptist friends would show
them after awhile, or what a source of weakness these same glebes
would prove, in exciting the opposition of their enemies and diverting
their own energies for their defence. Still less did they understand
the mine of wealth and spiritual power that was latent in that other
item of her possessions, the affections of the people for the Church.
From that source the Church in the Virginias draws now an income of
half a million dollars annually. At that day these affections had never
been taught how to express themselves; nor would they until, by sore
travail, the Church should learn not to lean upon the arm of flesh, and
discover the true source of her strength and wherein was the hiding
of her power.

In two years the Act of Incorporation was repealed, the other de-
nominations continuing to protest against it and refusing the offer of
the Legislature to have a similar act passed in favor of their own
Churches. The real injury done the Church by this repeal was small.
But as a sign of her loss of prestige, and of the continued persecution
to which she would be subject, it added much to her depression and
discouragement. Yet she still failed to see the lessons of Providence,
and to devote herself to her development from within rather than to
saving the sad remnants of her former estate. After five years, and
after one failure due to her own disgraceful lethargy, she had obtained
a Bishop and was now fully organized. A few new clergymen were
being ordained or were coming in from elsewhere, though not enough
to take the places of those who died, much less to fill what should have
been the demand. The defection of the Methodists made large in-
roads in the ranks of her adherents. The pestilential spread of infi-
delity still further sapped her strength. The clergy of the old school
seemed Impotent to cope with dissent or skepticism, or to adapt them-
selves to a new order of things. One by one the parishes gave up the
hopeless struggle and passed into the inanition of seeming death. The
Conventions grew smaller and smaller. The one hundred and seven
members in 1785 became but thirty-seven in 1799, in which year, by the
way, the General Assembly passed an act repealing specifically and by
naice all previous acts in any way touching upon "the late protestant
episcopal church." The reason given was that they tended toward the
re-establishment of a national Church. The real animus is doubtless
seen in the confiscation of the glebes which followed three years later.

46

For many years the Convention liad been trying to defend her right to
this property, so solemnly confirmed to the Church by legislative ac-
tion. Not only were the glebes now seized, but the right was asserted
to confiscate the Church buildings also; but this they forbore doing so
long as they remained in possession of tneir present owners. Doubtless
the general expectation was that in a short time the few churches still
in use would be abandoned and fall into irrevocable decay, and so the
last vestige of the despised and discredited Church would pass away in
the land.

This expectation seemed in every way likely to be realized. The
very hand of Providence was interposed to prevent the Convention
from successfully defending her claims or continuing the hopeless
struggle. The supreme judiciary to which she appealed stood, after
the death of Judge Pendleton, hopelessly deadlocked, and to this day
her cause remains without formal decision by the Court of Appeals.
Doubtless it was most fortunate that it was so.

Several Conventions were held between 1799 and 1812. Others, per-
haps, failed for lack of a quorum. We have the journal of but one. For
several years none was held, though the number required to form a
quorum had been gradually reduced from forty to fifteen, and was later
brought down to twelve. The Bishop and most of the clergy had given
up in despair. Death was annually reducing their ranks, and hope-
lessness, if nothing worse, paralyzed the efficiency of those that re-
mained. For twenty years they had tried to uphold the old Church
as they had known and understood her, the formal, automatic Church
of the old Colonial parish, and it was in vain.

And now it was time for the Lord to work. The Lord always has a
remnant that remains according to the election of grace, and through
these He has performed the wonderful things in the Church's history.
The remnant of the old Church remained in Virginia in numberless
homes, where the Prayer Book was still read and pondered, its cate-
chism taught, its precepts followed and its services longed for. An
extract from an autobiographical sketch, which has come into my hands,
written by an aged saint lately gone to her rest, will illustrate this.
She is telling of her grandmother, who lived in the days of which we
are speaking, and says: "She was devotedly pious and a great reader.
The Prayer Book was her daily companion, and she paid much atten-
tion to the festivals and faithfully observed the fasts. She was my
godmother. I shall never forget an Easter night, when she took the

47

Bible and read with me the story of the passion and resurrection from
the beginning. As she pointed out the consequences of sin, and the ne-
cessity of Christ's death for our salvation, our tears mingled together,
and for the first time the reality of it was impressed upon my mind. I
do not know how old I was, but the scene has never faded from my
memory."

Hundreds of similar records could be gathered from the annals of our
old families. The Church still lived in the homes, in the affections, in
the traditions, in the very blood of her children. About one year before
the death of Bishop Madison, when the Church was at the lowest ebb of
her fortunes, he ordained to the ministry a son of one of these homes,
and in the Convention which was called after the Bishop's death in 1812,
among the fourteen clerical and the same number of lay delegates that
assembled, the Rev. William Meade took his seat for the first time.
The next day the Rev. William H. Wilmer, lately come to Alexandria
from Maryland, sat by his side, and the human instruments who were
to move for the revival of the Church were prepared.

Bishop Meade was one of the great Virginians. In the work that he
accomplished and its abiding results, in his capacity for leadership, in
genius, wisdom and character, he stood, if not in the very first rank,
then among the foremost in the second. Perhaps he was lacking in a
certain breadth of mind, for his convictions were very deep. Doubt-
less he was cast in a somewhat stern Cromwellian mould; his work de-
manded that. But he accomplished great things. Men trusted him,
and he led them aright to high and righteous ends. He was a re-
former, an upbuilder, a restorer of paths to dwell in. He had all the
qualities of a great commander, and in a lesser degree those of a states-
man, and they were consecrated without reserve to a single definite
end in the hand of God. Bishop Moore was the Ezra, but Bishop
Meade was the Nehemiah of the Restoration, who built the walls and
planted the towers of our Jerusalem on sure foundations.

I need not remind you how conspicuously the Divine Providence
wrought in bringing Bishop Moore to Virginia as her second Bishop.
With that event the revival of the Chui ch began. Dr. Hodges, misinter-
preting a statement of Bishop Meade's, says there were but five clergy-
men then at work in Virginia; but at no time were there less than thir-
teen ministers in charge of parishes in the Diocese, though some of them
were now old men, and there were doubtless but five young ministers
qualified for the task before them. Very slowly at first the number

48

increased, and with it the number of parishes which began to take on
new life. But under a Bishop who had had no part in her late woes,
and who would not know an old glebe if he saw one, the Church turned
her back upon a painful past and her face to the sunrise.

Time would not admit, nor does need require, that we should follow
the onward course of the Diocese under the new order. The Church
had learned her lesson — "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts." And He clothed her with change of rai-
ment, and set a fair mitre upon her head, and caused her iniquity to
pass from her. And He set her feet in a large room.

"In every parish which I have visited," said Bishop Moore in his
first Convention address, "I have discovered the most animated wish
in the people to repair the waste places in our Zion, and to restore
the Church of their fathers to its primitive purity and excellence. I
have found their minds alive to the truths of religion, and have dis-
covered an attachment to our excellent liturgy exceeding my utmost
expectations. I have witnessed a sensibility to divine things bordering
on the spirit of gospel times. I have seen congregations, upon the
mention of that glory which once irradiated with its beams the Church
of Virginia, burst into tears, and by their holy emotions perfectly elec-
trify my mind."

The good Bishop's experiences at that time were but limited indeed,
and his observations had been made under the most favorable conditions.
But so long as he could speak thus the Church was not dead, nor had
the affections of her people failed. To restore the Church to far more
than her pristine glory and prosperity, to meet her spiritual needs,
and to equip her for future ministrations of righteousness, her nurs-
ing fathers of that day and their followers laid stress upon four points,
whicli I shall do little more than enumerate.

First: They depended upon the power of the gospel of Christ cru-
cified, preached with what, alas! we now call old-fashioned evangelical
simplicity and fervor. They were not concerned about propping up
the cross, but were intent on holding it up before the heart and con-
science. Their theology had a strong tinge of Calvinism, no doubt,
but it was remarkably free from any weaker dilutions. This was their
remedy for the Church's ailments, their instrument for her upbuilding,
and their protest at first against the latitudinarianism of a former
age, and afterwards against the sacerdotalism of the tractarian move-
ment. We of to-day may well consider whether any better remedy.

49

or more effective instrument, or more emphatic protest, has yet been
discovered.

Secondly: They gave themselves to restoring the grace of Disci-
pline in the Church, a revival which God grant may never be as greatly
needed again! It was not without significance that the Canon, "Of the
Trial of a Clergyman," for so many years stood first in the code ol
Virginia Canons. It had to be revised, sharpened up and fortified at
least twelve times after 1785, when the nucleus of it was first enacted-
Bishop Meade and a few others fought doggedly for many years for
the constitutional amendment requiring delegates to Convention to
be communicants, and only carried the point in 1835. The old Canon
XIX was another monument of their not ill-directed zeal for purity
of life in the Church, and was needful for those times. Strong meas-
ures were required to restore the confidence of the people in the stan-
dards of personal piety upheld by a Church which had been so long
discredited by hei sons and vilified by her enemies.

Thirdly: With long patience and by many experiments they
taught the duty, and gave opportunity for the exercise, of liberality
and devotion in the support of the Church and its extension by mis-
sionary effort. The leaders themselves had everything to learn of a
practical sort in this direction, and not a few expedients were adopted
and tentative efforts made before our numerous Diocesan institutions
and funds were placed on their present foundations, and especially
before the Diocesan Missionary Society was evolved, and the people
taught to love it and to be partakers in its work as a personal obliga-
tion and privilege, as they do to-day. It was no small part of the good
foundation laid by those fathers of the Virginia Church that, by slow
degrees and prawerful effort, they taught her people to give of their
substance to the Lord, not only in the support of their own parishes,
but in furthering the holy enterprise of missions.

And lastly: Out of what was felt to be the greatest need of the
revived Church grew her crowning glory and her richest gift to the
cause of religion. Of the ministers under whom the restoration of
the Church began, but a few comparatively, certainly not as many as
half, were native Virginians. For many years her ministry was re-
cruited from beyond the borders of the State, and indeed throughout
her history a surprisingly large proportion of her most distinguished
and useful clergymen were but adopted sons of the old Commonwealth.
The fact has been overlooked because they uniformly became such

50

intense Virginians in loyalty and sentiment as to be proudly reckoned
among the very elect. But from the beginning the need of a ministry
"native and to the manner born," and well trained and equipped for
their work, was felt to be imperative. The standard of ministerial
fitness was placed very high by our early bishops, and it has never been
lowered. They purposed that the future of the Church should be
committed to faithful men trained according to those standards, ground-
ed and settled in the faith of the simple, positive and unadulterated
gospel in which they believed and of which they were not ashamed.
From this purpose, wnder singular displays of divine blessing, grew
•the Theological Seminary in Virginia, from which has gone forth
streams to make glad the City of God in all lands.

God help us to be worthy successors of such men — to learn the les-
sons and to keep the charge which the history of the Virginia Church
lays upon all her sons!

HENRICO PARISH.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

BY REV. R, A. GOODWIN, RECTOR.

M ENRICO Parish was formed in A. D. 1611, only four years after
the settlement of Jamestown. Sir Thomas Dale in that year
founded Henricopolis, on the Peninsula, in James River, now
insulated by Dutch Gap canal. Here he built a church before
he laid the foundation of his own residence. Not long after a more
handsome brick church was built. It stood near the line of the present
Dutch Gap canal. The parish at first included what are now the
counties of Chesterfield and Powhatan, on the south of James River,
and Goochland and Henrico, on the north of the river.

Rev. Alexander Whittaker, called "the Apostle of Virginia," was the
first rector of Henrico Parish. He was the son of Dr. William Whit-
taker, master of St. John's College, Cambridge. Alexander Whittaker
was a graduate of Cambridge. For some years he served a church
in the north of England, "beloved and well supported by his people."
"He had a handsome heritage from his parents." He came to Virginia
under the influence of the highest missionary spirit. His friends op-
posed his coming. A contemporary says of him: "He did voluntarily
leave his warme nest; and to the wonder of his kindred and amaze-
ment of them that knew him, undertoolt this hard, but, in my judg-
ment, heroicall resolution to go to Virginia, and helpe to beare the
name of God unto the Gentiles."

He is spoken of as the "purest of men," "truly pious," and "most
zealous in missionary work, especially among the Indians, to which
he had devoted himself." He and Dale were co-workers for the con-
version of Pocahontas. He baptized her under the name of Rebecca.
It is highly probable that he married her to John Rolfe. Rolfe owned
a plantation at Henricopolis, and here they lived till she went to
England. Whittaker resisted the temptation to return to England
In 1616 with his devoted friend. Dale. But he wrote, exhorting others
to come over and help, and saying: "Though my promise of three
yeeres' service to my countrey be expired, will abide in my vocation
here untill I be lawfully called hence."

He was accidentally drowned in James River in the spring of 1617.

52

The Glebe of the parish, consisting of 100 acres, on which Dale built
a rectory, was situated on the south side of the river. Whittaker also
served a church at Bermuda Hundred, near City Point. Some years
later the Glebe was on the north side of the river, near Varina. Mr.
William Wickham assisted Mr. Whittaker, and it would seem he was
only in deacon's orders, for, after Whittaker's death, there was no
one to administer the sacraments.

Rev. Thomas Bargrave became rector in 1619. It was during his
administration that the parish of Henrico was chosen as the site of a
great university; 15,000 acres of land, between Henricopolis and
where Richmond now stands, was set apart as college lands by the
Virginia Company. King James, through the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, appealed for and obtained large subscriptions in England. Rev.
Mr. Bargrave, the rector, donated his library. The Rev. Mr. Copland
was appointed president, but he was still in England when the great
Indian massacre of 1622 swept away Henricopolis and many other
settlements.

For the next hundred years the annals of Henrico Parish are frag-
mentary.

The Rev. James Blair was rector from 1685 to 1694. In 1689 he
was appointed commissary of the Bishop of London. He resigned
the parish to become founder and first president of William and Mary
College.

Rev. George Robinsou is said to have been rector in 1695. In 1724
the Bishop of London called upon the clergy of the colony for a
report. "The name of the incumbent of Henrico Parish has been
torn from the manuscript of his report," but there is evidence that
he was Rev. Jacob Ware. He mentions that he had been in the parish
fourteen years. Its bounds were 18 by 25 miles. It contained two
churches and one chapel. There were 400 families.

The oldest extant record book of the vestry of the parish begins on
October 28th, 1730. This book was found in 1867 among the old
records of Henrico county, and was given to the vestry. When this
book was begun the principal church of the Parish was Curie's church,
situated a few miles below Richmond, on the north side of the river.
The Rev. James Keith was rector when this vestry book begins, and
continued his services till 1733.

In 1727 Goochland and Powhatan were cut off from Henrico; and
Dale Parish, in Chesterfield, was established in 1735. In 1735 the

53

vestry arranged with Rev. David Mossom to preach at the church
every fifth Sunday, for which service he was to be allowed 400 pounds
of tobacco.

Mr. Mossom was rector of St. Peter's, New Kent, for 40 years. He
married General Washington; and he was the first native American
to be ordained a Presbyter in the Church of England. In 1736 Rev.
William Etith became rector of the parish. He was a native Vir-
ginian, educated at William and- Mary College and in England. While
rector of this parish, he wrote his history of Virginia. It was during
his ministry that St. John's church was built.

There was a difference of opinion as to where the new church should
be located. It was finally decided that it be built "on Indian Town,
at Richmond." The two lots given by Colonel William Byrd, "the
father of Richmond," constitute half of the present St. John's burying-
ground.

St. John's church was built in 1741. The original building was 60
feet long and 25 feet wide, situated due east and west. In 1772 an ad-
dition was made on the south side, of 40 feet in length and 40 feet
in width. The Rev. Miles Selden was rector when the Virginia Con-
vention met in the church, thus enlarged, on March 20th, 1775. He was
chaplain of the convention. Edmund Pendleton was the president.

(It will be recalled that "the first General Assembly, the earliest
legislative body in America, sat in the church at Jamestown, on July
30th, 1619.")

Here, in a short speech, Patrick Henry "flashed the electric spark"
which fired the colony to rebel against the king.

"In 1781, when Richmond had fallen Into the hands of Arnold,
this sacred edifice was made a barracks for his British soldiery."

The first record in the second vestry-book is of an election of twelve
vestrymen, "Ijolden on March 28th, 1785, at the court-house in the city
of Richmond." Their names were: Edmund Randolph, Jaquelin Ambler,
Bowler Cocke, Miles Selden, Jr., William Foushee, Hobson Owen, John
Ellis, Turner Southall, Nathaniel Wilkinson, Daniel L. Hylton, Thomas
Prosser, William Burton.

"On the 10th of May, 1785, the Rev. John Buchanan was unani-
mously chosen by ballot incumbent for the parish. He was to preach
every other Sunday at 'Richmond church,' and on the intervening
Sunday at Curie's and Deep Run, alternately."

On the 15th of June, 1785, the first convention of the reorganized

64

Diocese of Virginia was lield in Rictimond. The business sessions were
probably held in tlie Capitol, but the convention attended divine ser-
vice in "the church in this city" by resolution of the convention. "It
was a correspondence between the Rev. David Griffith and Rev. John
Buchanan, the rector of this parish, that led to the resuscitation of
the Church in Virginia."

Mr. Buchanan was prominent in this first convention of the Diocese.
He was elected Treasurer of the Diocese, and faithfully served as
such for nearly thirty years.

Edmund Randolph was lay delegate of this parish. He was on a
committee "to prepare an address to the members of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of Virginia, representing the condition of the Church,
and exhorting them to unite in its support."

Mr. Randolph also reported for a committee, declaring the willing-
ness of the Virginia Convention "to unite in a general ecclesiastical
convention with the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church."

Edmund Randolph was afterwards Governor of Virginia, and Attor-
ney-General and Secretary of State in Washington's Cabinet.

Mr. Buchanan's rectorship extended from 1785 to 1822. The most
fraternal relations existed between him and the Presbyterian minister.
Rev. John D. Blair. For a time there were alternating services with
the Presbyterians in the church. In 1790 the vestry gave permission
to any regular minister of any Christian denomination to use the coun-
try churches of the parish, when not used by Rev. Mr. Buctianan, or
any other minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

During part of Mr. Buchanan's ministry services were held in the
Capitol, as being more convenient to most of the congregation; but
the church was used "on Christmas, Easter and 'Whit Sunday, when
the Holy Communion was administered and conflrmations were held."

This faithful and much beloved pastor died in 1822, mourned by the
•whole community. He was buried beneath the chancel, to the right
of the communion table.

Rev. William H. Hart, who had been Dr. Buchanan's assistant for
seven years, was rector for the next six years. Under his ministry the
church prospered. Bishop Moore speaks of preaching in the church
to large congregations, and of "the present prosperous state of the
church."

Rev. William F. Lee was the next rector. To him we probably owe
the name "St. John's Church." The building had had many names—

55

"The New Church," "The Upper Church," "The Richmond Church," "The
Town Church," "The Church on Richmond Hill," "Henrico Church on
Richmond Hill," "The Church," "The Old Church," etc. The following
entry is found in the vestry-book shortly after Mr. Lee became rector:
"At a meeting of the vestry of Henrico Parish, at the lecture-room of
St. John's Church, Richmond, Saturday evening, April 25th, 1829," etc.

In the convention journal of that year this church is entered as
St. John's Church, Richmond, Henrico Parish.

In 1830 the church was enlarged by an addition to the nave. The
tower was probably built a few years later. The church passed through
many vicissitudes during the next forty-five years, under the rectorship
of the Revs. Edward W. Peet, 1830; Robert B. Croes, 1833; William H.
Hart, 1836; J. H. Morrison, 1843; Henry S. Kepler, 1848; J. T. Points,
1859; William C. Butler, 1860; William Norwood, 1862; Henry Wall,
18G8. In 1875 Rev. Alex. W. Weddell became rector. During his min-
istry the church was repaired and made more comfortable. By his
untiring energy and zeal, large numbers were added to the com-
munion, and the church again took rank with the first in the Diocesa

Rev. L. W. Burton, now Bishop of Lexington, succeeded Dr. WeddelT
as rector in 1884. The church continued to prosper, and its member-
ship was largely increased during his earnest and faithful rectorship
of nine years. During his ministry Weddell chapel and the Chapel of
the Good Shepherd were built.

Dr. Burton was succeeded in 1893 by the present rector.

The old mother church, including Weddell chapel, has the largest
communicant list in the Diocese. St. John's is the successor of Curie's
church, and that church succeeded the church of Whittaker at Hen-
ricopolis.

The bowl of the baptismal font of St. John's is a precious relic from
Curie's church. It was found in 1826 in the cellar of a house some
miles from the church. It had been used as a mortar for beating
hominy. Being much mutilated, it was reduced in diameter, but the
original shape was preserved. Dr. John Adams presented it to the
church.

In 1905 a commodious chancel, organ chamber, vestry-room and other
improvements were built on the south side of the old part of church.
The church is now cruciform, and points directly to the four points
of the compass. Standing in the middle of the old graveyard, shaded
by magnificent trees, surrounded by the busy city, the old church

56

stands as a connecting link with the earliest civil and ecclesiastical
history of our Commonwealth and nation; and as a witness to what
the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church have done
for the upbuilding of this people in liberty, broiherly love and "the
faith once delivered to the saints."

The Bishop of Southern Virginia, in an address delivered in St.
John's church on its 150th anniversary, .June 10th, 1891, states this very
remarl.able fact: Speaking of Richard Randolph, who superintended
the building of St. John's church in 1741, and Edmund Randolph, who
represented the church in the first convention of the Diocese, both
of them vestrymen, he says: "These men were great grandsons of
one of the earliest members of your parish. A simple, strong, true
man he must have been; out of his loins sprang three great men. He
was the ancestor of Chief Justice Marshall, the greatest jurist of
America. He was the ancestor of Thomas Jefferson, the greatest po-
litical thinker of America. He was the ancestor of Robert E. Lee,
the greatest soldier of America."

The ancestor of these three men lived in this parish, on the river,
just below Richmond.

The writer of this sketch gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to
Rt. Rev. L. 'W. Barton, D. D., for much of the information contained
therein.

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ELIZABETH CITY PARISH.
HAMPTON, VIRGINIA

BY THE BEV. BEVERDT ESTILL, D. D., RECTOS.

THE forefathers of our English Christianity came to this country
April, 1607, and landed first upon that point of land at the mouth
of the Chesapeake Bay, which is now so familiarly known as
Cape Henry, to which also they gave the name. After their
long voyage they revelled in the beauty of the verdure and in the
vastness of the wooded glory about them, feeling that they had come
upon a goodly land, while they dreamed of the wealth which should
come to them from so rich a soil. There they would have continaed
and planted the first colony upon so favorable a spot had not their
leader been enjoined to seek further inland for a more permanent
settlement, as the danger from their near neighbor and rival in the
scheme of American Colonization was imminent anywhere upon the
coast; a danger which might be escaped by sailing further up the
great body of water which came from the interior. They therefore
set sail in their three tiny ships and landed at a small village or
settlement of the Indians, called in their language Kecoughtan "The
town," says one of the authorities, "containeth eighteen houses, pleas-
antly seated upon three acres of ground, upon a plain half environed
by a great bay of the great River, the other part with a Baye of the
other river falling into the great baye, with a little isle fit for a castle
in the mouth thereof: The town adjoining the maine by a necke of
land sixty yards."

Captain John Smith gives a quaint yet interesting description of
the place: "The houses," says he, "are built like our arbors — of small
young springs (sprigs) bowed and tiede and so close covered with
moss or barks of trees, very handsomely, that notwithstanding either
wind, rain or weather, they are warm as stoves, but very smokey,
yet at the top of the houses there is a hole made for the smoke to
go into right over the fire." After this time the town was again
visited by the whites. He writes for instance of the year 1608: "Six
or seven days the extreme wind, frosts and snows caused us to keep
Christmas among the salvages where we were never merrier or fedde

58

on more plente of good oysters, fish, flesh, wilde fowl and good bread,
nor never had better fires in England than in the warm smokie houses
of Kecoughtan." It has "a convenient harbour for fisheries, boats
or small boats, that so conveniently turneth itself into Bayes and
Creeks that make that place very pleasant to inhabit. Their corn-
fields being girded thereon as peninsulars. The first, and next the
mouth, are the Kecoughtans, who beside their women and children,
have not pass twenty fighting men." Such a goodly place could
hardly escape the cupidity of the early settlers, and so we find them
1610 in possession of the mouth of the river, where upon either point
they built a fort and entered into permanent occupation.

With regard to the fruitfulness of the place, we find Sir Thomas
Dale writing from Jamestown in 1612: "To Kecoughtan we ac-
counted it fortie miles, where they live well with half that allowance
the rest have from the stores, because of the extraordinary quantities
of fish, fowls and deer." Under this view of the place, it is much
to be regretted that the Colonists did not settle here when they first
touched the land in 1607, instead of going on to the malarial, marshy,
sickly spot which they did select. Their early history might have
been spared the ghastly record of famine, fire, starvation and death,
which well-nigh brought the settlement at Jamestown to extinction.
At any rate, a permanent location was made at Kecoughtan in 1610,
and from that moment dates the history of the Church in Hampton.

It seems that the Indians, who dwelt upon the east side of the
South Hampton river or creek, which runs through the present town
(it is now called Hampton creek) were guilty of some serious depre-
dations that year, and had killed a prominent member of the Colony,
Humphrey Blunt by name. This so incensed the Governor that he
drove the tribe away, built the two forts mentioned at the mouth
of the river and named them, respectively, Henry and Charles, after
the sons of his Most Worshipful Majesty, King James I.

The Colonists evidently occupied the site of the ancient Indian
village and became heirs of all their possessions, where without doubt
the first church was built. There is left not a trace of this first
building in which the forefathers of the hamlet worshipped, except
a small clump of trees on what was once the glebe land of the
parish, now part of the estate of the Tabb family, just north of the
road which leads from Hampton to Old Point Comfort. The building
was supposedly of wood, as most of the Colonial houses were at first,

59

yet it answered the purposes for which it was^ erected and in which
the Colonists rejoiced to hold their services for many years. The
Rev. William Mease was the worthy rector from 1610 to 1G20, when
he was almost immediately succeeded by other like-minded godly men
in the rectorship.

We hear very little about either village or church until 1619,
except that Mr. John Rolfe states that in 1616 it was a place of twenty
inhabitants, who seemed to be more industrious than those who re-
mained at Jamestown, and were as a consequence reaping more of the
fruits of their labors. In the year 1619, when William Tucker and
William Capps represented it in the House of Burgesses, they were
commissioned to sue that body for a change of name. Says an old
chronicler of that event: "The year in the House of Burgesses when
Jamestown was twelve years old, I guess, some people in pious frame
of mind, took a spite at Kecoughtan name, and said a name so heathen
should not be for a people so pious as we, and suggesting some other
names, they made their grudges to old King James, and so the king
a new found, for this fine section and all around." We quite indorse
the sentiment immediately following in this statement and could
well wish that the pious scruples of our excellent first citizens might
have been shown in some less objectionable way; "but," says the record,
■with a fine touch of humor, "I will leave it to any man, was not
musical Kecoughtan, if not pious, as pretty as the name Elizabeth
City?"

This is interesting at least from the circumstance that it may fur-
nish a clue for the substitution of so many common-place English
names for the more beautiful designations employed by the savages.
James, for instance, as a name for the mighty stream which runs
through the country close at hand, is dear to us all from the asso-
ciations of these old days, when the English settled upon its banks,
and the stirring events of later fuller years; but these associations
would not have been the less dear had the earlier name Powhatan
been retained, while doubtless the present generation would have
known more of those doughty warriors whom the English replaced.
These ancient names will, in all probability, be brought to light in
the revival of historic interest now arisen concerning this section.
Will it be altogether too Quixotic for us to hope that some of them
at least will be restored to their original places and the meaningless
names now in use banished? The name Kecoughtan does not appear

60

regularly in legal documents from this time, but the common people
used it constantly in their speech and writings. The new name, Eliza-
beth City, was called after the daughter of King James I.

At that time the whole number of settlements was included in four
great corporations, of which Elizabeth City was one. This corpora-
tion was co-extensive with the parish. Among the early ministera
was one Jonas Stockton, who enjoyed the distinction of being, says
President Tyler, of William and Mary College, "the earliest exponent
of the idea that the only good Indian is a dead Indian." StocUton
had warned the settlers of the impending massacre of 1622, and it was
possibly while suffering from the panic of the times that he ad-
vanced the famous idea, for otherwise, from all accounts, he was a
godly and humane man

At this time. 1G23, there lived within the bounds of the parish the
first English couple married in Virginia, John Layden and Anna,
his wife, with their children, Virginia, Alice and Kathlene. It is also
to be noted that Virginia Layden was the first English child born
In America after Virginia Dare, born on Roanoke Island, Raleigh's
Colony, whose history ends with her birth. In 1624 another child
was born to these parents. Layden is listed as a carpenter, and his
wife, Anne Buras, as a ladies' maid.

The corporation of Elizabeth City developed into Elizabeth City
county in 1634, when, for the convenience of the inhabitants of Vir-
ginia, the whole country was divided into eight counties. The county
of Elizabeth City, however. Is now much smaller than it was at that
time, since it has lost large portions of its area to Norfolk, Nansemond
and Warwick counties, respectively. It is interesting to note when
Harvey became Govenior, on January 18, 1636-7, he read his new com-
mission in the church at Elizabeth City.

The town of Hampton, where the present St. John's church is lo-
cated, was founded by an act of the Legislature in 1680, though that
act was suspended and re-enacted in 1691 and again in 1705, whence
the legal existence of Hampton is dated. What became of the old
church in the meanwhile is problematical, since a writer In 1716.
while recording that it was a .j^^lace of some hundred houses, said
that it was without a church. Services were held at the court-house
with more or less frequency, first in the old. then in the new. This
might lead us to believe that the old church of Kecoughtan had dis-
appeared. That was probably the case at the time. The settlement

61

had changed, had been removed to the opposite side of the river, and
the old building, being disused, as was natural, went to decay. There
was a church, though, at Pembroke farm, about one mile west of the
present site of St. John's, where are the tombs of some of the older
inhabitants; among them "the tombs in black marble of Admiral
Neville, erected in 1697; of Thomas Curie, 1700; of Peter Hayman,
1700, and of the Rev. Andrew Thompson, 1719." This church was
new in the year 16C7, while the old church on the site of ancient
Kecoughtan was still standing. It was built of wood, the brick foun-
dation of which was thoroughly identified under the leadership of
the Rev. John C. McCabe in 1856.

It may be of interest to state that t^e site of this church, together
with a plot of ground adjoining and surrounding it of about nine acrea
In extent, is now owned by Elizabeth City Parish. This may have
been part of a glebe, though there are at present no available records
in evidence of this statement. It is the intention of the present
vestry to hold this property for a burial ground for the parish, and
to use it for that purpose when the present St. John's Cemetery has
no more available plots for interment. The records in the county
clerk's office show that in 1667 a certain Mr. Nicholas Baker was
buried in the new church at Kichotan, according to the terms of
his will, while a Mr. Robert Brough was buried in the old church
at Kichotan. This not only shows a curious revival or retention of
the Indian name, long discontinued as an official title, but also that
there were two churches in the parish at that date. What became of
the old church must, we suppose, be forever a mystery. Bishop
Meade, it seems, knew nothing of it. While he identifies the new
church at Pembroke with the present old St. John's church, it is need-
less to say that he is mistaken, as records now at hand abundantly
show Whether this was in ruins in the year 1706, when it is said
of Hampton "that it had no church," we do not know. At any rate,
it was at a distance too remote for the inhabitants of the then
thriving borough to attend. So there speedily arose a desire for a
new church more conveniently located. Unfortunately, there was some
diflerence of opinion with reference to the location, and the matter
being referred to the governor, it was decided by him that the church
should be built within the precincts ot the town of Hampton. It is
of record that at a "Court held Jan. 17, 1727— Present James Walker,
Joshua Curie, James Wallace, Wilson Cary, justices; Mr. Jacob Walker

62

and Mr. John Loury were appointed to lay off an acre and a half of
ground at the upper end of Queen street for the building of a church
thereon." This land joined the lot of one Proswells. and is the same
lot upon which the present church building stands. The minister and
church wardens of the parish, together with the aforesaid court,
entered into a contract with a Mr. Henry Gary to furnish him with
wood from the school grounds "at th> rate of sixpence per load to
burn bricks for the church." The bricks were to be English bricks;
that is to say, of the shape and character of those made in England.
Hence we suppose arose the fiction long indulged in that the church
and other early colonial buildings were built of bricks brought from
England. Until a few years ago there was a large hole in the church-
yard, wherein it is said the bricks were made and burned.

The parish henceforth increased gradually in strength and numbers
until the war of the Revolution, when the church met with such ir-
reverent use as befell many of our buildings during that sad time.
But after a short interval the services were renewed, and the sound
of the church-going bell was heard in the place, with tew intermissions,
until the war of 1812. The bell just mentioned was purchased for the
church from funds received from the sale of lands given by Mr.
Alexander Kennedy, in 1760, the parisn having entered into the con-
ditions made by Mr. Kennedy that the vestry and church wardens
should build a suitable belfry after his decease. This belfry was
struck by lightning during the period of the Revolution and the royal
coat of arms was hurled to the ground. Happily, only the tower was
damaged, but we can imagine the patriots shaking themselves with
glee over what many gathered to be an act of divine approval of
their cause. But the tower was again struck by lightning in 1844.
Was that, too, significant of later events? When Hampton was sacked
and plundered in 1812 by the British under Admiral Cockburn, the
church was desecrated and turned into a barrack. Great Indignity
was offered to the inhabitants by the troops, while the most un-
speakable crimes were wrought in the streets. Says Dr. McCabe;
"The Church of God was not spared during the saturnalia of lust and
violence. His temple was profaned and desecrated. It became a
refuge for the owls and the bats, while cattle roamed in the yard,
which was used as a slaughter ground for the butcher and the arena
for pugilistic contests. Thereafter a strange lethargy seems to have
settled upon the people. The church was gradually permitted to go

63

to decay, until, in 1824, there was nothing left of it but the bare
walls and a leaking roof, A most pathetic recital of the ruinous con-
dition of the building is given in a letter to Bishop Meade (see his
Old Churches, etc.. Vol. 1, p. 226) by one who saw this Zion in the
time of her humiliation. There were few loyal souls remaining who
longed and prayed for the restoration of the church which they were
to see again rise and become a blessing to the community. In 1824
Bishop Moore gave them the inspiration of his presence, and held a
service in the ruins, whereupon the work of restoration immediately
began, and was prosecuted vigorously to its completion. The happy
result occurred in 1827, when by action of the vestry the church
was named St. John's. Bishop Moore consecrated the building in
1S30.

Under a .succession of worthy ministers the church prospered until
1861. when it again fell on evil days. The Civil War had begun, when,
on the night of August the 7th and 8th, 1861, upon the approach
of the Federal forces, the inhabitants, under the command of General
Magruder, set fire to their own homes, in attestation of their loyalty
to the State and their confidence in the cause of the Confederacy,
and to prevent it falling into the hands of their enemies. In the
general conflagration the church was burned — only the walls were left
standing — when again it became a refuge for the owls and the bats.
Squatters, who quickly seized upon the land, built their shacks against
the walls and used the interior spaces to shelter their cattle. Only
a few houses in the town escaped the fire, and of these only one
stands to-day, but so altered as to be unrecognizable. Services were,
however, held in the parish at Old Point, when the town itself was
rebuilt, in the court-house and other such other places as were avail-
able. Then the lower story of Patrick Henry Hall, situated on the
west side of the court-house, was secured and fitted up as a chapel.
As soon as the people were able, after the rebuilding of their own
homes, in their poverty, yet in their faith, they set aoout the restora-
tion of the fire-scarred church. Tbe walls were intact, though the
roof and tower were gone. In 1869, under the ministration of the Rev.
Mr. McCarthy, a retired chaplain of the United States Army, who
freely and generously gave his services tor two years, the church
was finally completed, and again the walls that had passed through
so many vicissitudes rang with the songs of Zion. The church has
since greatly prospered in membership and good deeds, until now it

64

is one of the stronger parishes in the Diocese, itself a mother of
churches and fruitful of good works.

During the rectorship of the Rev. John J. Gravatt, who came to the
parish fresh from the Seminary in 1S7G, work was started in the
neighboring town of Newport News, which has developed into the
noble and vigorous church of St. Paul's, Warwick Parish, and of which
the Rev. A. O. Sykes, D. D., is the present rector. Under Mr. Gravatt,
also, vigorous work was prosecuted in Phoebus, although the present
beautiful chapel was completed under the rectorship of his imme-
diate successor. The parish greatly prospered under Mr. Gravatt's
leadership; the church was renovated, while a splendid stained glass
window was erected to the memory of Pocahontas, who worshipped,
no doubt, in the old church at Kecoughtan, while the commodious
parish house adjoining the church lot was conceived and completed
and the rectory was built. Mr. Gravatt resigned in iS93 to becom?
rector of Holy Trinity church, Richmond, Va., and was immediately
succeeded by the Rev. C. Braxton Bryan, D. D., who Look up the
work vigorously and intelligently, and continued it with great success
until 1905, when he resigned to become rector of Grace church, Peters-
burg. Mr. Bryan being an archfeologist of tried capacity and train-
ing, became at once interested in the history of so ancient a parish.
Among other important ventures in this direction, he caused to he
erected a window in the church to the memory of the Colonial clergy,
at a place near where the pulpit formerly stood. It was during his
incumbency that the present square tower was built at the southeast
corner of the chancel, without injury to the original walls; an organ
chamber added, in which was placed a new organ and a vested choir
installed. Special work among the negroes of the town was begun
by Mr. Gravatt in 1SS9 and renewed by Dr. Bryan in 1904, and has
continued with such success ever since that a chapel will soon bfc
commenced for those people's use.

In 1905, with the help of his capable assistant, the Rev. George F.
Rogers, Church work was begun in East Newport News, and now,
as the result of that endeavor, a building called Grace church is rapidly
approaching completion. The Rev. Henry J. Geiger is now the worthy
assistant of the parish in special charge of this work and the chape!
in Phcebus. In the year 1877 a very successful and unique work was
started among the Indians at the Hampton Normal School by tne
Rev. J. J. Gravatt, and faithfully earned on by the successive rectors

>

a

A
U

65

of the parish; thus reviving in these late days the original design
of the Colonists of instructing the natives in the principles of the
doctrine of Christ.

Thus has the parish prospered and grown under the blessing of
Providence. It has passed through three wars; fire, water and
rapine have fed upon it, but it remains to-day in the renewal of its
worth a strong and developing force for God and righteousness. There
Is in keeping of this parish and in constant use a Communion service
which was made in London in 1618; its history and description by
the Rev. Dr. Bryan is from an account furnished by him to the
Churchman, as follows, namely:

"THE CHALICE AND PATEN.

"They have been in longer use than any other English Church
vessels in America. They were given by Mrs. Mary Robinson, of
London, to a church endowed by her in Smith's Hundred in Virginia,
which lay in the part between the Chickahominy and the James, and
was later called South Hampton Hundred. This church was endowed
especially with the hope of converting the Indians, but the settlement
was almost completely destroyed by them in the great massacre of
1622, when these vessels were carried by Governor Yeardley to James-
town, and afterwards given to the parish of Elizabeth City. Here
they have survived many changes and chances, and as if in answer
to the prayer of her who gave them, ttey are now constantly used in
the administration of the Holy Communion to the many young Indian
communicants who attend St. John's from the Hampton Normal
School."

We subjoin a list of Colonial rectors and their successors from 1610
to the present time:

William Mease, 163 0-1620; George Keith, 1617-1625; Mr. Cisse;
Francis Bolton, 1621-1623; Mr. Fenton, 1624; Jonas Stockton, 1G27;
William Wilkenson, 1644; Fhilip Mallory, 1661; Justinian Aylmet,
1665-1667; Jeremiah Taylor, 1667; William Harris, 1675; John Page,
1677-1687; Cope D'Oyle, 1687-1691; James Wallace, 1691-1712; Andrew
Thompson, 1712-1719; James Falconer, 1720-1724; Thomas Peader,
1727; William Fyfe, 1731-1755; Thomas Warrington, 1756-1770; Wil-
liam Hubbard, temporary supply, 1770; William Selden, 1771-1783;
William Nixon, 1783; William Bland, 1786; Henry Skyrin, 1795; John
Jones Spooner, 1796-1799; Benjamin Brown, 1806; Robert Seymour

66

Synmis, ISOG; George Holson, ISIO; Mark L. Cheevers, 1827-1843;
John P. Bausman, 1843-1845; William K. Goode, 1845-1848; John C.

i\kCabe, 1850-1856; Mr. Harlow, , William F. M. Jacobs, 1858-

1861; John McCarthy, 18G9-1871; John J. Norwood, 1871-1872; William
Jarrett, 1873-1875; J. W. Keeble, 1875-1870; John J. Gravatt, 1876
1893; C. B. Bryan, 1893-1905; Reverdy Estill, July, 1905.

Of the Colonial clergy it is but fair to state that only one of the
whole number was reported for evil behavior, and I take it that this
is a fair sample of the lives of all such clergy in the Colonial days.
They have been, as a class, held up by partial historians for all sorts
of crimes and misdemeanors, but such charges will not stand for a
moment before the light of modern historical criticism. The Colonial
clergy are shown to be, not monsters of vice, or seekers after worldly
pleasure; they v.-ere with rare exceptions gentlemen, scholars, leaders
of the people in righteousness, and living clean, upright lives them-
.sielves. The slander has gone too long unrebuked; we have let our
enemies write our histories, and we have calmly submitted to their
misleading statements. The lives of our brethren of the past cry
out for vindication. Such lists as this in part furnish that vindica-
tion.

tt Is of interest to note that the oldest free school in the country
still exists in this parish, without a break in its history since the
year 1634. It is called the Symms-Eaton Free School, in memory
of Benjamin Symms, who left an estate for its founding in 1634, and
Thomas Eaton, who added to its endowment in 1634; it is now a
part of the public school system of the country, while a handsome
bnilding bears the name of the original donors. It has been pointed
out that the Communion service is the oldest in this country; it
must also be said that the parish of Elizabeth City is the most ancient
in continuous existence, while Hampton itself is the oldest English set-
tlement in America, and has earned because of its struggles and vicis-
situdes the soubriquet "The Gamecock Town."

The following list of known vestrymen who served tlie parish from
1751 to 1855 will doubtless he of interest to a large number of their de-
scendants. The records of those who served before have been long
.^ince irrevocably lost:

F'^rom 1751 to 1771 — Colonial Period.— Merritt Sweeny, Robert Armis-
tra ri, John Allen, Anthony Tucker, Baldwin Shepherd. Thomas Latimer,
•lohn Westwood Armistead, John Moore. Jacob Walker, William Par-

67

sons, William Wager, Jotin Tabb, Jr., James Wallace, William Latimer,
Charles Ward, Booth Armistead, George Wray, Henry King, Wilson
Miles Gary, William Mallory, Joseph Seldon, Miles King, Gary Seldon.

Prom May, 1771 to 1784 — Revolutionary Period. — Robert Armistead,
William Wager, Henry King, Joseph Seldon, James Wallace, Miles
King, John Tabb, Gary Selden, William Armistead, William Latimer,
William Mallory, Wilson Miles Gary, Worlich Westwood, Francis Mal-
lory, George Latimer, W. W. Curie, John Wray, William Armistead
Bagley, Robert Bright.

From November 27, 1806, to 1810. — Charles Jennings, Robert Armis-
tead, John Cooper, James Latimer, Thomas Watts, Samuel Watts, Miles
Gary, Thomas Jones, Jr., John Shepard, Thomas B. Armistead, William
Lowry, Benjamin Phillips, William Armistead, Thomas Latimer, Jr.,
Robert Lively, John Carey.

From August 19, 1826, to 1855. — Robert Lively, Samuel Watts,
Thomas Latimer, Dr. William Hope, John W. Jones, William Jennings,
Giles A. Gary, Thomas Hope, John Herbert, Dr. Richard G. Banks, John
F. Wray, Richard B. Servant.

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. ELIZABETH RIVER PARISH,
NORFOLK. VIRGINIA.

BY THE BISHOP-COADJUTOR OF SOUTHERN VIRGINIA.

THE Exposition wtiich is to commemorate the three hundredth
anniversary of the first settlement of the English at Jamestown
is located at Sewell's Point, in Norfolk county, Va. This was
the site of one of the earliest of our Colonial churches, the par-
ish church of Elizabeth River parish. The beginnings of the nation cor-
respond with the beginnings of the Church in America, and the place
where the opening scenes in the life of the nation will be commemo-
rated will be full of associations connected with the first planting of the
Church.

The settlement in what is now Norfolk county must have been very
soon after the permanent establishment of the Colony at Jamestown.
The records of Norfolk county show that in 1C37 there were two well-
organized churches, one in the lower part of the county, on Lynnhaven
Bay, and the other at "McSewell's Point." This served as the parish
church until late in the seventeenth century. Before 1638, however,
the settlement at Elizabeth River, the site of the present town of Nor-
folk, had so largely increased that the inhabitants found it difficult
to attend the parish church, a distance of eight miles. As seen by
the following order this inconvenience was sought to be remedied by
the erection of a chapel of ease at Elizabeth River:

(From Record of Norfolk County.)
"At a Court holden in the Lower County of New Norfolke 21 of
November 1638.

"Capt. Adam Thorowgood, Esq., Capt. John Sibsey, Mr. Willie Julian,
Mr. Edward Windha, Mr. Francis Mason, Mr. Henry Seawell.

"Whereas there hath beene an order of Court granted by the Gov-
ernor and Counsell for the Building and erecting of a Church in the
upper * * * of this County w-ith a reference to the Commander
and Commissioners of sd County for appointing of a place fitting and
convenient for the situation and building thereof, the sd order being
In part not accomplish. But standing now in elsortion to be voyde

69

and the work to fall Into mine. We now the sd Commissioners tak-
ing it into consideration doe appoint Captain John Sibsey and Henry
Seawell to procure workmen for the finishing of the same and what
they shall agree for with the sd workmen to be levied by the appoint-
ment of us the Commissioners."

The building of this chapel of ease did not progress rapidly. The
Rev. John Wilson was rector of the parish in 1637. Several orders
of the court mention him as such, one requiring him to pay certain
debts he had contracted, and another directing that certain provision
be made for the payment of tithes due him. It is evident from this
that the parson was as much sinned against as he was a sinner in
respect to indebtedness. John Wilson died before the 25th of May,
1640. On July 6, 1640, there is an order of court directing his debts
to be paid out of the uncollected tithes due his estate.

This is all that we know of him. There is nothing to indicate that
he was not faitnful in his ministry in those difficult days of early
civilization, though he seems to have been an inexperienced financier.
In judging such men from the scanty records which are left, we
ought to be careful to weigh our judgments by the standards of their
day and generation, and to remember that of them it may be especially
said:

"The evil men do lives after them.
The good is oft interred with their bones."

After the death of John Wilson steps were taken to secure another
minister, and also to finish the long-needed "Chappell of Ease," as
seen in the following order. It will be observed with what seeming
recklessness, as in all contemporary records, capitals were used, God
being spelt with a little g, and inhabitants with a big I:

"At a Courte houlden att Wm. Shipps the 25th day of May, 1640.

Captain Thomas Willoughbie, Esq., Capt. Jno. Sibsey, Lleftent ffians
Mason, Mr. Hennie Sewell, McWm. Julian.

"Whereas the Inhabitants of this Parishe beinge this day convented
for the findlnge of themselves an able minister to instructe them
concerninge their souls health, mr. Thomas Harrison tharto hath ten-
dered his srvlce to god and the said Inhabitants in that behalf, wch
his said tender is well liked of, with great approbacon of the said
Inhabitants, the prshoners of the Parrish churce at mr. Sewell's Pointe,
who to certifie their zeale and willingness to pmote god's service do
hereby pmise (and the Court now sittinge doth likewise order and es-

70

tablish the same) to pay one hundreth pounds sterlinge yearly to tbe
sd mr. Harrison, so Longe as he shall continue a minister to the said
Parrishe, in recompence of his paines, and in full satisfaccon of his
tytes, within his Limitts wch is to be payed to him as ffolloweth."

Here follow amounts to be paid by the inhabitants of the different
parts of the parish; and then comes this entry, which is the first in-
formation in regard to the building of a church in Elizabeth River:

"Whereas there is a difference amongst the Inhabitants of the ffore-
eaid Pishe, concerninge the employinge of a minister beinge now
entertayned to live among them. The Inhabitants from Dauyell Tan-
ners Creeke and upwards the three branches of Elizabeth River (in
respect they are the greatest number of tithable persons) not thing-
inge it fitt nor equall that they should paj'e the greatest pte of one
hundred pounds wit is thafflore sd order allotted for the ministers an-
nuall stipend unless the sd minister may teach and Instruct them
as often as hee shall teach at ye pishe church siytuate at Mr. Sewells
Pointe. It is therefore agreed amongst the Sd Inhabitants that the
sd minister shall teach evie other Sunday amongst the Inhabitants
of Elizabeth River at the house of Robert Glascocke untill a convenient
church be built and erected there for gods Service witt it is agreed
to be finished at the charge of the Inhabitants of Elizabeth River be-
fore the first of May next ensuenge."

The work of building went along slowly. The workmen were
abused by one Mr. Hayes as "a company of Jackanapesses," for not
making greater progress. Lillie, who was the builder, sued for slan-
der and testified that his work could not go forward for want of nayles
and other iron work.
The following order shows that the church was nearing completion:
"At a Court held May 2nd, 1641, Whereas there was an order of
Court granted by the Govr and Councell & derected to the Commander
of this County that theire pishe Church should be erected & built at
Mr. Seawells poynt, at the cost & charges of the Inhabitants, and was
also agreed on by the said Inhabitants that a Chappell of Ease should
be built in Elizabeth River at the charges of pticular famalies sittu-
ated in the Aforesaid River by Reason of the Remote Plantations
from the aforesaid pishe Church. It is therefore ordered that at noe
time after the date heire of theire shall be any vestry chossen nor helld
at the aforesaid Chappell, but that the said Chappell shall be accompted
a Chappell of ease, but no pishe Church, and that the vestry shall

71

ever hereafter be chossen & held at the aforesaid pishe Church: pro-
vided that theire priveledge in the ministracion be a like and the
charges in the * * * Minister every other Sunday until the aforesaid
pishe Church be equally levied upon every tithable pson and iuhabi-
tinne In this the aforesaid pishe."

An entry of October, 1641, shows that at that time the Chapel of
Ease was fully completed. As an order was issued directing that a
certain person should make amends for scandalous conduct by sitting
upon a stool at the head of the aisle for two successive Sundays.

There Is every indication that this first church was on the site of
the present St. Paul's, as the place was a cemetery long before the
erection of the later building in 1739. For nearly a century it served
as the church house to the citizens of the earlier Norfolk. T/ho shall
tell how far its services and ministrations to holy things went into
the making of our forefathers for three generations; how far they
helped to give the tone to that earlier civilization, to fit the inen of
that day for the service of their God and their country?

Of the ministers of the seventeenth century we know of John "Wil-
son, who was rector in 1637, but how long before we do not know He
died in 1640 and was succeeded by the Rev. James Plarrison. His
ministry lasted until 1644. The name of his successor is not given,
but he proved unworthy of his holy office, though as set forth in an
order of court 10th November, 1649, he openly acknowledged that he
had committed the grievous sin of adultery. He was ordered to make
public confession in both churches two several Sundays. In 1654 the
parish is without a minister, and steps are taken to secure one, a
vestry being ordered for Thursday after Christmas. He was to re-
ceive 10,000 pounds of tobacco. The Rev. William Wern was rector
in 16S0, but when he took charge is not knowii, Mr. Wern is the last
minister of whom we have the record in the -sfeventeenth century. In
1682 Captain Samuel Boush gave a chalice to tfa^ church In Norfolk,

We know but little of the history of St. Ba..;l's in the beginning of
the eighteenth century. The first ministei mentioned is the Rev.
James Falconer in 1722. How long he had been in charge we do not
know. He was succeeded in 1724 by the Rev. Mr. Garzia, who came
with very high recommendations to the Governor of the Colony, and
who is always highly spoken of. The Rev. Moses Robertson was rec-
tor in 1734.

In 1739 the present church was erected. The church which pre-

72

ceded was probably built of bricks, for in 1749 an order in the vestry
book directs that the bricks and timber of the old church be given to
Jamee Pasteur for the erection of a scliool-house. The present building
is veiy pleasing in its proportions, following, except for the ceiling
of the interior, which was changed, the simple Norman lines of many
of the village churches of the period in Old England. The date 1739
appears in raised brick on the south wall, and below are the letters
S. B., supposed to designate Samuel Boush, who is said to have given
the land for the church. Father and son of that name were vestry-
men of the church. About this time the church bears the name of the
Borough of the Parish church. It may be that the church at Sewell's
Point had passed into disuse, and that the chapel of ease had entered
upon the full dignity of the parish church. In 1749 the Rev. Charles
Smith is rector, and probably was for several years before. The re-
cords of the vestry only dated from 1749 to 1761, when the parish was
divided. Mr. Smith seems to have been a man of piety and good
character. On the division of the parish he took charge of Ports-
mouth, and died as rector there 11th January, 1773, after a faithful
and godly ministry of thirty years. In 1761 the parish was divided
into Norfolk, St. Bride's (Berkeley) and Portsmouth. The first minis-
ter after the division whose name has been preserved was the Rev.
Thomas Davis — 1773 to 1776. At the breaking out of the war he was
one of the most ardent patriots, president of the Sons of Liberty.
Despite the statement of the historians, a careful study of the records
will show that the large majority of the clergymen in charge of the
Episcopal churches in Virginia at the breaking out of the war were
true to the American cause, and that a bare handful were loyalists. The
contrary is one of the flagrant mistakes of history which the facts
contradict.

With the opening of the year 1776 there came sad days to St. Paul's.
The bombardment of the town by the fleet of Lord Dunmore, and the
firing of the homes left the place in ruins. St. Paul's did not escape.
The interior was burned out, but the walls, built strong and true, re-
mained intact save for the scar of a ball from the frigate Liverpool,
which can be seen to-day cemented in the indenture it made. With
the church were lost the ancient records and many things that linked
it with the past. The church was partially restored after the disaster
to the town, and the Rev. Walker Maury was minister from 1786 to
1788. He was of the French Huguenot stock, connected with the Fon-

73

taines; a man of pure life and earnest zeal. He died of yellow fever,
October 11, 1788.

Prom 1789 to 1791 the Rev. James Whitehead was rector of Elizabeth
River parish. He was an excellent man, esteemed for his earnestness.
Unfortunately the claim to the rectorship was disputed by the Rev.
William Bland. The latter was an ardent patriot, but a man of in-
temperate habits. The two parsons had separate vestries and held
alternate services in the old church. At last, in 1800, Mr. Whitehead
and his numerous friends withdrew and left Mr. Bland in possession
of St. Paul's, whilst they built on Church street the First Christ church,
at a cost of ?16,000.

Soon after this Mr. Bland seems to have left Norfolk, and the old
church was used by the Baptists for a while, and then by the colored
people of that church, and finally abandoned. In 1832, however, in
response to a call from a number of prominent Episcopalians, the con-
gregation was reorganized, the church repaired, and solemnly conse-
crated by the name of St. Paul's, by Bishop Moore. In the same year
it entered upon a new life.

The first rector after the restoration was the Rev. Ebenezer Boyden,
honored and revered for a long life of godly service in the Diocese of
Virginia. It was a day of small things, of struggle with financial prob-
lems, but the work went bravely on. Mr. Boyden meekly asked per-
mission of the vestry to wear the surplice in the performance of divine
services. They gave permission with the proviso that its use should
be discontinued if objection were made. Mr. Boyden served from 1833
to 1835. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson, afterwards the distinguished
Bishop of North Carolina, was in charge from 1837 to 1838. During a
part of 1838 the Rev. Joseph P. Wilmer, afterwards Bishop of Louisi-
ana, served as rector. After difficulty in securing a rector, the Rev.
Benjamin W. Miller, of the Eastern Shore, came to St. Paul's, and
until 1849 did faithful service. His ministry made a good impression
and the church strengthened. The Rev. Leonidas T. Smith was in tem-
porary charge in 1845, when the Rev. David Caldwell came. He was a
man of fine intellect, of gentle nature, strong as a preacher and loving
as a pastor. His health, however, was feeble, and he left the congre-
gation who loved him so well, to seek health in a more Southern cli-
mate. Plis memory is still held dear by the older generation.

In 1849 the Rev. William M. Jackson began a faithful ministry, which
ended with his death, as a martyr to duty, during the yellow fever epl-

74

demic of 1855. His ministry was effectual, and when the time came
that tried men's souls, he gave himself day and night to the care of the
sick and the burying of the dead. He did his work with a courage
and devotion which seemed inspired, and then succumbed to the dread
disease. He was laid to rest by his faithful brethren, the Rev. Aris-
tides Smith and the Rev. Lewis Walke.

It was no easy task to make the church once more a power for good
In the community. But a man of God was sent, whose consecrated
faith was only equalled by the unflinching courage he brought to the
task, and with which he met the still greater trials the near future had
in charge for old St. Paul's — Nicholas Albertson Okeson, a man of
strong individuality, unsparing in his judgment of sin, but full of wo-
manly sympathy and tenderness for the poor and sinful. As a preach-
er he was strong, original, incisive, blunt at times, like Latimer. He
took such hold of the people, not only of his own congregation, but of
the community, that it will not soon lose the impress of his character.
Blessed with such a minister, the church was beginning to revive and
flourish, when war once more thundered in Norfolk harbor, and the
flock was again scattered.

After the capture of Norfolk by the Federals, the church was
taken possession of by the military forces, and Dr. Okeson was asked
by the congregation of Christ church, then vacant, to take temporary
charge. He went with the remnant of his people, and the two congre-
gations worshipped together during those trying times.

The following oflicial orders tell the story of the seizure and the
restoration of the church:

Headquarters Nobfolk and Portsmouth, Oct. 29, 1863.

To the Wardens of St. Paul's Church, NorfolTc:

Gents, — I am directed by the General commanding to notify you
that it is necessary for the public service that he should provide a suit-
able place for the performance of religious service for the benefit of
the officers and men under his command.

He has selected for this purpose St. Paul's, in this city, and shall re-
quire it immediately. The service will be according to the ritual of the
Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. I am also directed
to state that the commanding General will hear you, should you desire

75

to confer with him on the subject, at 12 o'clock M. to-morrow at these
headquarters.

I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obdt. servt.,

Geokge H. Johnston, Capt. and A. A. Gen.
Special Order No. 46.

Norfolk, Va., Nov, 1, 1SG5.

St. Paul's church, of Norfolk, "Virginia, being no longer needed by
the military authorities, is hereby turned over to the old Presbytery
and congregation.

By order of Brevet Major-Gen. A. A. Torbert.

John L. Warden, Je., Asst. Adj. -Gen.

When the war was over, the minister and congregation bent their
energies to the work of restoration and repair. Money had to be raised
to make the church habitable, and money in such a community was
scarce; but love for the old church and devotion to the Lord accom-
plished much, and a few years saw the parish prosperous as it had
never been before. Dr. Okeson resolved to make the churchyard,
which comprises nearly two acres, equal to the fairest he had seen in
the mother country. The grand old elms and willows were there al-
ready; but it is to his skill and labor that we owe the wealth of ever-
green, the preservation of the monuments, whose scars he taught the
kindly ivy to hide, and the flowers and shrubbery which make St.
Paul's churchyard so fair and restful a place. There, when his work
was finished, he was laid to rest, by special consent of the city au-
thorities, among the dead whose graves he had saved from desecra-
tion, and under the shadow of the wall which echoed to his faithful
preaching of the gospel of Christ.

In December, 1882, the Rev. Beverley Dandridge Tucker succeeded
Dr. Okeson, coming from Lunenburg and North Parnham parishes,
Virginia. The devotion and zeal of the congregation has enabled him
to carry on the work so faithfully done by the godly man who pre-
ceded. The election of Dr. Tucker as Bishop-Coadjutor of Southern
Virginia terminates a ministry of twenty-four years.

The interior of the church, which had been much changed, was re-
stored in 1S92, and the detached tower built in 1901. The church has
the beginning of an endowment, and is well equipped to continue its
work for the cure of souls, and to the glory of God.

The following notes may be of interest in connection with this
sketch of old St. Paul's:

76

Eev. M. E. Willig was the Federal chaplain whilst the church was
in the possession of the military authorities. Rev. Dr. Okeson, of St.
Paul's, acted through that period as rector of Christ church, Norfolk,
ministering to the people of both congregations. It is pleasing to re-
cord that during the past year the Federal government, through the
Court of Claims and Congress, reimbursed St. Paul's church for the
losses incurred by the occupation of the edifice by the military author-
ities. The amount refunded was ?3,600.

John Hancock's Chair.

A highly interesting relic at St. Paul's is the chair In which John
Hancock sat when he signed the Declaration of American Indepen-
dence. It is a mahogany arm-chair, upholstered in leather, and upon
it is a silver plate bearing the following inscription:

"This chair was occupied by John Hancock when he signed the Dec-
laration of Independence. It was bought by Colonel Thomas M. Bay-
ly, of Accomac county, Va. At his death it became the property of
his daughter Ann, who subsequently intermarried with the Rev. Ben-
jamin M. Miller, once rector of St. Paul's church, Norfolk, Va., who
presented it to the parish."

Comparatively few people know that this chair is In St. Paul's. It
is in the vestry room, and to those who have their attention attracted
to it, it appeals with great interest.

The Marble Font.

The marble font in the church is a copy of one given by "King"
Carter to Christ church in Lancaster county, Va., in 1734. The bowl
is upheld by three cherubs. The font was carved by a Danish artist
in New York, and was presented to the church by the late Mrs. Sarah
P. Pegram. who also gave the Holy Table, which is a copy of one In
Yorkshire, England, of the date of 1680. The table is of English oak.

Vesteymen of the Parish.

The following is a list of the vestrymen of St. Paul's church, Eliza-
beth River parish, at certain crucial periods of its history — the building
of the present church, the reorganization in 1832 and in 1865, and the
Improvements in 1892:

1749— Rev. Charles Smith, Col. George Newton, Col. William Craf-
tord. Col. Samuel Boush. Capt. William Hodges, Capt. Willis Wilson,

77

Warden, Capt. John Phipp, 'Warden, Mr. Charles Sweny, Capt. James
Joy, Mr. Samuel Boush.

1832 — William H. Thompson, Treasurer, Richard B. Maury, Secre-
tary, George Rowland, Alpheus Forbes, Alexander Gait.

1865— Rev. N. A. Okeson, William W. Lamb, William H. Smith, Dr.
Robert B. Tunstall, William T. Harrison, Alfred L. Seabury, Richard
H. Baker, Jr.

1892— Rev. Beverley D. Tucker, Richard H. Baker, Warden, James
Y. Leigh, Warden, Caldwell Hardy, Registrar, Walter F. Irvine, Treas-
urer, B. Atkinson Marsden, Capt. Robert B. Pegram, Richard B. Tun-
stall, Adam Tredwell, Dr. Herbert M. Nash.

The Olb Cannon Ball.

One of the most interesting features of the church is the cannon
ball fired by Lord Dunmore, the last Colonial Governor of Virginia,
during his bombardment of Norfolk In 1776. The ball, after striking
the church, fell to the ground beneath, and was covered up there for
many years, remaining buried in the earth till 1848. The Daily South-
ern Argus, a newspaper published in Norfolk, gave, in its issue of
Saturday, May 13, 1848, an account of "the recent finding" of the ball
in the earth beneath the indenture which it had made in the wall
of the church where it first struck. This account says the ball was
found about two feet below the surface of the ground immediately
under the indenture in the wall. The ball was replaced in the inden-
ture and there cemented, where it now attracts much attention and
interest from tourists, thousands of whom visit the church every
year — being located on tne south side of the church, just at the corner,
near Church street. It is marked by a plate on which is the inscrip-
tion:

Fired By

Lord Dunmore,

Jan. 1. 1776.

This plate was placed there in 1901 by Great Bridge Chapter, Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution. The bombardment above referred to
occurred between three and four o'clock in the afternoon of Monday,
January 1, 1776, the first gun being fired by the warship "Liverpool."
The ball which struck the church is reputed to have been fired by the
"Liverpool."

78

Memorial Windows.

In the church are four beautiful windows, two in the rear of the
chancel and two on the north side of the nave. Those back of the
chancel are Inscribed as follows:

"To the glory of God and to the memory of the Reverend William
Myers Jackson. Born Oct. 19th, 1809. Died Oct. 3d, 1855. (On this
window is a representation of St. John on Patmos receiving the revela-
tion from an angel.)

"To the glory of God and to the memory of the Reverend Nicholas
Albertson Okeson. Born Nov. 5th, 1819. Died Sept. 16th, 1882. (On
this window is a representation of St. Paul on Mars Hill.)

The Old Tombs.

At St. Paul's is a book containing the record of inscriptions on the
tombstones in the yard of the church. This book was gotten up by
the Bishop Randolph Chapter, Daughters of the King, 1902. It is in-
dexed and is very handy. It shows that there are 265 tojubs in the
churchyard. Many others have disappeared.

The oldest tomb in the churchyard is on the south side of the church,
and bears the following Inscription: "Here lies the body of Dorothy
Parrell who deceased the 18th of January 1673."

Another of the older and most striking tombs is inscribed as fol-
lows: "Here Lyeth The Body of John Taylor Merchant in Norfolk.
Born In The Parish of Fintrie In The County Of Stirling In 1694. And
Died On The 25th Of October 1744 In The 51st Year Of His Age."
Coat of Arms cut with motto, "Fide et Fiducia." This inscription
was restored by his great-great-grandson, F. S. Taylor, of Norfolk,
in 1892.

The latest tomb in the churchyard is inscribed as follows: "Nicholas
Albertson Okeson. Born Nov. 1819. Died Sept. 16, 1882. An earnest
and zealous minister of the Gospel of Christ and for 26 years the
faithful and beloved Rector of this church. 'They that turn many to
righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever. Hold fast
the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and
love which is in Christ Jesus.' — 2d Tim. 1: 13."

On the urn at the foot of Rev. Dr. Okeson's grave is the following
inscription: "Affection's Offering From The Children's Aid Society
of St. Paul's Church to the memory of their late beloved pastor Rev.
N. A. Okeson, D. D."

79

In the churchyard is an old tombstone that does net mark a grave.
It is inscribed as follows:

Coat of arms. "Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, the wife of the
Honorable Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., who departed this life the second
day of November One Thousand Six Hundred and Ninety-One, in the
Sixty-Second year of her age." This tomb was brought from King's
Creek, James River, at request of Rev. N. A. Okeson, D. D. Elizabeth
Bacon was the wife of Col. Nathaniel Bacon. He was President of
the Virginia Council and a cousin of young Nathaniel Bacon, the
patriot of 1675. She was a daughter of Richard Kingswell, gent, and
was married first to Capt. William Taylor, also member of Virginia
Council.

Some Old Records.

The following are some interesting entries in the old vestry book
of 1749:

1751 — Received into the vestry, of Capt. Geo. Whitwell, commander
of his Majesty's ship Triton, a silver plate as a compliment for his
wife, Mary Whitwell, being interred in this church.

Ordered Mr. Matt. Godfrey, Mr. William Nash, Capt. Trimigan
Tatem, and Mr. William Ashley shall have leave and are hereby em-
powered to build a gallery in the church in Norfolk Town reaching
from the Pulpit to the School Boys Gallery equally between them and
their heirs forever to have and to hold.

THE OLD BRICK CHURCH. ISLE OF WIGHT
COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BY RICHARD S. THOMAS, OF SMITHFIELD, VA.

^ p^HE Indian name for the county of Isle of Wight was Warros
quyoake, spelt in some sixteen or seventeen different ways.
The first English settlement of this county was made by Cap-
tain Christopher Lawne and his party In April, 1619. He landed at
Jamestown, on the 27th of that month. They settled; at the point of
land in Isle of Wight, then and ever since known as "Lawne's Point"
(.Pleven miles from Jamestown), which is separated from the county
of Surry by a creek still called "Lawne's Creek," and the Point is
bounded on the north and west by Lawne's Creek, and on the east and
south by James river.

"Sir Richard Worsleep, Knight Baronet, Nathaniel Basse, gentlemen,
John Hobson, gentleman. An the: Oleuan, Richard Wiseman, Robert
Newlan, Robert Gyner and William Wells" were "Associates and fellow
Adventurers with Captain Christopher Lawne." Captain Christopher
Lawne and Ensign Washer represented "Captain Lawne's Plantations"
In the first General Assembly of Virginia, held on the 30th day of July,
1619. They had, in human probability, gained their military reputa-
tion in the war in the Netherlands, when and where the Protestant
forces of Elizabeth aided those of Netherlands In repelling the Catholic
forces of Spain.

Captain Lawne was nobly worthy of larger mentioni than was made
of him by William Wirt Henry, in his splendid description of that first
General Assembly of Virginia, which Is published in the Virginia Mag-
azine of History, July, 1894.

Captain Lawne was as distinguished In letters as he was in arms.
Kis two books (1) "The Profane Schism of the Brownists," or Separa-
tists; "with the impiety, dissensions, lewd and abominable vices, of
that impure sect," in 16:2; auu (2), "Brownism Turned the Inside
Outward. Being a Parallel between Proffession and Practice of the
Brownist Religion," in 1613; both being a description of the "Ancient
Exiled Church at Amstradam," which they bitterly assailed but could
not refute, attest his great literary ability and his devotion to the
Church of England.

81

Christoptier Lawne did not live long enough, to make any decided im-
pression on the Colony. He died in less than a year, probably, after
his arrival; tor at a General Quarterly Court held in London on the
28th day of June, 1620, there was a petition from his executors to be
relieved of some freight "on 800 weight of tobacco," because of "the
gieat charge and loss the said Mr. Lawne hath been putt unto and sus-
ttyned in his private Plantation."

There has been a determined and persistent effort made by E. D. Neil
and his sympathizers to represent the first settlers in this county as
Puritans. They are perfectly welcome to all of the consolation they can
get out of the boolcs of Lawne, and out of the Acts of that first General
Assembly of Virginia in 1619.

Upon the petition of Sir Richard Worsleep, Knight Baronet, Nathan-
iel Basse and others presented to the Court at London on the 4th day
of November, 1620, permission was given them to call the plantation
'The Isle of Wight Plantation, provided that the heirs of the said
Christopher Lawne be in no way prejudiced thereby." Notwithstand-
ing this petition, the county retained its Indian name until it was
changed to Isle of Wight by the General Assembly in 1637.

Any one who has sailed up Southampton river and has seen the
high chalk cliffs of the Isle of Wight, England, and has sailed up the
James and has seen the high cliffs of Isle of Wight at Day's Neck, will
see a very striking resemblance between the two, and will see a strong
physical reason for the name. Besides this, the Worsley family just
above mentioned lived in the Isle of Wight, England. Sir Richard
Worsley was knighted at White Hall on the 8th of February, 1611. On
the highest point of the Park of Appuldurcombie, is a granite obelisk,
70 feet high, partly destroyed, erected to the memory of Sir Robert
Worsley, the author of a complete history of the Isle of Wight, England.
Newport, the capital of Isle of Wight, lies on the Medina, which is
navigable to that point. The bearing of this will be shown after
awhile.

Upon the 24th of October, 1621, a patent was granted to Edward Ben-
nett, "a gentleman who had deserved singularly well of the company
before he was a member thereof," who now joins with Robert Bennett,
his brother, Richard Bennett, bis nephew, Mr. Wiseman, Mr. Ayers, and
divers other associates, and they engage to transport one hundred per>
Bons to Virginia. They came ever in the Sea Flower, In February, 1622,
with one hundred and twenty settlers, among whom were the Rev.

82

William Bennett and George Harrison, relatives of Edward Bennett,
and Ralph Hamor, one of the Council.

The Plantation of Christopher Lawne and his successors extended
from Lawn's Point along the shore of James river for six miles to Bur-
well's Bay; thence along the same shore for four miles to "The Rocks."
The Plantation of Edward Bennett extended from "The Rocks" along
the shore of the same river for two miles including all of the land now
known as Day's Neck. In this Neck, made by the waters of the James
river on one side and Pagan creek on the other, and on that portion
of Pagan creek called now Tormentor's Bay, was "Basse's Choice," then
and now the choice portion of that Neck of some twenty-five hundred
acres. Population increased in the county so rapidly between May,
1619, and March the 22d, 1622, that it extended from "Lawne's Point" to
and inclusive of "Day's Neck," a distance of twelve miles. On that day
there was killed in the Indian massacre of March, 1622, on Edward
Bennett's Plantation alone, fifty-four people, among whom were Ensigne
Harrison and Mistress Harrison. How bravely they all defended them-
selves may be seen in the thrilling narrative in Captain Smith's Gen-
eral History.

The Massacre checked but it did not stop emigration. By 1632 it had
flowed on across Pagan creek, Jones' creek, down to Chuckatuck creek
which divides the county of Isle of Wight from Nansemond on the
south; up that creek by Brewer's creek to the Nansemond line on the
west. In the last section of the county, most probably, lived one Joseph
Bridger. His son, General Joseph Bridger, died on his White Marsh
farm, on the 15th day of April, 1686, aged 58 years. This farm is lo-
cated on Brewer's creek, and Captain James T. Davis, who now owns
the farm, sails his vessels regularly from his wharf on that farm to
Norfolk and elsewhere.

It was Joseph Bridger, the father of General Joseph Bridger, who
superintended the building of the Old Brick Church, distant only some
four or five miles from Smithfield, and right on the main county road
to Suffolk.

In 1781, when the Court-House of the county was in the town of
Smithfield, Nathaniel Burw-till was clerk, and Francis Young was his
deputy. As Nathaniel Burwell was not in the county, and Francis
Young was in the regiment of General John Scarsbrook Wills, his wife,
hearing that Tarleton intended to make a raid on Smithfield to destroy
the county records, took them and buried them on that portion of the
farm now belonging to John F. Scott, which lies nearest to the mill-

83

pond, In a trunk which is now In the clerk's office of this county. When
these books were exhumed some of them were very damp. One of the<;o
was the vestry book, known as Vestry Book No. 1. It finally went all
to pieces. Nathaniel Burwell never returned to the county. Francis
Young succeeded him as clerk, and Nathaniel Young, his son, became
his deputy. Nathaniel P. Young was his son, and the late Dr. John R
Purdie was his nephew. They both stated to me time and time again,
verbally and in writing, for publication in 1891, that Nathaniel Young,
the son of Francis, frequently saw Vestry Book No. 1 before it became
illegible and crumbled into dust; and frequently read the statements
in it that the Old Brick Church was built in 1632. Vestry Book No. 2
beginning in 1724, in a damaged condition, is still in existence. It has
many allusions in it to the Old Brick Church; and the vestrymen here-
inafter mentioned were the vestrymen of that Old Church. Colonel
Joseph Bridger, a great-grandson of the Joseph Bridger who superin-
tended the construction of the church, was a vestryman of the Old
Brick Church from 1757 to 1769. His widow married Colonel Josiah
Parker on the 17th of June, 1773. Their daughter, Anne Pierce Par-
ker, married Captain William B. Cowper, of the United States Navy,
and died In March, 1894. She was the custodian of the Bridger papers,
and she frequently told the late Dr. John R. Purdie, her physician,
that the Old Brick Church was built in 1632, and Dr. Purdie frequently
published that fact. Her son, Captain Frederick P. P. Cowper, fre-
quently told the same thing to me, and I published it as far back as
1891. It has the corroboration of every one of her descendants.

The roof of the Old Brick Church fell in in June, 1887, and that
brought down nearly the whole of the eastern wall. Mr. Emmet W.
Maynard, then recently from Surry county, was engaged to clear up
and remove all of the debris caused by this fallen roof and these fallen
bricks. "Whilst engaged in this work he came across a brick that
looked like it had something unusual on it. With a sharp-pointed
stick he carefully removed the mortar, until at first dimly, and then
afterwards clearly, he saw the figures 1632 on it. He did not know
the significance of those figures; but when told of it, he made a careful
search for any other suggestive brick, and finally found part of a brick
inside of the church with a figure 1 on it, and on the outside of the
church he found another piece of brick with a figure 2 on it. On put-
ting these two pieces together they fitted perfectly, but the intervening
figures 6 and 3 were gone — broken out by the force of the fall of the
roof and the eastern wall. The whole brick with the figures 1632 on it

84

is now firmly imbedded in the wood work of the chancel of the church.
The two pieces of broken brick were, without my knowledge and against
my instructions, allowed to be carried out of the church.

Warrosquyoake existed as a county until 1637, when the name of the
county was changed by an act of the General Assembly to Isle of Wight.
Of course the county was one parish, and the parish was called Warros-
quyoake; and so it continued to be called until March, 1642-3, when
the county was divided into two parishes, to be called, respectively.
The Upper and The Lower Parish. The Upper Parish "was to extend
from Lawne's creek to the creek dividing the plantation of Sam Davis
and Joseph Cobb" (Pagan creek). The Lower Parish "was to extend
from Pagan Point to the plantation of Richard Hayes" (Chuckatuck
creek) .

This division and legal nomenclature continued until 1734, when
population had crossed the Black Water and had extended into what is
now called Southampton county to, at least, the Nottoway river. It
seems from the Act of 1734 that the Upper Parish was sometimes
called "Warwicksqueak"; and that the Lower was sometimes called
"Newport." But, by the Act of that year, so much of the said parish
as was on the north side of Black Water was made one parish, and
was to be called "Newport Parish"; and so much of it as was on the
south side of Black Water "was to be made one parish," and "was to
be called Nottoway Parish.' And thus they have been known ever
since.

In 1752 Southampton county was cut off from Isle of Wight. The
parish of Nottoway is coextensive with that county; and the parish
of Newport is coextensive with this county. There is the city of
Newport, in Isle of Wight, England, and so there is the parish of New-
port, in Isle of Wight, Virginia. We loved Old England then, and
we love her now.

The roof of the Old Brick Church fell in, in June, 1SS7, and it dragged
down a very large part of the eastern wall. It was restored in 1S94,
and dedicatory services were held upon the 13th, 14th and 15th days of
November, 1894.

The ministers of the Church of England and of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church officiating in the county of Isle of Wight, as shown by
offcial records, are:

Rev. Mr. Falkner, in 1642; Rev. Mr. Otis; Rev. Robert Dunster, 1651
to 1656 (Will dated May 17, 1656); Rev. Robert Bracewell, died in

85

1667; Rev. William Housden (now spelled Hudsdan), 16S0; Rev. Mr.
Parke, 1680; Rev. Andrew Monroe, 1700 to 1719; Rev. Alexander Forbes,
1710 to 1724; Rev. Thomas Baily, 1720 to 1724; Rev. John Reid, 1724;
Rev. John Barlow, March 30, 1726, to December, 1727; Rev. John Gam-
mill, March 29, 1729, to November 25, 1743; Rev. John Camm, March
4, 1745, (for a few months only); Rev. John Reid, March 8, 1746, to
April, 1757; Rev. John Millner, February, 1766, to May 3, 1770; Rev.
Henry John Burgess, 1773 to 1776; Rev. Samuel Butler, occasionally
in 1780; Rev. William Hubard, to 1802 (died at The Glebe); Rev. Wil-
liam G. H. Jones, 1826 to 1832; Rev. Mr. Hedges, 1831 to 1833, under
whom Christ church, Smithfield, was built; Rev. Thomas Smith, 1834
to 1841; Rev. John Downing, 1847; Rev. John C. McCabe, 1847-1851;
Rev. H. T. Wilcoxen, 1851; Rev. C. Colton, 1855; Rev. P. G. Robert,
1858 to May, 1862; Rev. E. T. Perkins, May, 1862, and 1865 to June,
1867; Rev. S. C. Roberts, 1867, missionary S. B. Convocation; Rev. Wil-
liam Hoxton, 1870; Rev. F. A. Meade, 1873; Rev. Edwin W. Wroth, 1876
to September 2, 1877; Rev. F. A. Meade, 1878 to September, 1883; Rev.
David Barr, 1884 to May 29, 1889; Rev. F. G. Scott, January, 1892, to
September, 1900; Rev. R. S. Carter, June 30, 1901, to May 1, 1908.

List of vestrymen, as shown in Vestry Book No. 2, from 1724 to 1776:

Lawrence Baker, 1724 to 1757; William Bridger, 1724 to 1730; Thos.
Woodley, 1728 to 1755; Major Joseph Bridger, 1735 to 1747; Arthur
Smith, 1736 to 1740; Thomas Smith, 1745 to 1751; Jordan Thomas,
1746 to 1755; Robert Tynes, 1746 to 1777; William Hodsden, 1746 to
1757 (descendant of the Rev. William Housden, of 1680); Joseph
Bridger, 1746 to 1749; Colo.iel Joseph Bridger, 1757 to 1769; Nicholas
Parker, 1760 to 1777; Richard Baker (clerk of county), 1760 to 1777;
James Bridger (clerk of county), 1766 to 1777; Richard Hardy, 1769
to 1777; John Day, 1777.

The tradition of the building of the Old Brick Church in 1632 has
been traced through every one of these families.

The names of the other vestrymen appearing in that old Vestry Book
No. 2 are: Samuel Davis, Matthew Jones, Thomas Walton, William
Kitchen, William Grumpier, James Day, George Riddick, Matthew
Wills, Reuben Procter, Nathaniel Ridley, John Goodrich, George Wil-
liamson, James Ingles, John Person, John Davis, James Simmons, Wil-
liam Wilkinson, Joseph Godwin, Henry Llghtfoot, John Monroe, Thomas
Parker, Hardy Council, Henry Pitt, Richard Wilkinson, Henry Apple-
whaite, Thomas Day, John Lawrence, Hugh Giles, Thomas and John

86

Applewhaite, Thomas Day, John Lawrence, Hugh Giles, Thos. and John
Applewhaite, Thomas Tynes, John Eley, John Darden, Dolphis Drew,
John "Wills, William Salter, Robert Barry, Charles Tilghman, Robert
Burwell, Miles Wills, Edmund Godwin, and John Scarsbrook Wills.

I was born in this county a little more than seventy-one years ago,
and I have yet to meet any descendant of any of these vestrymen, or
any other countyman, "native and to the manner born," who doubted
the accuracy of the tradition of the building of "The Old Brick Church."
This is its old historic name. I have heard that the Rev. William G.
H. Jones (who came here as deacon in 1826), in some letter or report
to the Episcopal Convention in 1828, spoke of the ancient and venerable
old church as St. Luke's; and some have been foolish enough, and ig-
norant enough, to imitate him. It is very charitable to suppose that
neither he nor they knew the rarity and the nobleness of any brick
building from 1607 to 1700. If they did, they would not attempt to
despoil the church of its great honor. You had just as well, just as
properly, and just as sensibly go and re-christen Bruton church. Bland-
ford church, Pohick church. Old Falls church, Vauter's church, or any
other church that had a grand old historical name, as to give a new
name to the oldest building of English construction in America.

I once went through St. Peter's, Rome, with a small party of people;
then through the Sistine chapel; and was going up the steps to the
"Vatican galleries, when one of the party sat down upon the steps and
said: "Oh! pshaw! I don't want to see those old things; show me
something new." The guide did not say a word, but turned around
and gave her a look of withering contempt.

Just such contempt ought to be felt by anybody towards those who
ruthlessly and needlessly tread upon venerable asociations and histor-
ical accuracy.

BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG,

VIRGINIA.

BY REV. W. A. R. GOODWIN, D. D., RECTOR OF BRUTON PARISH.

RUTON Parish Church bears witness to the continuity of the
life of the Church established at Jamestown in 1607. The
history of its beginning and early life lies in that period of
obscurity occasioned by the destruction and loss of the writ-
ten records of the Church and the county courts of Virginia. From
what remains we learn that in 1632 Middle Plantation (subsequently
Williamsburg) was "laid out and paled in" seven miles inland from
Jamestown in the original county of James City, and shortly there-
after a parish bearing the plantation name was created. In 1644 a
parish in James City county, called "Harrop," was established, which,
on April 1, 1648, was united with Middle Plantation parish, forming
the parish of Middletown. In 1674 the parish of Marston (establish-
ed in York county in 1654) and Middletown parish were united under
the name Bruton parish. The source from which the name was de-
rived is suggested by the inscription on the tomb of Sir Thomas Lud-
well, which lies at the entrance of the north transept door, which states
that he was born "at Bruton, in the county of Summerset, in the King-
dom of England, and departed this life in the year 1678."

There was a church building in Williamsburg in 1665, which in
1674 had come to be known as the "Old Church." This fact is es-
tablished by an entry in the vestry book of Middlesex parish, which
directs that a church be built in that parish, "after the model of the
one in Williamsburg." How long this building had been in use is
not known, but it had grown old in 1674, at which time the new vestry
book opens with the order under date, "April ye 18th," that a "new
church be built with brick att ye Middle Plantation." Land sufficient
for the church and church-yard was given by Col. John Page, together
with twenty pounds sterling to aid in erection of the building. The
beginning of Church life in this building, the foundations of which
were unearthed during the excavations made in 1905, Is noted in the
quaint entry under date "November ye 29th, 1683: Whereas, ye Brick

88

Church at Middle Plantation is now finished, It is ordered yt all ye
Inhabitants of ye said Parish do for the future repair thither to hear
Divine Service and ye Word of God preached; And that Mr. Rowland
Jones, Minister, do dedicate ye said Church ye sixth of January next,
being ye Epiphany."

The records of this period tell of the "old Communion Table," which
is to be removed to the minister's house and there remain; of the pur-
chase of a "Ring of Bells"; of fees paid in tobacco for registering offi-
cial acts, and for digging graves in the church aisle and chancel, and
of "ye sum of Sixteen Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty Six pounds
of Tobacco and Caske," to be paid annually to Mr. Rowland Jones,
minister. Colonel John Page has accorded to him "the privilege to sett
a pew for himself and family in the Chancell of the New Church,"
while the rest of the congregation is made subject to the order "that
ye Men sit on the North side of the Church and ye Women on the left."
Later on it is ordered that "Ye Gallery be assigned for the use of the
College Youth" of William and Mary, to which gallery there is to be
"put a door, with a lock and key, the sexton to keep the key." Here
the students sat and carved their names, which may be seen to-day,
and doubtless indulged in incipient reasoning relative to religious
liberty. Thomas Jefferson was among them. In the long records rela-
tive to the conflict as to the "right of Induction" we see the evidence
of the spirit of liberty and the demand for self-government. The
vestry, the representatives of the people, in these conflicts were gain-
ing experience in the science of self-government. Their contention
that the civil authority should not impose ministers upon the congre-
gation without the consent of the people, led to struggles which were
prophetic and preparatory to the part which the vestrymen of the
Church were subsequently to take in the House of Burgesses as cham-
pions of the liberties of the people of Virginia.

Bruton Parish church, upon the removal of the seat of government
from Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1699, succeeded to the prestige
which pertained to the Church of the Capital of the Colony. From
this time there grew about the church an environment of ever-in-
creasing interest, and about it gathered an atmosphere which, with the
passing years, has caught and reflects the light of other days.

The county road which ran by the churchyard, marking the inward
and outward march of English civilization, now rose to the dignity
of the Duke of GJoucester street. The newly-designed yard and gar-

89

dens of the Governor's palace swept down along the east wall of the
church. In spacious yards adjacent rose the stately homes of the
Virginia gentry who had resorted to the capital. Nearby towered
the walls of the College of William and Mary and the halls
of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and facing each other on the
open green stood the Court of Justice and the octagon Powder Horn.
The church had become the Court Church of Colonial Virginia. His
Excellency, the Governor, attended by his Council of State, and sur-
rounded by the members of the House of Burgesses, gave to the church
an oiBcial distinction and a position of unique importance.

The old brick building of 1674 soon became inadequate to the needs
of the situation, and in 1710, during the rectorship of the Reverend
Commissary James Blair, D. D., it was determined that a new church
should be built. Plans were furnished by Governor Alexander Spots-
wood, who proposed that the vestry should build the two ends of the
church and promised that the Government "would take care of the
wings and intervening part." The House of Burgesses, in addition,
was pleased to state that they "would appropriate a Sufficient Sum of
Money for the building pews for the Governor, Council and the House
of Burgesses," and appointed Mr. John Holloway, Mr. Nicholas Meri-
wether and Mr. Robert Boiling a committee to co-operate with the
vestry in the undertaking.

This building, which was completed in 1715, has remained continu-
ously in use and has well withstood the rough usages of war and the
devastating touch of time. Its ministers, as shown from contem-
poraneous records, were, without a single exception, men of superior
culture and godly piety. Most of them were Masters of Arts from the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or full graduates of the Col-
lege of William and Mary, and that they served the cause of Christ
with devotion and fidelity is attested in every instance by resolutions
of the vestry.

Official distinction was recognized and emphasized in the church.
To His Excellency the Governor and His Council of State was assigned
a pew elevated from the floor, overhung with a red velvet canopy, around
which his name was emblazoned in letters of gold, the name being
changed as Spotswood, Drysdale, Gooch, Dinwiddle, Fauquier, Lord
Botetourt and Lord Dunmore succeeded to office. In the square pews
of the transepts sat the members of the House of Burgesses, the pews
in the choir being assigned to the Surveyor-General and the Parish

90

Rector, while in the overhanging galleries in the transepts and
along the side walls of the church sat the Speaker of the House
of Burgesses and other persons of wealth and distinction, to whom the
privilege of erecting these private galleries was accorded from tima
to time.

With the approach of the American Revolution the services in Old
Bruton assumed a tone of tenderness and thrilling interest, unique
in character and fervent with power. Men, as they listened to the
proclamation of the Gospel of Redemption, saw clearer the vision
of liberty and felt a deeper need of the guidance and help of God.
Washington makes mention in his diary of attending services here,
and adds, "and fasted all day." A contemporaneous letter, writ-
ten by one of the congregation to a friend in London, tells of the in-
tensity of grief and the depth of feeling manifested in the service held
by order of the Government when news reached America that Parlia-
ment had passed the "Stamp Act." The Church, it was said, would
not begin to hold the people who thronged to attend the service.
These people loved old England, and were bound to her by material
interests and by ties of blood. They wanted to continue to honor and
obey the civil authority, and to pray for their King, and they thronged
to these services in old Bruton to express their faith and devotion and
the passionate longing of their lives for justice, liberty and
peace, and to-day the old church is hallowed by the memory of these
prayers which rose from bleeding hearts to our fathers' God and our
God, through the Liturgy which we use and love tlie more for these
associations by which it is hallowed and enriched. In the eventide,
when the parting glory of the day falls like a benediction and lingers
In the old church, the old scenes come like a vision before the illumin-
ed imagination. Upon bended knee we seem to see that noble band
of patriot legislators — Nelson, Wythe, Harrison, Braxton, the Lees,
Cabell, Gary, Carr, Carrington, Carter, Nicholas, Norvell, Richard
Bland, George Mason, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph, Patrick
Henry, George Washington and the rest, and the walls seem again to
echo back their supplication to the King of Itings — "We beseech Thee
to hear us. Good Lord."

The old Prayer Book, which bears the inscription, "Bruton Par-
ish, 1756," bears witness through erasures and marginal insertions
to answered prayers. The Prayer for the President is pasted over
the Prayer for King George III., while the prejudice engendered by

91

the passions of men is evidenced by a line run through the words
"King of kings," and the marginal insertion, "Ruler of the Universe."
The Bible of this period is also preserved, together with the old Par-
ish Register, containing the name of George Washington eleven times,
and telling of the baptism of 1,122 negro servants within a period of
twenty-five years, with many pages of the record of this period missing.

Besides these the church is the inheritor and custodian of other sa-
cred memorials of the past. The old Jamestown baptismal font and
Communion silver are still in use at Bruton Parish church, together
with a set of Communion silver, made in 1C86, given by Lady Gooch to
the College of William and Mary, and a set bearing the royal arms of
King George III. These memorials will be preserved in the future
in the fireproof crypt built beneath the chancel of the church.

It seems almost incredible that the need of a Sunday-school room
should have led the congregation in 1840 to yield to the spirit of in-
novation and destroy, as they did, the interior form and appearance
of the church, but at this time a partition wall was built across the
church; the high corner pulpit, the colonial pews and the flag-stone
chancel and aisles were removed; the chancel, which enshrined the
graves of Orlando Jones, progenitor of Mrs. Martha Washington; the
graves of the Blairs and Monroes, and of Rev. Dr. William H. Wilmer,
was removed from its ancient place in the east end of the church and
affixed to the wall of partition, and the interior of the building fur-
nished and decorated in modern style with money secured by a church
fair.

The work of restoration inaugurated on May 15, 1905, by a sermon
preached by Rev. Beverley D. Tucker, D. D., since consecrated Bishop-
Coadjutor of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, has been planned and
executed with absolute fidelity to Colonial type and historic verity, with
the endeavor to reproduce the form and feeling of the past. Over $27,000
has been spent for the structural preservation and restoration of the
building. The foundations and roof timbers have been renewed; a
shingle tile roof covers the building, and an iron and concrete floor
safeguards it from dampness and fire. The tower woodwork, together
with the clock originally in the House of Burgesses, have been restored,
and the bell, engraved, "The gift of James Tarpley to Bruton Parish,
1761," again rings out the passing hours. The high pulpit with over-
hanging sounding boards stands again at the southeast corner and is a
memorial to the Rev. Commissary James Blair, D. D., and the other

92

clergy of the Colonial period. The chancel has regained its place in the
east, and with the aisles, is paved with white marble in which are set
tombstones appropriately inscribed to mark the graves discovered
during the process of excavation. Of the twenty-eight graves found in
the aisles nine were identified by letters and dates made by driving
brass tacks in the wood of the coffln. Among the graves thus marked
with marble slabs are those of Governor Francis Fauquier, Governor
Edmund Jennings, and Dr. William Cocke, Secretary of State, and re-
cently the body of the Hon. Judge Edmund Pendleton has been removed
from Caroline to be interred in the north aisle of the church. The pews
restored in Colonial style are all to be made memorial; those in the
transepts to twenty-one of the patriots of the Revolution; those in
the choir to the Surveyors-General and the Presidents of the College
of William and Mary, and those in the nave to the vestrymen of the
parish during the Colonial period. Each pew has upon the door
a bronze tablet, inscribed with the name of the person memorialized.
Over the Governor's pew has been placed a silken canopy, emblazoned
with the name of Governor Alexander Spotswood, and affixed to the
wall is a bronze tablet inscribed with the names of the Colonial
Governors who worshipped here.

The Bible given by King Edward VII. and the lectern presented by
the President of the United States, are in memory of the three hun-
dredth anniversary of the establishment of the English Church and
English civilization in America.

Preserved and restored the old church is typical of the strong
and simple architectural designs of the Colonial period, and a witness
to the faith and devotion of the Nation Builders. Rising from amid
the sculptured tombs of the honored dead who lie beneath the shadows
of its walls, old Bruton stands, as the Bishop of Southern Virginia
has said, "The noblest monument of religion in America."

"A link among the days to knit
The generations each to each."

THE PARISHES IN ACCOMAC COUNTY, VA.

COilPILED IN PART FEOM BISHOP MEADE'S "OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS AND
FAMILIES IN VIRGINIA."

THE whole of the Eastern Shore of Virginia was called Accow-
make, then changed to Northampton, then divided into North-
ampton and Accomac. Soon after this, in the year 1762, the
county of Accomac was divided into two parishes by a line
running from the bay to the sea, the upper being called Accomac Parish,
and the other St. George's. The dividing line runs about three miles
north of Drummondtown.

From a record in the clerk's office in Northampton there is reason to
believe that the church at Pongoteague was built before the division
of the Eastern Shore Into two counties, and was the first erected in Ac-
comac. The next was that which stood a few miles from Drummond-
town, and was, until the year 1819, called the New Church. At that
time the name of St. James' was given to it. It was subsequently re-
moved to Drummondtown, and now forms the church at that place. In
the year 1724 there were three churches in the upper parish (Accomac),
about ten miles distant from each other. The first minister of whom
we read in the parish was the Rev. William Black, who, in the year
1709-10, wrote to the Bishop of London that he had taken charge of it,
that there had been no minister there before for fifteen years. In the
year 1724 he is still the minister, and in answer to certain questions
by the Bishop of London, writes that he preaches at these churches, has
two hundred communicants, four or five hundred families under his
charge, instructs the negroes at their masters' houses, has baptized two
hundred of them, catechizes the children on Sunday from March to
September, has no Communion service or anything decent in his
church, receives a salary of forty pounds per annum (that being the
value of his tobacco), rents his glebe for twenty shillings per annum,
has a school in his parish, endowed by one Mr. Sanford, of London, and
which is still in existence.

How long the pious labors of Mr. Black continued after the year 1724
is not known. In the year 1755 we find, from an old list of the clergy
of Virginia, that the Rev. Arthur Emmerson, afterwards well known
in other parishes, was the minister. In the year 1774 the Rev. William

94

Vere is set down in tlie Virginia Almanac as the minister of Accomac
Paristi. He was doubtless the last minister ot this parish. In the year
1785, when the first Convention after the Revolution met in Richmond,
there was no clerical delegate from either of the parishes of Accomac.
Mr. Jabez Pittis was the lay delegate from Accomac Parish, a,nd Mr.
Levin Joynes and Tully Wise from St. George's.

The churches in Accomac were a brick one, at "Assawaman," on the
seaside; a wooden one, on the Middle or Wallop's Road, about five miles
from the southern line of the parish, and another of wood, at Poco-
moke, near the Maryland line, called the New Church. None of them
now remain. About thirty years past, says Bishop Meade, the over-
seers of the poor took possession of the Communion plate, and sold the
same to a silversmith, who intended to melt it, but being advised that
it was doubtful whether they had any authority to sell the plate under
the law directing the sale of glebe lands, and there being a tradition
that the plate was a private donation, the sale was rescinded.

As to the ministers of St. George's Parish, in Accomac, our records
before the Revolution fail us altogether. It is probable that some of
the ministers of Hungars Parish rendered service here for some time
after the division of the Eastern Shore into the counties of Northamp-
ton and Accomac, especially Mr. Teackle. The Teackle records say
that the Rev. Thomas Teackle preached there for over fortv years, and
family tradition states that he was the first rector of St. George's. He
died in 1696. This would date the church somewhere about 1C56. In
Northampton county records Mr. Teackle is frequently mentioned as
"Minister of ye Upper Parish." He was born in 1624, in Gloucester-
shire, England, and his father was slain in the army of Charles I. His
son, fleeing from the persecutions of the Cromwellites, first went to
the Bermudas, and thence came to Northampton at the instigation of
his cousin. Colonel Obedience Robins. St. George's is considered, in
the Teackle records, to be the fourth church in Virginia in point of age.

The first minister on any of our lists was the Rev. John Lyon, from
Rhode Island, who was in the parish in the year 1774, and continued
there during and some time after the war. Being more of the English-
man than the American in his feelings, his time was very uncomfort-
able during the Revolutionary struggle; but, being married into a re-
spectable family, his principles were tolerated and his person protected.
While as a faithful historian, we shall truthfully admit whatever of
Toryism there was among the clergy of Virginia, we shall as faithfully

9S

maintain that there was a large share of noble patriotism in the clergy
of Virginia. Mr. Jefferson declares this most emphatically. No ele-
ment was more often invoked in the earlier history of Virginia than
the influence of ministers of the gospel in producing a feeling of re-
sistance to the oppressions of England, and no class from whom the
Henrys, Jeffersons and patriot politicians of that day received greater
aid in opening the eyes of the people and preparing them for severance
from Great Britain. Mr. Jefferson himself acknowledges this in his
works (Vol. I., pp. 5-6).

In the year 1786 the Rev. Theopolus Nugent was present in the Con-
vention as the rector of St. George's Parish, Accomac. But nothing more
is known of him. The following is a list of the clergymen from the
time of Mr. Nugent to the present day: The Revs. Cave Jones, Ayrs,
Reese, Gardiner, Eastbum, Smith, Chase, Goldsmith, Carpenter, Adams,
Bartlett, Winchester, Jonathan Smith, William G. Jones and Zimmer.

The Rev. Cave Jones was a native of Virginia, probably a descendant
of one of the three of that name who ministered to the early Church
of Virginia. He was a man of talents and eloquence, which, after some
years, attracted attention beyond the bounds of our State, and led to a
call to Trinity church. New York. He was so popular in that situatloii
as to become a formidable rival to Dr. Hobart, afterwards Bishop of
New York.

Another name in the above list is that of Rev. Mr. Eastburn, worthy
of more than passing notice. James W^allis Eastburn, a brother of
Bishop Eastburn, of Massachusetts, M. A. of Columbia College, of New
York, was a native of that State, and from every account we have of
him, must have been one of the most interesting and talented young
men of our country. He was ordained by Bishop Hobart in October,
1818; commenced his ministry in Accomac county almost immediately,
and after a short but truly glorious ministry of about eight months,
returned, broken in health, and expired in December, 1819, on his way
to the West Indies. He had only reached the age of twenty-two, but
was mature in mind and a "burning light" in the Church of God. The
hymn — 137 — beginning, "Oh, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord," was composed by
him at eighteen years of age.

Some years since, the Rev. Ambler Weed, of Richmond, undertook
the revival of the Church in the lower part of St. George's Parish, and
by great diligence caused a new church by the name of St. Michael's
to be erected near Belle Haven. In this and in old Pongoteague church

96

he officiated for some years with great diligence and self-denial and
with some success.

Old Pongoteague, the first house of prayer erected in Accomac, and
probably not much less than two hundred years old (1857), still stands
a remarkable monument of former days, among some old trees, perhaps
as ancient as itself. It was a brick building in the form of a cross,
with a bow window in one arm of the cross and the vestry-room in the
other. The floor was of brick and the pews had high backs. The pul-
pit was circular, with a flight of steps leading to it. The brick floor
having become uneven, a plank floor was laid over it, and the pew
backs were lowered. The Parish Register was lost, but the old Bible
and Prayer Book, together with the old Communion service, have been
preserved. The goblet and paten, it is believed, were the gift of Queen
Anne, and bear this inscription: "Ye Parish of Accomack."

In 1861 the church was used as a stable by the Federal troops, and
at the end of the war the building was a complete wreck. Thus it re-
mained untenanted for a number of years, until the Church people of
the neighborhood determined to restore it as a place of worship. After
many sacrifices and trials and much hard work, they succeeded in re-
building the time-honored and sacred edifice. The arms of the cross,
being cracked and unsafe, were taken down, the main part of the cross
being rebuilt with the old bricks, and services were resumed after an
interval of twenty-five years. The first rector of the restored church
was the Rev. Mr. S. H. Wellman. Since then the rectors have been as
follows: The Revs. John Anderson, P. M. Burch, John McNabb, Henry
L. Derby, Cary Gamble, John S. Meredith and W. Cosby Bell. Among
its rectors, too, was the Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, who served
at its altar in 1819, and was afterwards first Bishop of Kentucky and
Presiding Bishop of the Church in the United States.

I am sorry to be unable to give a list of the ancient vestrymen of
Accomac. The only document of which I have heard from which to de-
rive such list and other particulars perished during the last year.
Would that all the friends, members and ministers of the Church of
Virginia, and any others who have any care for her past histoiT, would
but inquire for such documents, and search for them among the ne-
glected papers of old family mansions and clerks' offices! How much
might still be rescued from destruction and oblivion which is worthy
of preservation in some permanent form!

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97

In place of a list of vestrymen of the parish, I subjoin the following
of the families which, from the earliest period to the present time, have
Belonged to the Episcopal Church in Accomac. It has been furnished
me by a friend, with the qualification that It is imperfect, and that
tnere are others who might be added:

"Bowman, Cropper, Joynes, West, Satchell, Smith, Wise, Finney,
Scarbrough, Robinson, Custis, Bayly, Snead, Parker, Stratton, Bagwell,
Andrews, Arbuckle, Stokely, Poulson, Downing, Bell, Upshur, Para-
more, Teagle. Hack, Seymour, Kellam, etc."

HUNGARS CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY,

VIRGINIA.

BY M. C. HOWARD.

THE history of the Eastern ShOi-e of Virginia begins with Cap-
tain John Smith's visit of exploration, recorded by himself.
He says:

"Leaving the Phoenix at Cape Henry, wee crossed the bay
to the Eastern Shore, and fell in with the isles called Smith's Isles.
First i^eople encountered were two grim, stout savages, upon Cape
Charles, with long poles, javelings headed with bone, who boldly de-
manded who and what we were. After many circumstances, they
seemed kind, and directed us to Accomack, the habitation of their
Werowance, where we were kindly treated. This Rex was the come-
liest, proper, civill salvage we encountered. His country is pleasant,
fertile clay soyle; some small creeks, good harbours for barques, not
Bhips. They spoke the language of Powhatan."

The largest of this group is still known as "Smith's Island." It
formed a very insignificant part of the patrimony of Mrs. Robert E.
Lee, inherited through many generaticns from her ancestor, John
Custis, of Arlington, Northampton county, Va. From this first Ameri-
can home of the Custis family, the famous Arlington, Mrs. Lee's
home until the outbreak of the Confederate War, received its name.

The home of the "Rex," whom John Smith visited (in 1608), was
on what is called "Old Plantation" Creek, which name commemorates
the fact that the oldest "settlement" on the Eastern Shore was made
on this beautiful tidal inlet, probably on the farm at the head of the
creek, also called "Old Plantation." No trace of this first settlement
can now be found, and I have met with no reference to it prior to
the account given by John Rolfe, who, having returned to England,
taking with him his wife, Pocahontas, was desired by the Virginia
Company in London to furnish them with information concerning
the Virginia Colony, He tells them of six "plantacons." one of them
at "Dale's Gift," on the Eastern Shore, where Lieutenant Craddock,

99

with, about sixteen men, had been established for the purpose of mak-
ing salt, of which all the settlements were in need.*

A few years later, in 1620, a second settlement was made on the
farm now called "Town Fields," which lies between Cherrystonet and
King's Creeks, divided by the latter from the very new town of "Cape
Charles City," about fourteen miles from the real Cape Charles.
The English called this second "towne" Accomack — probably In
compliment to the "Laughing King of Accomack" (John Smith's
"Rex") — which name was applied not only to the town and to
the royal residence, but by the Indians to the whole peninsula. The
new town seems to have absorbed the earlier one at Old Plantation,
which is heard of no more. Perhaps the Colonists found it more
convenient and comfortable to have thj "King's Cieek" between them
and their Indian neighbors.

As usual in the early Virginia settlements, the building of a church
was one of the first diities to be performed. In the same year (1629)
one was built "neare the CEishinge poynte." Its exact location cannot
be Identified, for all "poyntes" In that highly favored land may be
made "ffishing poyntes." It was perhaps at the point made by the
junction of the two creeks. That it was called "the Ffishinge Poynte"
seems to indicate that, at that time, the few inhabitants, for mutual
protection, did all their fishing in one place. The church was "of
insignificant dimensions," constructed of rough logs, connected loosely
with wattle, the whole enclosed with 'Pallysadoes' for protection against
'ye Indian tribes, an ever present menace to peace and safety.' " I
believe, however, there is no record or tradition to indicate that the
tribes on the Eastern Shore ever invaded the "peace and safety" of
the English, possibly because of their prudent measures of self-
protection; but the massacres on the 'A'^estern side of the Chesapeake,
and more especially the "Great Massacre" of 1622, made men cautious,
and this seems to have turned the tide of immigration to the other
shore,! where climate and soil were good, food supplies unusually
abundant, and where the Indians were kind and friendly.

•This Report, dated 1615 or 1616, is in one of the early volumes of
the Va. Hist. Mag., or the Va. Hist. Register: an ante-bellum number.
I read it some years ago, and have neither "Magazine" nor "Register"
to refer to.

tOriginally Cheriton; the unmeaning Cherry.stone being a corruption.

tBlshop Meade, Vol. I, p. 85, says: "Such was the eitect, both in Vir-
frinla and England, that a commission was sent over to the Gov., Sir
George Yardley, to seek for a settlement on the Eastern Shore of
Virginia for those who remained. That plan, however, was never put
into execution, though steps were taken towards it."

100

The first rector of this first church — which, though unnamed, should
never be forgotten — was the Rev. Francis Bolton. A manuscript record
In the Congressional Library gives this statement concerning his
salary: "It is ordered by the Governor and Council that Mr. Bolton
shall receive for his salary this year, throughout all the plantations
on the Easteru Shore, ten pounds of tobacco and one bushel of corn
for every planter and trader above the age of sixteen, alive at the
crop." A clergyman coming to Virginia could not have been in-
fluenced by any prospect of emolument; but, paltry as these items
seem, a bushel of corn and ten pounds of tobacco was probably a
larger contribution in proportion to income than we can always show
in these days. In 1630 Thomas Warnet (?), "principal merchant and
devout Churchman," bequeaths to Mr. Bolton the following useful
articles: "A firkin of butter, a bushel of salt, six pounds of candles,
a pound of pepper, a pound of ginger, two bushels of meal, a ruudlet
of ink, six quires of letter paper, and a pair of silk stockings."

The second rector was the Rev. William Cotton, who officiated from
1632 to about 1C45. The second church, about ten miles from the
first and lower down the peninsula, was built near the place after-
wards called Arlington, the home of John Custis, immigrant, of whom
many anecdotes still linger in local traditions, and whose tomb, with
the singular epitaph composed by himself, is still at Arlington. This
church was known aa the "Magothy Bay Church." Presumably, it
was another log building, in no way superior to that at the "Ffishinge
Poynte"; and as there seems to be no record of any rector, it may
be assumed that Mr. Cotton had charge of both. Proof of its existence
in 1G45 is found in an early county record, which ordered that all
citizens should carry "arms and fixed ammunition." Such as were
caught without these were to be "punished" by being required "to
clear paths to the new church," "enclosed by a stockade."

It must have been at the "Ffishinge Poynte" church that Marie
Drewe stood up and asked "forgiveness of the congregation" for some
"ugly words" she had used towards Joane Butler. It is evident that
Church and State in Virginia were as essentially one as in the Mother
Country. The "Act" for suppression of gossip was passed September,
1634; its enforcement was left to the Church, as this extract shows.
The two women had quarreled, and reviled each other in no choice
language. Joane was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced.

"Upon dew examination. It is thought fitt by the board that s'yd
Joane Butler shall be drawen over the King's Creek at the starne of

101

a boat or canoux; also, the next Sabbath day in the tyme of devyne
(divine) servls, between the first and second lesson, present herself
before the minister, and say after him as foUoweth: 'I, Joane Butler,
doe acknowledge to have called Marie Drewe h , and hereby I con-
fess I have done her manifest wronge; wherefore I desire before this
congregation that the s'yd Marie Drewe will forgiv me; and also
that this congregation will joyne (join) me in prayer, that God may
forgive me.' "

Marie Drewe was then arrested, and received the same sentence.
She retracted, asked "forgiveness" in the church and escaped the
ducking.

The name of the peninsula was changed from "Accowmake" to
Northampton in 1642. Various traditions give various reasons for
the selection of this name. The best authenticated seems to be that
it was a compliment to the Earl of Northampton. At this date there
were few settlers in the upper part, and Hungars Parish is not yet
mentioned. In 1662 the peninsula was divided, the upper county
resuming the original name, Accomac, the lower retaining that of
Northampton.

The first formally organized vestry was in obedience to an order of
the Court at James City."

"At a court holden in Accawmacke the 14th day of Sept., 1635";
[the peninsula being then called Accomack].

"At this court Mr. Wm. Cotton, minister, presented an order of
the court from James Citty, for the building of a Parsonage ordered by
the vestry and because there have heretofore been no formal vestry
nor vestrymen appointed, we have from this present day appointed
to be vestrymen those whose names are underwritten:

"Wm. Cotton minister, Capt. Thomas Graves, Mr. Obedience Robins,
Mr. John Howe, Mr. Wm. Stone, Mr. Burdett, Mr. Wm. Andrews, Mr.
John Wilkins, Mr. Alex, Mountjoy, Mr. Edw. Drew, Mr. Wm. Beniman,
Mr. Stephen Charlton.

"And further we do order that the first meeting of the syd. vestry-
men shall be upon the feast day of St. Michael the Arch-Angel, being
the 29th day of September."

In accordance with that order of the court, the vestry meeting was
held and record entered of the same as follows:

"A vestry heald, 29th day of Sept. 1635.

"Capt. Thomas Graves, Mr. John Howe, Mr. Edward Drew, Mr. Obe-

102

dience Robins, Mr. Alex. Mountjoy, Mr. Wm. Burdett, Mr. Wm. An-
drews, Mr. Wm. Stone, Mr. Wm. Beaiman."

At this meeting an order was made providing for building the
parsonage house.

As the parsonage here mentioned was for the use of Rev. Mr.
Cotton, it must have been built in the Magothy Bay section of the
county, near his two churches. It was ordered to be built of "wood" —
presumably sawed lumber, not logs — forty feet wide, eighteen feet
deep, and nine feet "to the valley," witb a chimney at each end, and
beyond the chimneys a small room on each side — "one for the minister's
study and the other for a buttery."

"Mr. Cotton seems to have had considerable difficulty in collecting
his tithes, despite the fact that good buildings began to be erected,"
and every home had its garden and orchard. Suit was brought in
1637 against Henry Charleton for non payment of dues.

"John Waltham, Randal Revel and John Ford deposed on oath that
they heard Henry Charlton say that if be had had Mr. Cotton without
the churchyeard, he would have kict him over the Pallysadoes, calling
of him Black catted (coated) raskall. Upon the complaynt of Mr.
Cotton against the said Charlton and the depositions as above ex-
pressed, it is ordered that the said Charleton shall for the s'yd offence
buyld a pare of stocks, and set in them three severall Sabouth days
in the time of Dyvine Servis, and there ask Mr. Cotton forgiveness."
The punishment was doubtless salutary and conducive to proper re-
spect for clerical dignity.

There seems to have been no legal title to the ground upon which
the Magothy Bay church was built prior to 1691, for in that year
William Willett conveys, in consideration of 20,000 pounds of tobacco,
600 acres of land to William Baker,* reserving "one acre of land, on
which church now stands," "to remaine for that use as long as the
parish 'mindes' to continue the same." This land had been granted
by Francis Morrison, Governor of Virginia, to Edward Douglas, and
was confirmed by another patent from Governor Andros "to me,
William Willett," nephew and heir to said Edward Douglas. This
deed of conveyance is a curiosity of superfluous verbiage, and much
too long for quotation. It gives the boundaries with great minute-
ness, mentions "a spring neare the Church or Chappell," and is dated
"30 May Anno Regis X, Anno Domini, 1698."

*Book of Deed.s and Wills, No. 12, page 198, Northampton Records.

103

It is probable that successive churches had taken the place of the
original structure (as at Jamestown and elsewhere) long before this
conveyance of title. The latest built upon this site was still in use
in the early years of the nineteenth century, but in 1826 it was pro-
nounced unsafe, torn down and the old materials sold at auction. t

Christ church in Eastville was built about this time, and the old
silver service for Holy Communion has been used in this church ever
since. The pieces have an inscription showing that they were the
gift of "John Custis, Esq'r, of Williamsburg," to the lower church
of Hungars Parish, 1741. The plate is marked "Ex dono, Francis
Nicholson, Esq'r." Date of this gift must have been 1690 to 1693.

Mr. Cotton died in 1645. He is called in the Records, "the godly
son of Joane Cotton, widow, of Bunbury, Cheshire, England." Wil-
liam Stone, first Protestant Governor of Maryland, was his brother-in-
law. Stone resided on Hungars Creek.

Rev. John Rozier (Bishop Meade says Rogers) succeeded Mr. Cotton.
An old colonist, in his will, speaks of this gentleman as "Deare and
respected friend," and Dr. John Holloway bequeaths to him a folio
Greek Testament.

In 1639 Nathaniel Eaton, first principal of Harvard, came in Nele's
barque to Virginia, where he married "Anne Graves, daughter of
Thomas Graves, a member of the Dorchester church, who emigrated
to Virginia, and died of climatic influence, leaving his daughter a
fair patrimony." Eaton became Rozier's assistant, but fled to England
in 1646. By the Assembly's Act of 1639-40, ministers of the gospel
were allowed ten pounds of tobacco per poll to pay their clerk and
sexton.

In 1642 the parish was divided. All south of King's Creek was one
parish, called Hungars; from King's Creek to Nassawadox was to be
known as Nassawadox Parish. In this latter was built a temporary
church. On December 23, 1684, Major William Spencer gave to the
church wardens of Hungars Parish the land on Hungars Creek, on
which "the frame of a church" now stands, and one acre of land
surrounding it, being a part of Smith's Field. So we learn that this
first Hungars church, like that at Magothy Bay, was built upon land
for which no title was obtained, until years had gone by. This
church was, perhaps, not abandoned until the "Brick Church," the
present Old Hungars, was built.

Hungars Creek is one of those beautiful tidal inlets which give to

tThe foundations may still be seen near the Arlington gates.

104

the Chesapeake counties of Virginia and Maryland such exquisite
views of land and water, and upon which, even in those early times,
charming homes began to cluster; for the earliest colonists settled
along these creeks, and their descendants and successors have not
been able to improve upon the sites they selected.

Hungars Creek lies between Church Neck, its northern boundary, and
Hungars Neck, on the south. The church is in a grove of pines, at
the head of this creek. Approaching from the south, the county
road passes over a little bridge, which crosses one fork, and from
which the little village of Bridgetown ("at which courts were held in
early years") takes its name.

In 1691 the parishes were again made one, and from that time
until the present, county and parish are the same in extent.
Old records in the Clerk's Oifice:
"Att a council held att James City, Apr. the 21st, 1691.
"Present — The Rt. Hono'ble Francis Nicholson Esq. Lt. Gov. & coun-
cil.

"Major John Robins and Mr. Thomas Harmanson, Burgesses of the
County of Northampton, on behalf of the County of Northampton, by
their petition setting forth that the said county is one of the smallest
In the colony, doth consist of a small number of tithables, and is
divided in two parishes, by reason whereof the Inhabitants of both
parishes are soe burdened that they are not able decently to maintain
a minister in each parish and therefore prayed the said parishes might
be joyned in one and goe by the name of Hungars parish, not being
desirous to infringe any gift given to Hungars parish, and more
especially one by the last will of Stephen Charlton, which parishes
soe joined will not only be satisfactory to the inhabitants but make
them capable to build a decent church and maintain an able divine;
On consideration whereof Itt is the opinion of this board and accord-
ingly ordered that the whole County of Northampton be from hence-
forth one parish and goe by the name of Hungars parish, and that
the same shall be noe prejudice to the gift of the aforesaid Charlton
to the said parish of Hungars and it is further ordered that the
Inhabitants of the sd. parish shall meet at such time and place as the
court of the said county shall appoint and make choice of a vestry
according to law. Cop. vera, test, W. Edwards, cl. con. "

Then, in accordance with the appointment of the court, at a meet-
ing of the inhabitants of the said county of Northampton, at the

105

courthouse thereof, the 22nd day of June, 1691, the following vestry-
men were elected:

Major John Robins, Capt. Custis, Capt. Foxcroft, John Shepheard,
Benj. Stratton, Preeson Davis, Benjamin Nottingham, John Powell,
Jacob Johnson, Thomas Eyre, John Stoakley, Michael Dickson. It
was evidently soon after this step was taken that the Hungars church
building was erected.

I have been unable to find the origin or meaning of the name Hun-
gars, ncr when it was first applied to the parish. "Hungars Creek"
occurs in the records in 1649, possibly earlier. Whether the parish
gave name to the creek or the reverse has not been ascertained, nor
any convincing explanation of the name itself offered. It has been
said that a parish in Northamptonshire, England, bears the same, but
the lists of English parishes in the Peabody Library, Baltimore, does
not contain a Hungars in any shire. So many of the Indian names
were retained that in default of tracing to any English source, I am
inclined to believe this a survival of Indian nomenclature, especially
in view of the fact that most of the Eastern Shore creeks still keep
their original names, somewhat modified.

Thomas Palmer, clericus, succeeded Rozier; John Armourier was
the next minister of the parish, and was followed as early as 1651
by the Rev. Thomas Higby, who married the widow of John Wilkins,
vestryman. In 1656 Francis Doughty, brother-in-law of Governor
Stone and non-conformist, is noted as "Minister and Preacher of Ye
Word in this parish, now in Northampton county," and was exhorted by
one Ann Littleton in her will to rear "My children in ye most Chris-
tian faith." Rev. Thomas Teackle was officiating in the Upper parish
(St. George's, Accomac,) during Mr. Higby's service in the Lower; all
of his predecessors served but a short time, and the records show many
suits for their salaries. "Mr. Teackle had his difficulties also, and to the
end of his life sought his dues in a legal way."* He had, besides, diffi-
culties not financial. His moral character was fiercely attacked (in
one instance by Col. Scarburgh), but he retained the confidence and
affection of the people. It is on record in the county that, "on April
28th, 1663, one John Stockley was ordered to give bond for good be-
havior and to recant in presence of the congregations of Hungars and

•Rev'd Mr. Teackle acquired considerable land. A farm called
Craddock, situated in Craddock's Neck (not far from Old St. George's
church, Accomac), remained in possession of descendants of his own
name until a few years ago. Many descendants on the Eastern Shore
and in Baltimore.

106

Nassawadox parishes the next time that the Rev. Thomas Teackle
preached in the church, because said Stoclvley had said that the vesiry
■was 'illegal and unfair' because not chosen by a majority of the
people." Mr. Teackle officiated at old St. George's much longer than
in Hungars parish; he probably ministered to both at the same
time, for the supply of clergymen was seldom equal to the demand,
and, faute de mieux, non-conformist divines were sometimes permitted
to olSciate, "so far as the laivs of England and of this colony permit;"
but that these loyal Churchmen accepted their services with reluctance,
and dispensed with them as soon as practicable, is shown by the fol-
lowing:

"Whereas, Mr. Daniel Richardson, o'r late minister, for want of
orders, was found not Orthodox, and therefore hired him from yeare
to yeare (to supply the place of minister so farr as the Lawes of
England and this country could make him capable) until we could
supply ourselves with an able Orthodox devine. And forasmuch as
Mr. Isaac Key did present, whom we find very able and worthy, wee
of the "Vestry and subscribers hereof, doe certifye unto Your Honor
that at a vestry, the 8th day of May last past, did discharge the
said Richardson from his said ministry, and have since made choice
of the said Mr. Isaac Key for o'r minister, who hath accepted and
most willingly promised to serve; Wherefore we hereby request your
Honor's confirmacon by Inducting him into this o'r parish as min-
ister. And your Supplycants shall ever pray. John Stringer, William
Kendall, William Walters, John Robins, James Pigot."

To this appeal Governor Berkeley assented in these words:

"This worthy, learned Gent., Mr. Key, is soe well knowne to me,
that I am most certaine you will be happy in haveing soe deserving
a person to officiate to you and advise and comfort you in all yo'r
spirituall wants and necessityes, & I doe require tliat he bee immedi-
ately Inducted. Williah Berkei,ey.

Nov. 18, 1676.

It will be observed that these Churchmen used the word "Orthodox"
as applied to a "minister," to signify that he had been regularly
ordained by an English Bishop. Bishop Meade says, "Such was the
use of the word orthodox at that time."

Prior to the induction of Mr. Key (in 1671), the "Commissioners
of Plantations" had sent over this query to Governor Berkeley:

"What coorse is being taken about instructing the people within your

107

government in the Christian religion, and what provision is there
made for the paying of your ministry?" Which elicited the following
reply from Berkeley:

"The same coorse that is taken In England, out of towns, every
man according to his ability instructing his children. We have fforty-
eight parishes in Virginia, and our ministers are well paid, and by
my consent should be better, if they would pray oftener and preach
less."

In or about the year 1653 Col. Stephen Charlton, a wealthy and very
prominent citizen, bequeathed his Home-place (situated in Church Neck,
at no great distance from Hungars church) to his daughter, Bridgett,
for her life, and to her heirs; but if she had no child, then the land was
to go to the church wardens, Argall Yardley and John Michael, and to
the vestry of Hungars Parish for the support of a rector. It was stipu-
lated that the church was to be open for divine service a certain num-
ber of times in every year. Bridgett Charlton married, but had no
child; and at her death the parish inherited it. It became the home of
many successive rectors. The last resident was the Rev. John Ufford,
who became rector in 1843, and resigned in 1850. In his time the church
was dispossessed of the property — "robbed" of it, the Church people con-
sidered. Bishop Meade says with regard to this act of spoliation:

"The peace and happiness of the Episcopal congregation in North-
ampton has been much marred for many years by a painful and pro-
tracted controversy with the overseers of the poor concerning the glebe.
More than two hundred years ago the wealthy and pious Charlton, in
view of his approaching dissolution, and in the event of one of his two
daughters dying childless, left a portion of that earth which is all the
Lord's for the perpetual support of the Church of his fathers, and of
that religion which had been his happiness in life, and was now to be
his consolation in death. He did this in the exercise of a right recog-
nized by God Himself in the law of His Word, and secured to men by
the laws of every government upon earth — the right of disposing of our
propei ty by will. * * * xhe Legislature of Virginia, both under the
Colonial Government and since our independence, has, by several acts,
ratified the Church's claim. But, after a long period of acquiescence in
the Church's right, the overseers of the poor, under that act of the Leg-
islature, which had never before been suspected of embracing this
case, determined to claim it, and actually did sell it at public auction,
conditionally. The question was brought before the Legislature, and a
sanction for the sale sought for; but it was dismissed as unreasonable.

108

The question was talven before a court of law, and twice decided in be-
half of the Church. An appeal has been taken to a higher court. Years
have already been passed in painful controversy. Great have been the
expenses to the Church, and much the loss in various ways. * ♦ *
The peace of the county has been much impaired by it. Political ques-
tions and elections to civil offices have been mixed up with it, and Chris-
tians of different denominations estranged from each ather. Surely,
when our Legislature reserved all private donations from the operation
of the law which ordered the sale of glebes, if this case could have been
presented to them, and they had been asked whether it could come un-
der the sentence of it, the bitterest enemies of the Episcopal Church,
and the most unbelieving foes of our religion, would have shrunk with
horror from the suggestion."

To complete the story of this transaction, I will only say that the
glebe was eventually lost to us. The very fact that the "lower glebes,"
and the servants and other appurtenances of both glebes were sold soon
after the passage of that Act, while the right of the Church to the
Charlton Glebe was not even questioned, shows conclusively to fair-
minded people how the law was understood at the time. The farm is
still known as the Glebe, and is a lasting witness against an injustice.

No sketch of Hungars Parish, however slight, could be complete with-
out this story of our Glebe and its loss; but it is more pleasant to go
back to the church itself. Concerning it, however, I have very scant in-
formation. About 1750 "Richard Allen conveyed to John Haggoman and
his family all his interest in and to a pew which he (the said Allen) had
built in Hungars church." In 1759 Thomas Preeson, in his will, speaks
of "the new church on Hungars Creek," for which he had deeded to the
church wardens an acre of ground, and, in return, they had deeded to
him "a Pew marked T. P.," in 1751; and in the deed (signed in 1752) it
is stated that the church was "a brick church." The land he conveyed
was not that on which the church stands, but on the opposite side of the
county road, and was, I believe, intended for a burial place. In 1G95
the Rev. Samuel Palmer was rector. In 1712 the Rev. Patrick Falconer
is minister. He died in 1718, "and after having given much to the
poor, he left his property to his brother James, in London, and desired
that his body should be buried before the pulpit in old Hungars church."
This was done; the sexton's fee for such interments being 300 pounds
of tobacco.

Rev. Thomas Dell was the minister until 1729; John Holbroke. until

109

1747. Rev. Edward Barlow succeeded and died in 1761; Rev. Richard
Hewitt died in 1774; and in that year Rev. Mr. McCosltey became rector,
remaining until his death in 1S03, succeeded by Revs. Gardiner, Davis,
Symes and Stephen Gunter. Rev. Simon Wilmer was rector as late as
1836. In that year Rev. W. G. Jackson was elected. After a very severe
illness he resigned in 1841, and obtained a chaplaincy in the Navy. Rev.
J. P. B. Wilmer (son of Dr. Simon Wilmer, and eventually Bishop of
Louisiana,) was rector from 1841 to 1843, succeeded by Revs. John Uf-
ford, James Rawson and J. M. Chevers, elected in 1855. Of his succes-
sors I have not an accurate list, but Revs. C. Colton, A. S. Johns, Craig-
hill, Ware, Easter, William Nelson Meade, Randall, Carpenter and
Thomas are among them.

Prior to the Revolution the interior furnishings of Hungars church
were very handsome — all of them brought from England, and most, if
not all, of them gifts from Queen Anne. I have seen fragments of the
chancel draperies; dark crimson velvet of superb quality, with gold em-
broidery and bullion fringe, all of which had defied time and retained
a brilliancy I have never seen surpassed. Alas! only fragments remain-
ed; for in the antagonism to everything English, which followed the
Revolution, the Church — still the "Church of England," and without
Bishops of her own, fell upon evil times, and was pillaged and dese-
crated, with none able to protect her. Most of the clergy, being English-
men, returned to their own country. The deserted churches, still be-
loved by the faithful, could not be preserved from vandalism, under the
name of patriotism. The large pipe organ was taken from the church
and destroyed. Tradition says the fishermen in the neighborhood used
the metal as "sinkers" for their nets. The beautiful hangings were cut
to pieces; doors and windows suffered to fall from their hinges, and
nothing left in the church which was coveted by any chance intruder.
I have known persons who remembered to have seen cows grazing on
the grass growing in the brick-paved aisles of St. George's, in Accomac,
and Hungars church, doubtless, fared no better. The silver and the
altar linen — given by Queen Anne — were, however, carefully kept, and
are still in use, I believe; that is, the silver is used, and the altar cloth
kept as a priceless relic, for occasional use.

The unhappy condition of the Church throughout Virginia in the
years following the Revolution, and extending into the nineteenth cen-
tury, is well known, and need not here be dwelt upon. The extracts
which follow, from a letter written many years ago, will show how

110

Hungars parish suffered. The writer, a most devoted Churchwoman,
says:

"The Episcopal Church in Northampton has been small and feeble, to
the grief of all the friends of Zion. I became a communicant on Christ-
mas day, 1813. The communicants were Mrs. Jacob, Mrs. E. Satchell,
Mrs. L. Stratton, Mrs. L. Evans, Mrs. H. Parker, Miss Anne Savage and
myself. My inestimable friend, the Rev. Mr. Davis, was pastor. Seven
other ladies soon after joined the little band. After Mr. Davis' death,
the Rev. Mr. Symes, from Norfolk, became rector. Hungars and Ma-
gotty Bay churches (the latter, that near Arlington) were both deserted,
and worship was conducted in the Courthouse at Eastville. Mr. Symes
toiled with untold difficulties for a very short time; removed to South
Carolina, and there died.

"Not coming immediately to the rectorship, the Rev. Herbert Mar-
shall, of Rhode Island, officiated for six months.

"Mr. Wilmer's ministry was much blessed. The communicants increas-
ed to twenty-tioo in 1821; and among them were Mr. James Upshur, Mr.
Wyatt, Dr. Winder and Mr. John Harmanson. This was a strong acces-
sion; truly we thanked God and took courage. And here allow me to
say, the want of male strength and co-operation has ever been the cause
of the slow growth of our Church in Northampton. The four gentlemen
named above died in quick succession, and the church was again left to
the women — 'last at the cross and earliest at the sepulchre.' In 1827
Dr. William G. Smith joined the church, and has been its consistent and
valuable friend. With our subsequent additions and circumstances you
are well acquainted. Our ministers have all been choice and faithful;
the responsibility is our own. Being the oldest living member, per-
haps 'the oldest inhabitant,' I have made these imperfect 'jottings' for
your information."

My own recollections begin with the Rev. Simon Wilmer, but the
memory is very vague, for I was not three years old at the time of his
death. He was very absent-minded, and his wife equally so. Many
memories of them lingered in the parish, and they were always spoken
of with great affection. Here is a story often told, which exhibits
their absent-mindedness: They had made a visit, their infant child be-
ing with them; and when taking leave were at great pains to see that
all their belongings were put into theii- carriage. Half-way down the
avenue leading to the county road they heard a call, and stopped to see
what was wanted. "Can we have left anything?" asked his reverence.

Ill

Kis wife answered, "Everything that I can think of is here, even the
balDy's bottle! But there must he sometfiing !" The "something" was
the baby himself, fast asleep on a sofa. This baby became the Bishop
of Louisiana, and was said to have been as absent-minded as his
parents. The Rev. Stephen Gunter was Dr. Wilmer's predecessor.

I do not know at what time old Hungars was put in decent repair, and
the services resumed, nor under which rector this was accomplished;
but long before 1840 it was opened fortnightly for morning service, al-
ternating with Christ church, Eastville. Many of the families in and
near Eastville attended both churches regularly. The members of Hun-
gars church living in the upper part of the parish also frequently at-
tended the other church, for the parish was a harmonious unit.

The exterior of the church remained unchanged, but the interior never
regained its Colonial splendor, and the chancel furniture and draperies
were very simple and inexpensive. There was only one aisle; the pews
were lar.ge and nearly square, with benches on three sides. Children
sat on the front benches, facing their parents. The pulpit was at the
side of the church, near a door.

Before 1850 the old church was pronounced unsafe, cracks having ap-
peared in one of the gables, and the walls being slightly out of plumb.
An attempt was made, by means of iron rods, to draw the walls back
into position, but proving unsuccessful, the cracked gable was pulled
down and a portion of each side wall, reducing the length by about one-
third. It is, however, more than large enough for its present congrega-
tions. The interior was altered in various particulars; two aisles took
the place of one, thus reducing the size of the pews, while increasing
their number; the pulpit was removed to the chancel.

Bishop Meade gives the following list of vestrymen for Hungars
church since 1812:

Peter Bowdoin, John Eyre, Nathaniel Holland, John Addison, John
Gofflgan, John Upshur, John Windee, Littleton Upshur, George Parker,
William Satchell, Thomas Satchell, S. Pitts, Jacob Nottingham, Isaac
Smith, John T. Elliott, J. H. Harmanson, James Upshur, Abel P. Upshur,
W. Danton, Charles West, W. G. Smith, John Leatherbury, Severn E.
Parker, John Ker, T. N. Robins, N. J. Windee, Major Pitts, G. F. Wil-
kins Sirakins, Fisher, Evans, Bell, Adams, Nicholson.

MERCHANT'S HOPE CHURCH, MARTIN'S
BRANDON PARISH, VIRGINIA.

BY N. P. DUNN, RICHilOND, VA.

BOUT fourteen miles from Petersbui'g and half that distance
^ ^ from Prince George Court-house, stands Merchant's Hope

church, at a point two miles inland from James River, on
what is known as the Church Road. The building, of ancient
brick, is sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, with walls twenty-two
inches thick, and rafters of such unusual size that their weight proved
a menace even to those sturdy walls which were, some fifty years
ago, braced by iron rods to prevent threatened damage. On one of
these rafters the number 1657 was found. It was taken to be the
date of the erection of the church, and this date is now painted on
the outside cornice of the building. Of the credibility of the inference
antiquarians must judge. The aisles, passing from both doors and
meeting at the chancel, are six feet wide and are paved with the
original flag stones, practically in perfect preservation after all these
years. They are eighteen inches square, and were doubtless im-
ported, as others of that day are known to have been. On replacing
one of these tiles which had become loosened, it was found to bear
on its under surface a crown cut in the stone as a sort of stamp or
trademark. Across the end of the church, opposite the chancel, runs
a gallery. Passing under this, the west door is reached, on one side
of which is a small vesting room, lighted by a tiny window into the
church. On the other side a stairway leads to the gallei^y- The ceil-
ing, following a low curve, was until recently of white plaster, like
the finish of the walls, but owing to the difficulty of keeping its
arched surface in repair, it is now ceiled in wood. The old lines were
preserved and the acoustic properties of the church are said to owe
their excellence to this form of roof. The old square pews remained
In use till the Civil War, and are now replaced by the modern kind,
while the chancel, destroyed at the same time, has never been restored.
The original rail and gate are replaced by a curved walnut rail. The
necessary furnishings are the simplest. Within the memory of the
father of the present senior warden the high pulpit, with its sounding-

113

toard, stood midway down the churcli, the minister leaving the chancel
and traversing half the length of the aisle to enter it. The upright
beam to which the sounding board was affixed is detected beneath
the plaster now. The church's jewel is an old Bible of great beaaty
and interest. The title pages are gone, but expert testimony affirms
it to be "the New Testament of 1639, which is appended to the Old
Testament of 1640." There seems no reason to doubt that it is John
Westhrope's "great Bible," left to the parish in 1C5S.

The church yard, lying beside the little church, contains no tomb-
stones, nor is there a tradition that any ever existed. In that part of
the world the plantations were large and the distances great, and the
custom of interment in private burying grounds to a great extent
prevailed. The church yard is carefully fenced, and is still occa-
sionally used as a place of burial. No monument or tablet nor trace
of such marks the church walls. No old register exists, no new one
has been begun. The spot is mute as to its own history, and one who
would learn the story must glean far and wide and at last bring
home but a small sheaf.

The church takes its quaint and suggestive name from the old
plantation on which it stood. No part of the tract retains the name
to-day except God's Acre. The small farms into which it was divided
long ago have well-known names of their own. A bark called Ye
Merchant's Hope was plying between England and Virginia in 1634.
In 1635, under West, William Barker, Mariner, Richard Quoyning
(Quiney) and John Sadler, Merchants, and their associates and com-
pany, received a grant of "1,250 acres of land in the county of Charles
City, and extending into the woods from a seat or grant of lands
called Merchant's Hope, formerly granted to the said Barker his
Associates and Co." This tract, enlarged by the purchase from his
heirs of Captain Powell's holdings, already historic ground by reason
of his tragic end here in the Massacre of 1622, was repatented under
Harvey in 1638 as "Merchant's Hope, formerly known as Powle Brook."
Barker received further grants, and bought other lands in the neigh-
borhood. Sadler and the company were granted some portion of Mar-
tin's Brandon in 1636 and other tracts in 1649, and the holdings of
these men now formed two plantations of great size, the home of a
considerable colony.

In 1655 we hear for the first time of court being held at Merchant's
Hope. Barkei- must have sold his interest in the two places, leaving

114

Quiney and Sadler joint owners. Quiney, whose brother Thomas had
married Judith Shaicespeare in 1615-16, died in London in 1655. Sadler,
who was, I believe, his father-in-law, died in 1658. Of his will we
shall have occasion to speak later.

In 1711, under Spotswood, the Sadler and Quiney heirs repatented
Merchant's Hope, now 2,208 acres. In the meantime that part of
Charles City county lying along the south bank of James River had
been made into a new county and called Prince George, no doubt in
honor of Queen Anne's Danish consort. There is a deed among the
Prince George county records, executed in 1720, conveying, on the part
of Quiney's heirs, one-half of Merchant's Hope and Martin's Brandon
to Nathaniel Harrison, who doubtless bought the other half of both
plantations from the heirs of John Sadler. He thus became the solo
owner of a magnificent tract, which in part remains in the Harrison
family to-day.

Court was transferred from Merchant's Hope in 1726. A field two
miles from the church is now known as "Court-house Jamb." We
can not doubt that it is the site of the court-house. As the building
fell into ruin, perhaps some upright for door or window outlasted
its fellows, and so gave a name to the spot, which clings to it still.

The parish of Martin's Brandon, in which Merchant's Hope church
lies, was, says Meade, "a very early parish in Charles City." From it
Bristol parish was cut off in 1642. Bishop Meade mentions that Mer-
chant's Hope and old Brandon were the only churches in the parish.
Their history he dismisses with very few words.

Probably the site of the oldest church of the parish is to be found
at Brandon. The suggestive name of Church Pastures clings to a
small farm on the estate, where there is a churchyard with a few
still decipherable tombstones. Here are buried some of the Tookers
(or Tuckers), of Devonshire, and John Tirrey, Gent., who died in
1700. Near here is the grave of John Vv'esthrope's wife. The will of
John Westhrope, of London, Merchant, made in 1655, after his return
to England, and proved in 1658, leaves "to the church of Martin
Brandon, in Virginia, 2,000 lbs. of Merchantable Tobacco and Caske,
toward the Repairing or the building up of a new Church; provided,
always, the said church be built upon the same ground or place the
said church now stands on; also 1,000 lbs. of Tobacco and Caske to
contain the same, to bye a Communion Cupp, also my great Bible and
a book called Bishop Andrew's sermons." "The Communion Cupp"

115

is a cherished possession of the present church at Brandon. It was
doubtless used by both churches as long as they remained in the
same parish, for after the separation in 1857 we find an appropriation
of $70 at Merchant's Hope for a Communion service, which is the one
now in use there.

Another will of this period which contains a mention of the' parish
is that of John Sadler, above referred to. He leaves a portion of his
cattle on "his plantations in Virginia in parts beyond the sea * * * to
the minister and parish there, and £20 worth of goods to be delivered
to Master Charles Sparrowe and the chietest of the parishioners of
the parish of Martin's Brandon, to repairing the church and par-
sonage." Of course, this church, about whose repair Sadler and Wes-
thrope were concerning themselves, could not be a recently built brick
edifice, but must refer to the earlier church of Brandon.

If the date 1657 is assignable to the present Merchant's Hope church,
we may imagine its erection undertaken under the law passed in
1655, reiterating former decrees of Assembly and urging the laying
out of parishes, the building of churches and the buying of glebes.
In 1667, under Berkeley, there was granted to "the Parish of Martyn's
Brandon 200 acres for a Glebe belonging to their church in the County
of Charles City, between Captain Johnson's land and the 'Merchants.' "
A farm still called the Glebe, and lying midway between the two
churches, would seem to correspond to this grant. No other mention
of it has come to my notice. It is a matter of record when the sale
of many glebes was allowed at the request of the parish vestries, but
no such request is to be found in the case of Martin's Brandon.

The first minister in the parish whose report we find is John Warden,
who states that he came to Virginia in 1712. "In six months went to
Waynoak and Martin Brandon, both which parishes were hardly sufll-
cient to maintain a minister, therefore I removed to Lawn's Creek.
Surry, January 30, 1717." In the meanwhile Peter Fontaine had come
to the colony in 1716. He "preached at Weyanoke and Martin's Bran-
don; some time after at Wallingford and Jamestown, all belonging
to distinct parishes." After 1720, when changes were made in many
parish lines, Fontaine was given the charge of Westover, which now
lay entirely on the north side of the river, and we hear of no one at
Martin's Brandon till the time of Alexander Finnie, in 1754-55. Bishop
Meade mentions Coutts as incumbent from 1773-76. Ten years later
Blagrove was rector, followed after an interval by Rev. John Jones

116

Spooner. Then follows a silence in the parochial reports. Bishop
Meade tells us that these were not lost years, however.
A consecrated man from Rhode Island worked among the people
duiing this time, ably assisted by lay helpers. In 1828 Bishop Moore
repoT ts his intention to send a missionary to Prince George and Surry,
"through whose labours I hope for a revival of the Church and the
restoration of her excellent form of worship." Rev. John Cole was the
man selected, but in 1830 we find him in Gloucester, and no report
of Martin's Brandon reaches the Convention for another seven years.
Then the Rev. R. E. Northam, rector of Brandon and Cabin Point
(Surry) took charge of Merchant's Hope, repaired the church and
formed a vestry. This is the beginning of more prosperous days, con-
tinuous services and good attendance, with occasional visitations and
confirmations. Rev. Aristides S. Smith came to the church in 1843.
A parsonage was built, and work among the blacks received a new
impetus He reports a chapel built by two proprietors of adjoining
estates for their slaves. He was followed in the rectorship by Rev.
Henry Denison. The communicants now numbered thirty-four. His
earnest energies were directed to the work among the slaves, and
he reported encouraging prospects and large congregations. He was
followed by Rev. Charles Minnigerode, under whose ministry the
flock abundantly prospered. He was succeeded by the Rev. E. C.
Murdaugh.

Then came the formal division of the parish. Brandon church and
Cabin Point became united in a parish, to be known as Martin's
Brandon and Southwark. The parsonage was ceded to Merchant's
Hope, and Rev. R. L. Johnson was called. He was followed by Rev.
John S. Hansborough. The war came on, and the church building
suffered desecration. It was used as a stable, while the high pews
were torn out to furnish flooring for the enemy's tents. For these
damages the Court of Claims has now allowed satisfaction, and the
vestry is about to receive indemnity. After the war Mr. Hansborough
returned to the desolated parish, and ministered there till 1870, fol-
lowed by Rev. Wm. P. Gardner and E. Valentine Jones. During a
ministry of eleven years Mr. Jones saw his charge prosper greatly.
The old places near by still sent their representatives whenever the
church doors were opened— the Cockes, of Tar Bay; the Elands, of
Jordan's Point; the Willcoxes, of Flower de Hundred, and the Ruffins,
of Beechwood.

117

The last rector to serve the church was Rev. F. G. Ribble, now of
Petersburg. During his stay of a few months last spring and summer
the Bishop visited the parish twice and confirmed twenty persons. Un-
fortunately the church has been closed since last September. The field
is full of promise. Whenever the doors are opened the church is filled
with eager, interested listeners, but it is impossible for the congrega-
tion, in existing circumstances, to support a minister. The building
is in perfect repair, due to the untiring zeal of its small congregation.
It has stood in its integrity through all these years witnessing to thf
undying religion planted in our land by its early settlers. After years
of prosperity the Civil War came, working ruin to the whole region.
The tide of life swept out and left it stranded. No county in the State,
perhaps, has felt changed conditions more Keenly. In some portions
the solitude is wonderfully like desolation, and the pines in the old
corn rows have almost reached maturity. Perhaps the awakening will
some day come. When it does it will find the living Church of Christ
standing to testify that, in the arrestment of material progress and the
long sleep which looked like death, her influence went out unfalter-
ingly, whereby many hearts have been quickened.

WESTOVER PARISH. CHARLES CITY COUNTY.

VIRGINIA

BY 5IKS. MAKY MORRIS TYLER, OF STUKOEON POINT, VA.

lr\ fv^HERE is no parish in Virginia more interesting, nor bearing

more distinctly the raarlt of antiquity than Westover. The

oldest church plate in the United States is a Communion cup

presented in 1619 to "St. Mary's Church in Smith's Hundred

in 'Virginia," by Mrs. Mary Robinson. The cup is still preserved by

the church at Hampton and bears the hall-mark of 1617, with the

inscription above mentioned.

Smith's, or Southampton Hundred extended from "W'^eyanoke to the
Chickahominy river; was located in 1617 and abandoned after the
Indian massacre of 1622. If "St. Mary's Church," for which the plate
was designed was actually built, it was contemporary with the Argall
church at Jamestown, and older than any other in the Colony. The
county of Charles City, in which it was located, was one of the original
shires or counties into which the Colony was partitioned in 1634. and
extended over a broad area on both sides of the James river. 'V\''est-
over Hundred, Weyanoke (or 'VVeyanoake) Hundred, Shirley Hundred,
and Charles City Hundred were early settlements on James river,
within its bounds, and we read of a school being, or to be established
"at Charles City Hundred in aid of the proposed college at Henrico."
Westover Parish followed the original county lines; was thirty miles
long and, extending to the other side of the river, included Charle?
City Hundred (now City Point) and a section of country extending
to Martin's Brandon. Bishop Meade states that there were originally
in Charles City county the parishes of "VVestover, "Weyanoke and "Wal-
lingford, which extended to the Chickahominy river; all three after-
ward uniting into one, taking the name of Westover Parish.

At Weyanoke, generally accepted as the next settlement after
Jamestown, there long remained foundations of an ancient church,
and a pamphlet in the possession of Mr. Graves, of Maryland, states
authoritatively that an assembly was held at the church at Weyanoke
early in the 17th century. There are still traces of the old graveyard,
and one of the tombs from there was carried to St. Paul's, Norfolk,
(by the Rev. Dr. Okeson) where It may still be seen. Apparently

119

after the destruction of the church at Weyanoke the "county was
divided into Westover and Mapsco. Tlie part above the courthouse
was called Westover, and the part below called Mapsco, from an In-
dian name given the creek near where the original Lower church
stood."

The parish took its name from the Westover tract, which was
granted to Captain Francis West in 1619, for Henry West, the son
and heir of Lord Delaware, Governor of Virginia; Westover gaining
its name from the West familj'.

Owing to the unfortunate loss or lack of early parish records, it
is impossible to fix the age of the present Westover church. The
original Westover church stood near the Westover house, about a
quarter of a mile up the river bank. Its location is established by the
existence of very interesting tombs at that point. The earliest is that
of Walter Aston, who patented in 1642 a tract on Kimage's creek.

Next in point of antiquity is that of Theodoric Bland, who in 1666
purchased Westover:

S. M.
Prudentis & Erudite Theodorici
Bland Armig Qui Obijt Aprills

23rd A. D. 1671. Aetatus 41

Cujus Vidua Maestissima Anna

Pillia Richardi Bennt Armig

Hoc Marmor Posuit.

Here are the highly interesting Byrd monuments, that of Mary Byrd,
wife of one, and mother of another of the distinguished William Byrds:

Here lyeth the Body

of Mary Byrd, Late Wife of William

Byrd, Esq. Daughter

of Warham Horsemander Esq.

Who died the 9th

Day of November

1699. In the 47 year

of Her Age.

Nearby lies that fair heroine of romance, Evelyn Byrd:

Here in the sleep of peace, ^

Reposes the Body of Mrs. Evelyn Byrd,
Daughter of the Hon. William Byrd Esq.

120

The various and excellent endowments
of Nature
Improved and perfected by an accomplished education formed her
for the happiness of her friends, for an ornament of her county.

Alas Reader,

We can detain nothing, however valued,

from unrelenting Death.

Beauty, fortune or exalted honour

See here a Proof,

And be reminded by this awful Tomb; that every worldly comfort

fleets away, excepting only, what arises from imitating the virtues

of our friends and the contemplation of their happiness.

To which

God was pleased to call this Lady

On the 13th day of November, 1737,

In the 29th year of her age.

In the adjacent garden lies Col. William Byrd, by long odds the

most accomplished man of his day in America — statesman, scholar

and fellow of the Royal Society. He built the present noble brick

mansion at Westover, ran the Virginia and North Carolina line, and

founded the city of Richmond. His monument is very elaborate and

bears the following inscription:

"Here Lieth
The Honorable William Byrd, Esq., being born to one of the amplest
Fortunes in this Country, he was sent early to England for his Edu-
cation; where under the Care and direction of Sir Robt Southwell,
and even favored with his particular Instruction, he made a happy
Proficiency in polite and various Learning. By the means of the same
noble Friend he was introduced to many of the first Persons of the
Age, for Knowledge, Wit, Virtue, Birth or high Station, and particularly
contracted a most intimate and bosom Friendship with the learned
and illustrious Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery, he was called to the Bar
of the Middle Temple, studied for some time in the Low Countries,
visited the Court of France, and was chosen Fellow of the Royal
Society."
On the opposite side of the tombstone is inscribed:
"Thus eminently fitted for the Service and ornament of his country,
he was made Receiver-General of his Majesty's Revenues here, was
thrice appointed Public Agent to the Court and Ministry of England,

121

and being thirty-seven years a member, at last became President of
the Council of the Colony, to all this were added a great Elegancy
of Taste and Life, the well bred Gentleman and polite Companion,
the splendid Economist and prudent Father of a Family, was the
constant Enemy of all exorbitant Power, and hearty Friend of the
liberties of his Country.

"Nat. March 28th, 1624. Mort. Aug. 26th, 1744. An Etat 70 years."

There is no trace of a monument to the third William Byrd, whose
prominence in military life was such that he was seriously considered
instead of General Washington as leader of the Virginia forces in the
Revolutionary War.

In the old churchyard we find also the tombs of Benjamin Harrison,
of Berkeley, and his wife Elizabeth Burwell, this being the third
Benjamin Harrison, father of Benjamin Harrison, Speaker of the
House of Burgesses, grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, great-grandfather of Wil-
liam Harrison, President of the United States in 1841, who was born
at Berkeley in 177.3, and great-great-great-grandfather of Benjamin
Harrison, President of the United States in 1889.

The only other decipherable tomb is that of Charles Anderson, the
first known minister of this parish.

There is no record of the date of the removal of the church from Its
original site, only that it was removed brick by brick by "Mrs. Byrd
to her land Evelyngton," about two miles away. The last interment
in the old churchyard of which we have evidence was that of Mistress
Evelyn Byrd, 1737. The oldest monument in the present churchyard
remaining unbroken is "Erected by Richard Weir, To the dear mem-
ory of his pupil and friend. * * * He died the 17th of .June,
1748. ' It looks therefore as if the move were made in the interval
between 1737 and 1748. If, however, the Mrs. Byrd who caused the
removal was, as has been supposed, the widow of the third William
Byrd, it would have been a little later.

Bishop Meade says of the present building:

"The old Westover church still stands, a relic and monument of
ancient times. It is built of the glazed-end bricks, generally used in
Colonial structures. It has been subject to terrible mutilation, having
been used in the days of general depression in the Episcopal Church
in the beginning of the 19th century as a barn. Repaired then by the

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families of Berkeley and Shirley, and again repaired just prior to the
war, it was used by the Federal troops as a stable.

'■In 1SC7 the Westover church was opened and used again for the first
time since the close of the war. Not a door, window, or floor was
left; but by the blessing of good God and kind friends, we have re-
paired it." (Parish Register). Now, 1907, a considerable sum is in
the hands of the Ladies' Aid Society for the restoration and beauti-
fying of the church.

Of the Lower church in the parish, we are told that "the Old Brick
church, called Mapsco, stood about seven miles below the court-
house and immediately on the road to Sandy Point, the old seat of
the Lightfoot family, also convenient to the Chickahominy neighbor-
hood." A note written about 1850 says: "Mapsco church was on the
road to Barrett's Ferry, near the fork of the road, four miles below
where the new church stands. The ruins are still visible. The 'New
Church' is first alluded to in the Parish Register in 1841 as St. Thomas',
and on Christmas, 1854, St. Thomas' church was destroyed by fire.
Rebuilt in 1856, it was consecrated by the Assistant-Bishop Johns at
Mapsco church."

Of the parish glebes we are told there were two in the day of
Parson Fontaine, 1724, neither having homes on them. The glebe
house now standing bears distinct evidence of antiquity. The land is
said to have been the grant of the crown; the house is built of the
Colonial glazed brick, and it was the residence of early ministers down
to Parson Chapin.

After the disuse of the glebe. Parson Norris (1S33) lived with Dr.
Willcox at River Edge.

On the revival of Church life in the parish, a rectory was secured
on the outer part of Weyanoke, in 1841. From that point the rectory
was removed in 1888, to a tract adjoining Westover church, probably
the same "Westing, belonging to the Westover estate, across the
creek from the Westover house, once occupied by Parson Dunbar."

Of the ministers of this parish we are told by Bishop Meade: "We
have no means of ascertaining the name of a single minister of this
ancient shire for nearly a century after its establishment." Tht
earliest on record was Rev. Charles Anderson, to whose tomb we have
referred, who died in 1718, having been for 26 years minister of this
parish. He preceded the first mentioned by Bishop Meade, that
godly man. Rev. Peter Fontaine, who served the parish faithfully
for forty years and died in 17.55. He was followed in 1758 by Rev.

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William Davis; in 1776 Rev. James Ogilbie; in 1786 Rev. John Dunbar,
the fighting parson, who married a daughter of the House of Byrd,
and of whose wild doings there is many a sinister tale. He is various-
ly reported to have fought a duel behind Westover and old Mapsco
church, and is said to have vainly tried to stir up strife between the
cousins Benjamin Harrison, of Berkeley and Brandon, making the offer,
which was declined, to the bearer of a challenge from one to the other.
Next came, 1793 or earlier. Rev. Sewell Chapin, last occupant of the
glebe. Parson Chapin baptized John Tyler, tenth President of the
United States, who was born at Greenway, Charles City county, in
1790. An oil painting of old Parson Chapin hung in the Tyler home-
stead, "Sherwood Forest," until it was taken during the war to
Richmond, wtth other portraits, for protection, and burned there the
day of evacuation. Mr. Chapin died at "Weyanoke," the residence
of F. Lewis, and was buried in the aisle and under the present chancel
of Westover church.

Now follows the period that the "Churches mouldered away," in
which time, tradition tells of Parsons Black and Blagrove.

In 1833 Rev. Charles Farley acted as missionary in Charles City,
Chesterfield and King William. In the same year, 1833, Rev. A.
Norris took charge of the parish, followed in 1835 by Rev. William
Thomas Leavell, and in 1853, Rev. N. K. Okeson. In 1856 Dr. Ander-
son Wade followed, and was for upwards of twenty years beloved
rector of the parish. In 1880 came the Rev. W. B. Everett, and in
1886 Rev. K. S. Nelson. In 1888 the Rev. J. Poyntz Tyler followed,
and in his day there was a distinct increase of interest and enthu-
siasm in the parish. He was succeeded in 1891 by Rev. John C. Cor-
nick, who is still the faithful rector of the parish.

Among the early vestrymen of the parish we hear the names:
"Lightfoots, Minges, Byrds, Carters, Harrisons, Tylers, Christians,
Seldons, Nelsons, Lewises, Douthats and Willcoxes," many of the
same being on the Vestry Books of to-day. The present vestry— B. C.
Harrison, registrar; J. M. Walker, senior warden; J. A. Ruflin, treas-
urer; William L. Woods, J. A. Gentry, J. B. Brockwell, T. W. Willcox,
junior warden; D. G. Tyler, F. L. Douthat, W. L. Harrison.

The Communion plate of both churches is extremely interesting —
that of Westover church, "Ex Dono Sara Braine." The massive alms
basin belonging to this set has passed into the possession of St.
John's church, Richmond. The plate at Mapsco church was presented
by "Fran. Lightfoot, Anno 1727."

124

During the last twenty years a third church has been added to the
parish — Grace chapel, Granville, in Shirley neighborhood. The Shirley
mansion, standing on the original "West and Shirley Hundred," is
one of the oldest and most interesting in Virginia. Patented in 16G4
by Edward Hill, it has remained in unbroken line in the hands of
his descendants — Hills and Carters — many members of both families
rising to distinction.

The mother of Gen. Robert E. Lee, was Miss Carter, of Shirley.
At the "Forest," Thomas Jefferson was married to the widow Shelton.
There are a number of private graveyards throughout the parish,
containing interesting monuments, notably those at Sandy Point,
with the tombs of the Lightfoots; at Greenway, with the tombs of
the Tylers, notably Governor, afterwards Judge John Tyler, con-
temporary and friend of Jefferson and Henry; and the oldest of all
at Bachelor's Point with William Hunt, 1G76, and another William
Hunt, 1694.

God's word and worship seem nowhere to have formed a more
important part in the early history of our country than in this old
parish of Westover.

For information in this paper we are indebted to Bishop Meade's
"Old Churches and Families in Virginia"; Dr. Lyon G. Tyler's "Cradle
of the Republic," and the only register of Westover Parish in ex-
istence, dating from the year 1833.

THE COLONIAL CHURCHES OF YORK COUNTY,

VIRGINIA

BY MRS. MARY D. MICOU, THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA.

THE small county of York held within its narrow bounds the nu-
cleus of early Colonial life and strength. Very near the first
seat of government at Jamestown and afterwards halving with
James City county, the new business home of Governor and
Burgesses, it numbered among the planters those who influenced the
destinies of all the other counties.

There were three disanct Church parishes within its bounds. Charles
Parish a' New Poquoson, on Poquoson river, was in the lower part of
the county and was called New Poquoson, in contradistinction to Old
Poquoson or Elizabeth City. It was ordered by the House of Burgesses,
Dec. 11, 1692, that "upon the peticon of ye pishioners of New Poquoson
in ye county of Yorke yt from henceforth forever hereafter ye old
pish Church shall be called and named Charles Church. And ye river
formerly called New Poquoson river shall from time to time and all
times hereafter be called and written, Charles river." The parish be-
came known as Charles Parish, but the river is Poquoson river. This
parish as New Poquoson had alreaay existed over forty years.

In the north of the county were the other two parishes, Kiskyache,
settled in 1630, Yorke in 1632. In 1633 the seventh of the stores for
receiving and shipping purposes ordered to be built in the different
plantations were built on Charles river for the inhabitants of Kis-
kyache and Yorke. Kiskyache was made a parish in 1642, and when
Charles river county was changed in name to York, the name of
Kiskyache was changed to Hampton Parish.

The first rector of Yorke and Hampton parishes was Rev, Anthony
Panton, in 1639-40. He became involved in an undignified squabble
with Richard Kempe, secretary of the Colony, whom he spoke of as
a 'jackanapes" and criticized the untidiness of his personal appearance.
R. chard Kempe took his revenge by having him deprived of his charge.
Anthony Panton appealed to England, bringing serious charges against
Kempe of mismanagement in public affairs. Kempe was recalled
*nd the charges against Panton were ordered to be Inquired into, and

126

if innocent of them tie was to be reinstated in his parishes of Yorke and
Hampton, which latter is described as being between Williamsburg
and Yorke. (Neill's Virginia Carolorum.)

"Parson Cluverius was rector of Yorke-Hampton in 1644." (Virginia
Historical Magazine.) Bishop Meade states that an old tombstone in
Yorke county reads, "Hev. Thomas Hampton, rector of Yorke in 1647."

In 1642 a contract was made to build a church in Yorke. (Yorke Re-
cords.) The so-called "Temple Farm" was the site of old Yorke
church and there is f. deed recorded in Yorktown about 1769 which calls
the field in which the so-called temple stood, "The Church Field."
What is pointed out as a temple ruin is old Yorke church, described
in early patents. (William and Mary Quarterly.)

The old Yorke church was abandoned when Yorktown was estab-
lished, and before 1700 a new church was built there. "To this once
busy emporium of trade, the courthouse and church were transferred —
the courthouse from the half-way house on the road to Martin's
Hundred, and the church from the old forgotten plantations of Martin
Baker and George Menifee. * * * Near the half way house kept by
the Hansfords are the ruins of old Hampton church, formerly Chisiack
church. When Yorke and Hampton united into Yorke-Hampton the
Communion service belonged to Hampton." (William and Mary
Quarterly, Vol. I.-II.)

From the different accounts given in the two Historical Magazines in
Virginia, taken directly from Yorke county records and from the old
register, all of which can easily be verified, it appears that up to 1642
the parishes of Yorke county were perfectly distinct; only Yorke and
Hampton were often under the same minister. Judging by the old
register, which begins long before 1692, when the name was changed
from New Poquoson to Charles Parish, this parish was large and
flourishing, containing many well known names.

The first entry concerning a rector was in 1687: "Ye Rev. Thomas
Finney, rector of this parish, died and was buried in the chancel of
New Poquoson Church." The next clergyman came in 16SS, Rev. James
Sclater. He died in 1723, after a quiet ministry of 35 years, leading us
to hope, from the length of his pastorate, that he was one of the few
inducted ministers.

It was during the very short interregnum after his death that Charles
Parish was reported to the Bishop of London as vacant. The next
rector was called from Old Poquoson or Elizabeth City; Rev. James
Falconer, who died in 1727. Rev. Theodosius Staige was then called

127

from Fredericksburg. He died after a pastorate of 20 years, in 1747.
In 1749 the Rev. Thomas Warrington is mentioned as rector. In 1756
he was called to Old Poquoson. The last name given was Rev. Joseph
Davenport, who was stnl rector when the register closed. The very
last entry was by Hev. Samuel Shields in 1789, who would seem to
have combined Charles and Yorke-Hampton parishes under the same
charge. Thus we see that in 140 years Charles Parish had only had
six ministers.

In our review of Yorke-jnampton up to 1647 it had already had three
clergymen. Throughout its history it is marked by constant change
among its clergy. Probably on account of its nearness to the restless
Church element in Williamsburg it would be apt to be influenced more
or less by the disputes between the Governor and the vestries, and
later oetween the Governor and the Commissary.

Old Yorke church was, according to early patents and records, at
Temple Farm or "the Old Church Field," two or three miles from
Yorktown. The foundations still existing measure 60 feet east and
west, 46 feet north and south. Hampton church stood in Kiskyache, or
Chisiack, between Williamsburg and Yorktown. "Col. Edward Digges
owned a plantation in Hampton Parish, of 1,250 acres, near the Indian
town of Kiskyache." (William and Mary Quarterly.) After some
time the parish was_ united to that of York and called York-Hampton.
The family seat of the Digges was eight miles from Williamsburg and
was called "Belfield."

Rev. William White was rector of York in 1658, Rev. James Folliott
in 1680, Rev. Stephen Fouace came from England in 1688, returned and
died there in 1702. He was rector of York-Hampton and witnessed
a written promise from Governor Nicholson to give the sum of £20
towards the building of a church in Yorktown if built within two
years, to be built of brick. This was in 1696. Documentary proof like
this ought to settle the date of the building of the present church. In
1695 Governor Nicholson gave 3% acres of land in Yorktown for a free
school. In 1860 Yorktown was laid out on land belonging to Mr. Ben-
jamin Reade, inherited from Captain Nicholas Martian, who was Bur-
gess for Kiskyache. The courthouse was ordered built in 1691 and all
county business was moved there. The next clergyman we know of
was Rev. Mr. Goodwin, 1714.

Then comes a break in our information until 1724, when the Rev.
Francis Fontaine makes a report to the Bishop of London, in which he
speaks of his -parish thus: "There are two churches in this parish

12S

(York-Hampton), one in Yorktown and the other eight miles distant.
My parish is twenty miles in length and four miles broad. There are
two hundred families in it. In my church at Y'orktown there are three
score communicants, at the other church about twenty."

It certainly seems as if the weight of evidence puts Hampton church
In the twelve miles more or less between Williamsburg and Yorktown,
rather than in the lower part of the county, where it would conflict
very decidedly with the large and well-cared for Charles Parish
Bishop Meade himself takes this view. He says (Vol. I., p. 197) : "Then,
was at an early period a small parish between Williamsburg and York-
town called Kiskyache or Chescake. The church which still stands
a few miles from Williamsburg on the road to Y'ork belonged to that
parish." The Bishop also says that the Virginia Gazette for March,
1746, says that the plate given the church by Nathaniel Bacon had
been stolen. (This was not the Nathaniel Bacon of notorious mem-
ory, but a near kinsman.) This was the plate of York-Hampton
church; perhaps that is the reason that in 1748 Philip Lightfoot in his
will leaves £50 to buy a 'silver flaggon and challice,' to be engraved
with his arms, for York-Hampton Church." Be that as it may the ola
Communion service of Hampton Parish has been transferred to York-
town, where it is still in use. It is engraved "Hampton Parish in
Y'orke County, Virginia." The hall-mark shows it was made in 1(549.
The service has one flagon 10% inches high and one cup 8% inches.
The plate is modern, not solid silver.

The present church of Yorktown, probably the same one to which
Governor Nicholson subscribed in 1696, stands upon an elevation about
50 feet above the river and abcui zSO or 300 feet from the water. It is
built of a sort of marl stone taken from the hills overlooking the river.
When it was burnt in 1815 the action of the fire made the stone still
firmer, so that it was easily rebuilt. The old church was in the shape
of a T situated east and west. When it was rebuilt the wings of the
T were left oft, making only a nave 60 by 30 feet. The foundations of
the wings have been filled up with rubbish and are distinctly visible,
the walls being 2V2 feet thick.

In 1758 the Rev. John Camm was rector of York-Hampton. He
brought the parish into prominence by the strong stand he took with
regard to the payment of the clergy in money; the paper currency
which was good only in the Colony, allowing the small sum of only
two pence a pound for the tobacco, which had formerly been the
medium of pay between the vestry and the minister, thus depriving the

129

clergy of the benefit of any fluctuation in the pi'lce of that commodity.
Mr. Camm not only resented this for himself, but he determined to
fight it out for his brother clergy, making his the test case. He fought
it first before the home government, then carried it to England. He
gained his point there, the Royal Commission ordering the annulment
of the law; but there was such bitter feeling against the royal decision
that when the case came up before the Virginia Assembly he was award-
ed one penny damages. The second time it was referred to England,
and the King and his officers refused to interfere again.

Twice in the history of the Church in Virginia did vital interests
depend upon individual action. The two Nelsons, the president and sec-
retary, refused to sit upon the board because they belonged to Mr.
Camm's parish and were opposed to the measure, thus leaving a ma-
jority of one for instead of against it. If they had consented to serve
it would have been a majority of one against it and probably it would
have dropped.

When the question of taking away the glebe lands came up years
later Judge Pendleton had written his decision against the legality
of the act, carrying with him the weighing vote. Dying suddenly, he
had not signed the paper, and his successor rendering an adverse de-
cision, the great injustice was an accomplished fact.

In 1785, when the Convention was held in Richmond, Yorttown
church was represented by Rev. Robert Andrews, and Charles Parish
by Rev. Joseph Davenport. The church in Yorktown had seen sad
days, alternately in the hands of British and Continental troops and
many of its best men in the service of their country in other parts 61
the Colony, it had been almost defenceless. In 1781 "The windows
and pews having been broken and destroyed and the Church used as a
magazine, the damages were valued at £150. The destruction was
wrought by Lord Cornwallis." (York Co. Records.) Lord CornwalUS
surrendered and the Articles of Capitulation were signed at Temple
Farm.

In 1786 and for many years Rev. Samuel Shields represented beth
Charles Parish and York-Hampton at the Conventions. In 1793 Rev.
James Henderson represented them. From 1799 to 1815 all parish re-
ports were irregular and Charles and York-Hampton are absent from
the printed Convention reports. The church in Yorktown had probably
not been rebuilt after it was burnt in 1815, because Bishop Moore vis-
ited Yorktown in 1825 and preached in the morning at the courthouse
and in the afternoon at Mr. Nelson's house.

130

)n 1825 the Rev. Mark Chevers, rector of Elizabeth City, reports: "At
the request of a few families in Charles Parish, York county, I have tor
Konie months past performed divine services and preached from house
to house every fortnight on Saturdays, and it gives me great satis-
faction to state to the Convention that the services have been well
attended and a vestry has recently been chosen and exertions are
making. The hope is entertained that the love of the Church may
yet revive in the parish. Communicants 32; baptisms 40; marriages 5;
funerals 9." It is evident from these last two items that the whole of
York county was without a useable church building.

A careful perusal of the Convention reports edited by Dr. Hawks
shows a greater desire in the two Bishops, Moore and Meade, to start
missions and churches in the new counties constantly forming than to
levive the old churches on the coast.

Tradition says that the bell was given by Queen Anne. When the
chr.rch was burnt the bell was broken and the fragments were laid
aside in the vestry room. After the Civil War those pieces were found
in Philadelphia by Rev. Mr. Nicholson, afterwards Bishop Nicholson,
and being attracted by the words "Yorktown, Virginia, 1725," he wrote
to Rev. Mr. Bryan asking the history of the bell. It was then recast
by tne Hook Smelting Company In 1882, and on July 11, 1889, was re-
hung on a rude scaffold in the churchyard, and rung for service after
a silence of 75 years.

The church suffered again during the Civil War. Standing as it did
on the brow of a hill commanding the wide sweep of water, it was
an important point of view; and a signal tower was erected on top of it.
The brick wall was taken away and the church dismantled. It is
hoped that damages will be obtained for this military destruction also.

After the war the late Dr. Wharton was very much interested
in the restoration of the church and worked hard to keep the build-
ing from falling into the hands of some other denomination which
v'ould gladly have paid for repairing it for the sake of possessing a
historical church.

The ministers who have served there since 1835, probably in connec-
tion witli some other charge, are: Dr. Minnigerode, Rev. Thomas
Ambler, Dr. L. B. Wharton, Rev. A. Y. Hundley, Rev. F. M. Burch,
Rev. William B. Lee, 1877-99. Rev. Floyd Kurtz, 1899-1901. In 1901
Rev. William B. Lee resumed charge of the parish, in connection with
the churches in Gloucester county. Hampton church and that of
Charles Parish have disappeared from the face of the earth; and the

131

long roll of their communicants is called now in the heavenly courts.
Grace church alone in its dual character of York-Hampton, stands as it
has stood for two hundred and seven years.

This article has already outrun its limits, so space fails in which to
go over the list of prominent families who once filled these three
churches. Three generations of Nelsons lie in the graveyard there,
who by their strong individuality and sterling character impressed
themselves on the early history of Church and State. The evidence
of the strong Christian spirit of these ancestors of the Nelson family
can be seen in the number of faithful clergy who have borne the name
in the last fifty years.

In either the first or second volume of the William and Mary Quarter-
ly is a list of the estates and families in the county of York during
the years of its prosperity, which makes you feel as if you were
riding past plantation after plantation; and some of the names are
so closely connected with the stirring history of the Colony, that you
feel as if you personally knew the owners of those well kept places.
No douot there are many items of interest that could be added to this
article, but the main purpose in writing it was to connect the early
history of these three parishes with the imperfect sketch of Bishop
ideade in 1854. That has. been accomplished, and also pretty strong
proof has been adduced to show that York-Hampton was really the
name of the church at Yorktown itself — a hyphenated name for the
united church of old Yorke and Hampton.

SUFFOLK PARISH. NANSEMOND COUNTY,
VIRGINIA

BY THE KEV. JOSEPH B. DUNN, EEOTOU OF ST. PAUL'S CHUECH, SUFfOLlx, VA.

nN the year 1639, five years after the establishment of Warrasquy-
oake as a shire, the latter was subdivided into counties, one of
which was called Upper Norfolk. This name was changed in
1645-6 to Nansimum, which subsequently appears under a variety
of spellings, as Nandsamund, Nanzemund, Nansemum and Nansemund,
until finally it assumed its present form of Nansemond. In 1642 the
county was divided into three parishes to be known as South, East
and West, respectively. The statute provides that "the gleab and
parsonage that now is" shall be appropriated to East Parish. As theri
was a resident minister in the county before 1642, it is natural to infer
that there was a church there. No record of the site or charactei
of this building is extant. The names of the parishes as South, East
and West soon gave way to other names, for in 16S0 they are referred
to as Upper (South), Lower (East), and Chicokatuck (West). In
this year for the first time, we learn the names of the clergy resident
in the county. Upper Parish was served by the Rev. John Gregory;
Lower Parish by the Rev. John Wood, and Chicokatuck (Chuckatuck)
by Rev. William Housden, who served in Isle of Wight also.

As early as 1635 Nansemond attracted the attention of settlers. In
that year George West granted to Richard Bennett 2,000 acres on
Nansemond river, for importing forty persons. Bennett played a con-
spicuous part in the life of the county and Colony. He was a member
of the Governor's Council, but he was a Roundhead. He gathered
about him numbers of the same political and religious creed. In
1641 he sent his brother to New England to request that some Puritan
ministers be sent to Virginia. These ministers gained their strongest
foothold in Nansemond, where a flourishing church numbering 118
members was soon organized, and they chose as their minister Rev.
Mr. Harrison, who had formerly been Governor Berkeley's chaplain,
but had turned Puritan. The rapid growth of the Independents dis-
turbed the mind of the authorities, and active measures were taken
to suppress them. Religion and politics were practically synonymous
in those days, and independence in religion impelled disloyalty in

133

politics. England was In the midst of the fierce struggle between
King and Parliament, and Virginia was strongly loyalist.

In 1 648, a tew months before the execution of Charles I., pressure
was brought to bear on the Nansemond Independents, and William
Durand, one of their elders, was banished. Durand was a citizen of
Lower Norfolk, but was associated with the Nansemond Independents.
He retired to Maryland. He is frequently confused in the histories of
Virginia with George Durand, who many years later migrated to
North Carolina and settled there. Next Rev. Mr. Harrison was expelled
from the Colony, and then their other teachers were banished; and
when the congregation stubbornly held to the Church of their choice,
some of them were imprisoned.

So far the Council had been unable to break their spirit, but an order
to disarm all Independents having been given, the spirit of resistance
was quenched.

A number of these dissenters having been invited by Governor Stone,
Lord Baltimore's deputy, retired to Maryland, and are remembered
as among the founders of Anne Arundel county in that State.

Among those who left were Richard Bennett and William Ayres.
These refugees prospered in their new abode, and others, induced by
their example, removed thither. It was not long, however, before they
became dissatisfied with the proprietory government of Roman Catholic
Maryland, and they were the leaders in the fierce civil war waged a
few years later in Maryland, between Protestants and Catnolics.

Another body of Dissenters in the county fared better than the
Puritans. This was the Society of Friends. This Society was found-
ed in 1648. As early as 1656 some of this sect arrived in Boston but
were sent back to England. In 1657 laws were passed in Massachu-
setts to prevent the introduction of Quakers, but they flocked thither
nevertheless. Virginia also strove to keep them out of the Colony.
In the wild enthusiasm of the first years of their existence many of the
Quakers were fanatics, courting martyrdom. They made mock of
established institutions and rulers, interrupted public worship, and
refused obedience to the law of the land. These fanatics gave to the
Society a bad name, and beginning with 1660, stringent laws against
them were passed by the Virginia Assembly. Captains were fined for
bringing them into the Colony. All of them were to be apprehended
and committed until they should give security that they would leave
the Colony. If they returned they were to be punished, and return-
ing the second time they were to proceeded against as felons. It was

134

provided however that if the convicted Quakers should give security
not to meet in unlawful assembly they should be discharged without
any punishment whatever. It was only against organized opposition
to the government and institutions that the law was directed. The
Colony did not interfere with the individual unless he with others
combined against the law of the land. Even when a member of the
Assembly was accused of being a Quaker, he was not expelled till he
had refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Notwith-
standing the efforts of the Assembly, the Quakers increased, and con-
tinued to hold meetings.

In 1672 George Fox, the founder of the Society, visited Virginia.
Fox found a fruitful field of labor in Nansemond. He had meetings
"at Nansemond river, where Col. Dew, of the Council, and several
officers and magistrates attended, and at Somerton; also at Widow
Wright's in Nansemond, where many magistrates, officers and other
high people came." The effects of Fox's labors were lasting and a
large element of the present citizens of the county number Quakers
among their ancestors. Even the great man of the county, Richard
Bennett, fell under the spell of Fox; for George Edmondson, the com-
panion of Fox, wrote of Bennett: "He was a solid, wise man, received
the truth, and died in the same, leaving two Friends his executors."

The records of the Chuckatuck meeting-house (1673-172S), a copy of
which is in the possession of the writer, show that the Quakers were
numerous and practically unmolested. They had four meetinghouses
In the county, "built by the highway side." Their martyrology
is a brief one, the most conspicuous martyr being Thomas .Jordan.
The sketch of this worthy is characteristic. "Thomas Jordan, of
Chuckatuck in Nansemond county in Virginia, was born in ye year
1634 and in ye year 1660 he Received ye truth and Abode faithfull in
it, and in constant unity with ye faithfull friends thereof; and stood
in opposition against all wrong and Desateful spirits, having suffered
ye spoiling of his goods and ye imprisonment of his Body for ye
truth's sake and continued in ye truth unto the End of his dayes."
Jordan refused to pay tithesi and defied the magistrates in court. He
was sent on to the Governor's Council, where he was dismissed with
a reprimand.

In 1703 Governor Nicholson became involved in a quarrel with
the vestry of Chuckatuck Parish which became so bitter that it
finally involved most of the prominent men in the country. Nicholson

sent to all the vestries the opinion of Sir Edward Northy, upholding
the Governor's claim of the right to fill a vacancy of long standing
in a church; and the right to force vestries to present their ministers
for induction. The vestry of Chuckatuck recorded, as they were or-
dered to do, the opinion of the King's attorney, but added this reso-
lution to it: "But as to presenting our present or any other minister
for induction, are not of opinion (record is here illegible), but are
willing to entertain our present minister upon the usual terms, as
formerly hath been used in this Colony."

A leading member of that vestry wasi Capt. Thomas Swann, who
was a candidate for election to the Assembly. Nicholson was bitterly
hostile to Swann for his action in the vestry; and tried to bring about
his defeat. He carried his hostility even to the friends of Swann. He
turned out of office Daniel Sullivan, the efficient county clerk, because he
voted and worked for Swann, and substituted a wholly incompetent
man in his place. The court refused to accept the Governor's ap-
pointee, and Nicholson immediately turned six of the eight justices
out of office. Pour members of the court were vestrymen of Chuck-
atuck. He went even further. He cancelled the commission of Thomas
Godwin, colonel of militia. Godwin was also a member of the recal-
citrant vestry. Nicholson's arbitrary behavior in this matter, for
in every case he proceeded without consulting the Council, was one
of the charges brought against him by Commissary Blair.

In 1703, Rev. William Rudd resigned the church in Norfolk to be-
come minister at Chuckatuck. He served there for some years and
was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Hassell. In 1728 Colonel Byrd
passed through the county and notes that he "passed no less than two
Quaker meeting houses," and adds: "That persuasion prevails much
in the lower end of Nansemond county for want of ministers to pilot
the people a decenter way to Heaven."

Sometime about 1725 Chuckatuck and Lower Parish were united
to form one parish and called Suffolk Parish. The name of the parish
antedates the town of Suffolk by at least seventeen years, and strangely
enough, Suffolk is not in Suffolk Parish, but in the Upper Parish of
Nansemond. The union was brought about upon the petition of the
two vestries, representing their inability separately to support a min-
ister, but the arrangement was unsatisfactory from the beginning.
The first evidence of bad feeling is shown in the will of John Yeates,
dated 1731. This will is a long and interesting document. It provides
a liberal endowment for two free schools in Lower Parish, already

136

built by the testator. He gives £10 In cash "to buy books for the
poorer sort of inhabitants in the parish, as the Whole Duty of Man;
also for procuring Testaments, Psalters, Primers, for my several
schools."

He gives to the church a pulpit cloth and cushion; also a -silver
flagon and silver chalice, and silver plate. He gives to the church for
the use of the minister, Bishop Hall's works in large folio, and Bishop
Usher's "Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion;" also a large
Bible. He bequeaths to "my friends, and gentlemen of the vestry
living this side of the river, a treat at my house," and to "my worthy
friends, the worshipful court of Nansemond county, ten shillings to
drink for my sake." He especially provides that Chuckatuck Parish
shall not be the beneficiary of his will, for "I never was a gainer, or
the Lower Parish, by Chuckatuck Parish, but the contrary."

In 1737 the vestry of Suffolk Parish "upon evident proof of the
ruinous condition of the church" in Lower Parish, gave order for the
erection of a new brick church, at the place called Jordan's Mill Hill,
as more convenient than the old site. The members of the vestry from
the Chuckatuck side ol the river refused to assist in the work, and the
matter was appealed to the Governor in Council, who ordered the
immediate erection of the building. This order of Council fixes the
date of the erection of the Glebe church (or Bennett's Creek church,
as it is called in the Vestry Book) as 1738. The Council also ordered
that since Chuckatuck had a majority in the vestry and seemed de-
termined to maintain it, none of the inhabitants of Chuckatuck should
be chosen vestrymen until there be an equal number of vestrymen
from each side of the river.

The old Vestry Book of the parish begins with the year 1749, during
the ministry of the Rev. John McKenzie. At his death in 1754 the
Rev. John Agnew was chosen minister. In 1755 the present church at
Chuckatuck was built, near the site of the ancient one. In 1758 the
vestry of Suffolk Parish was dissolved, by act of Assembly, on peti-
tion of the inhabitants of Lower Parish. The vestry held in trust for
the Lower Parish valuable lands and a cash donation from Richard
Bennett, Thomas Tilly, and Richard Bennett, Jr. According to the
terms of the bequests, the poor of Lower Parish alone were to bene-
ficiaries. The vestry of the united parishes allowed the Chuckatuck
members of their body to colonize the poor of Chuckatuck in Lower
Parish, and thus receive the benefit of the Bennett and Tilly bequests.
The vestry, whose life-tenure of office was apt to make them arbi-

3

u

o

si

137

trary in their dealings, were taught that they were the representatives
of the people and responsible to them for good conduct in office.

Some of the items entered upon the Vestry Book bring a smile to
the reader of to-day: The order for the payment of 500 pounds of
tobacco to the doctor, "for salevatlng Mary Brinkley and keeping
her salevated," is not a record of persecution, but of kindly care for
one of the parish poor.

In 1775 the Assembly passed a law that every person receiving aid
from the parish should, "upon the shoulder of the right sleeve, in an
open and visible manner, wear a badge with the name of the parish
cut either in blue, red or green cloth, and if any poor person neglect
or refuse to wear such badge, his or her allowance shall be withdrawn
or the offender whipped not exceeding five lashes for each offense."
This law seems to have been a dead letter in most parishes, but it
was rigidly enforced in Suffolk Parish, at least to the extent of pro-
viding the badges and making the allowance to the poor conditional
on their wearing the badge.

The provision in Yeates' will for "a treat at my house to my friends,
the gentlemen of the vestry/' was not in jest, but a recognition of the
convivial habits of those gentlemen; for we read in the list of parish
expenses an order for the payment of 200 pounds of tobacco to William
Johns "for the use of his house for vestry meeting and for liquor."

Forty pounds of tobacco is ordered to be paid "to the Rev'd Agnew
for his wife washing the surplis."

In 1764 the Assembly passed an act whereby the ministers and people
should be exempt from ferriage when crossing the river to attend
service; and that such ferriage be paid by the vestry from the parish
levy. The vestry sent a committee to Williamsburg and succeeded
in having this act repealed, except in regard to the minister.

When the trouble with Great Britain began Nansemond organized
its County Committee. This committee was very active from the
beginning. Parson Agnew, the minister, was a zealous supporter of
the British cause, and open in his condemnation of the growing
spirit of independence. In the spring of 1775 Parson Agnew was ob-
served to visit actively among his congregation, urging them to full
attendance upon a certain Sunday. The ladies, especially, were in-
vited. On the appointed Sunday the church was filled with women,
while a crowd of men, numbering 500, stood outside and listened
through the windows. The minister read the prayer for the King,
and no word of disapproval was heard. He chose for his text, "Render

138

unto Cwesar the things that are Caesar's"; and his hearers priclced
up their ears, for they knew what was coming. He proceeded to
decry the sins of disloyalty and rebellion. Suddenly Mr. "William
Cowper, a vestryman and magistrate, left his seat in the magistrates'
pew, and, mounting the pulpit, ordered the speaker to come down.
"I am doing my Master's business," said the parson.

"Which master?" replied Cowper; "your Master in heaven or your
master over the seas? You must leave this church, or I will use
force."'

"I will never be the cause of breeding riot in my Master's house,"
said Agnew.

The minister then came down from the pulpit and walked down
the aisle and through the crowd at the church door, which parted to
make a passage for him. He entered his carriage and drove away.
The congregation quietly dispersed and Parson Agnew never again
entered the church that he had served for so many years.. The parson,
though driven from his pulpit, continued his activity against what he
deemed a great wrong. He was warned by the County Committee,
but he still persisted. The matter grew so grave that he was finally
arrested. The affair caused a great deal of talk in the county and
throughout the Colony. In some quarters the people were much
criticized for their treatment of the minister. In order to justify their
action, the committee, through its secretary, Mr. John Gregory, sent
to the Virginia Gazette a recital of the charges against Agnew.

Virginia Gazette, Apiil 8, 1775. — "Charges against Parson Agnew:
He asserted that it was no hardship to be carried beyond sea for
trial of crimes committed here. He declared, when speaking of the
Congress, that all such combinations and associations were de-
testable; that the Congress did not know what they were about; that
the designs of the great men were to ruin the poor people, and that
after awhile they would forsake them and lay the whole blame on
their shoulders, and by this means make them slaves. He likewise
informed Mr. Smith there was an as,';ociation of the other party up
the county and the people were signing it fast; that they had dis-
covered their error in signing the present one. Upon the whole, the
public will plainly discover the principles this Reverend Gentleman
entertains and in what light he views the genera! resolutions adopted
and entered into for our relief from the oppressive hand of power.
Had this zealous advocate for despotic rule been as assiduous in the

139

discharge of the several duties of his function, as he has been indus-
trious in propagating false and erroneous principles, not only in private
discourse, but in blending detestable tenets in his angry orations
from the pulpit, in order to gain a party in opposition to the common
cause, and thereby lending his aid to seduce the very people that gave
him bread, to a state of wretchedness, this committee had not been
at the trouble to examine the 11th article of the Association, and open-
ing his conduct to the censure of the world.

"John Gregoeie (C. C.)"

The vestry also appointed a committee to wait upon the Convention
"with a true representation of the conduct and behavior of the Rev.
John Agnew." Agnew appealed from the sentence of Court of Com-
missioners for Nansemond county, and his appeal was heard by the
Committee of Safety on April 10, 1776. The minutes of the Committee
of Safety from April 10th to April 20th are lost, so we have no
knowledge of the result of the appeal. He left the county sometime
during 1776 and entered the British service, becoming chaplain of
the Queen's Rangers, in which troop his son, Stair Agnew, was
a captain. He and his son were taken prisoners during the Revolu-
tion and carried to France. In the Virginia Convention of May, 1776,
which gave to the State its first Constitution, William Cowper, who
had won popularity by his action in expelling Agnew from the church,
was chosen to represent the county.

In September, 1777, Rev. William Bland was elected minister of the
parish, but there is no record that he ever served. In October, 1778,
Rev. Henry John Burges was received as minister. Just before the
arrival of the Rev. Mr. Burges an event occurred which figures prom-
inently in Baptist martyrology. In 1778 David Barrow, pastor of the
Mill Swamp Baptist church, in Isle of Wight, which had existed for
many years previous, and Mr. Mintz, another Baptist minister, preached
by invitation at the house of a gentleman on Nansemond river, in
Lower Parish. A platform was erected and a crowd assembled. The
preaching of the two Baptists stirred up ill-feeling, and a number of
young fellows determined to break up the meeting. They jeered and
sung songs. This behavior naturally brought on them a stinging re-
buke from the preacher. There is no record of what he said, but in
the end about twenty men leaped upon the platform and captured
the two preachers and carried them down to the river, near at hand,
and ducked them. Barrow was the chief sufferer, as they thrust his

140

face down into the mud. Mintz, who had given less occasion for ill-
feeling, was let off more easily. The affair was evidently the outcome
of the reckless spirit of a crowd of youths, who resented the criticism
of themselves and their class; and only the fevered imagination of a
pious chronicler could make it appear as a part of a systematic per-
secution by the Established Church. Attention is called to this in-
cident, for it is a characteristic example of that persecution by the
Church of which we read so much in the political briefs against the
Colonial Church. The concluding words of the record of this event
in the Baptist Book of Martyrs is mediaeval in its flavor; "Before these
persecuted men could change their clothes they were dragged from
the house and driven off by these enraged Churchmen. But three or
four of them died in a few weeks in a distracted manner, and one
of them wished himself in hell before he had joined the company."

The ministry of the Rev. Mr. Burges was very acceptable to the
people. Six months after he entered upon his oflBce a committee of
the vestry is appointed "to see if it would be any disadvantage to
build one or two small galleries in the Chuckatuck church, as the
church is much crowded and there is so large a congregation commonly
attending the church that there is not room in the pews for their
reception."

In 1779, Asbury, the great leader of Methodism, labored in Nanse-
mond county. He mentions in his diary of that year that he preached
in "the great preaching house in Nansemond." This preaching house
had been converted from a store into a church.

In 1784, the Rev. Arthur Emerson was elected minister. In 1786,
one hundred and forty-six names of the inhabitants of Suffolk Parish
are signed to a petition to the Legislature protesting against the re-
peal of the law incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church.

There is no entry in the Vestry Book from 1784 to 1825.

The act of Legislature requiring all glebe lands to be sold and the
proceeds turned over to the overseers of the poor, made exception in
case of those glebes which had been a private donation. The overseers
of the poor claimed the glebe in Suffolk Parish, but the Rev. Jacob
Keeling, minister of the parish at the time, fought the case in the
courts and won his case. The valuable glebe farm is still held by the
trustees of the parish.

Rev. Mr. Keeling was minister tor many years, but there is no
record covering the time of his service.

141

in 1827 Rev. Mark L. Chevers was chosen minister.

After about 1840 Suffolk Parish was served for many years by the
minister of Upper Parish, who lived in Suffolk.

In 1845 Chuckatuck church is referred to for the first time as St.
John's.

The Glebe church, in Lower Parish, is now under the care of Rev.
E. P. Miner, of Norfolk. St. John's, Chuckatuck, has no minister at
present.

LYNNHAVEN PARISH. PRINCESS ANNE
COUNTY. VIRGINIA

BY THE KEY. C. B. BKYAN, D. D., PETERSBURG, VA.

, HE Eastern Shore chapel, built In 1754, is the la^t of three brick
Colonial churclies, wtilch once stood in Princess Anne county.
The old parish of Lynnhaven takes its name from the Lynn-
haven river, famous for its oysters; which, in turn, probably
toolv its name from the town of Lynn, near the mouth of the river
Ouse, in the county of Norfolk, in England. Lynnhaven Parish was set
oft from Elizabeth River Parish in 1G43, and its bounds covered the
area now represented by the county of Princess Anne; but it was at
that time a parish in Lower Norfolk county. Princess Anne county,
with its parish of Lynnhaven, was set off from Lower Norfolk county
in 1691. The bounds of this old parish remained unchanged for 252
years, but in 1895 East Lynnhaven Parish, in which the Eastern Shore
chapel lies, was set off from Lynnhaven Parish, for reasons which ap-
pear scarcely necessary. This paper will take account of old Lynn-
haven Parish, covering Princess Anne county.

To one who loves the lower country and the salt water, and to whom
the earliest traditions of Virginia life are dear, there are few more
interesting localities in the State. It is pre-eminently a Tidewater
county; washed by the broad Atlantic on the east, with a long range of
sand dunes from north to south on its shore; penetrated by the waters
of Currituck Sound on the south, with the best duck shooting in the
country; cut up by branches of the Elizabeth river on the west, with
charming old homes scattered along Its banks, and by Lynnhaven river
on the north; and with Chesapeal^e Bay lying on its whole northern
side, it is a land rich in all the scenes, and life, and products of our
sea and rivers, and it soon attracted the early settlers in Virginia. The
soil is a deep loam, covered, where not cleared, with forests of pine and
oak and holly on the higher parts, and in the extensive swamps with
huge gum trees, cypress and junipers, and with a tangle of many kinds
of vines and climbei-s. The red cedars love the banks of the river
shores, and here and there great live-oaks, ages old, are landmarks in
the neighborhoods. The long gray moss swings from the forest trees,

143

and the undergrowth is fragrant with its green myrtle and with many
rare plants, not often found in Virginia north of Lynnhaven Parish;
conspicuous among these are the yellow jessamine, wreathing the fence
rows in spring, and in the summer the gorgeous yellow flowers of the
great lotus, or water chinquapin (wanquapin, the Indians called it),
with its cone-shaped seed vessels and its hard nuts, standing in the
fresh water ponds near the seashore.

On the northeast point of the Parish of Lynnhaven, at Cape Henry,
our English ancestors first touched and claimed our land. And from
the settlements on the northern side of James river they began at an
early period to settle the southern shore opposite Old Point. In 1620
one John Wood, a shipwright, received a patent of land on Elizabeth
river because of the excellent ship timber and good shores for launch-
ing there. The earliest settlements on the southern shore of the Day
were at first included in the corporation of Elizabeth City, now Eliza-
beth City county, from which direction the settlers came; and in 1629
Adam Thoroughgood (a progenitor of our bishop-coadjutor, Dr. TucK-
er) lived in what is now Lynnhaven Parish, but was a representative
of the Borough of Elizabeth City in the House of Burgesses. His
quaint house, still standing, is, perhaps, the oldest residence in the
State.

The Church followed these early settlers before any separate county
organization was effected. And here, as in many cases, the parish is
older than the county. Elizabeth River Parish, whose earliest record-
ed church was in existence as early as 1635, is older. than Lower Nor-
folk county, which was set off from Nansemond in 1649; while Lynn-
haven Parish, which was set off from Elizabeth River Parish in 1643,
is forty-eight years older than Princess Anne county, the oldest records
of which are of 1637.

The early days of the Church in Lower Norfolk county were troubled
by a Puritan element, which had come into Virginia in 1641, during
that political and ecclesiastical upheaval which was convulsing the
mother country.

A prominent clergyman, the Reverend Thomas Harrison, who had
been chaplain to Governor Berkeley, turned Puritan in 1644, was
obliged to leave Jamestown, and went, first to Nansemond, where the
Puritans were strong, and then into Lower Norfolk county.

Whether he had charge of both parishes in the county, I cannot
state, but certain it is that the vestry of Elizabeth River Parish pre-

144

sented him before the Governor and Council "for not reading the booke
of Common Prayer and for not adminstring the sacrament of Baptisme
according to the Cannons and for not catechising on Snnnedayes in
the afternoone according to the act of Assembly," with the result that
he was obliged to leave the Colony, which he did, going to Maryland.
Such was the loyalty of the people of Lower Norfolk county to the
Church in 1G45.

The vestries were no less careful of the morals of the people, and
the same year which records the presentment of Mr. Harrison for
nonconformity records the presentment by Edward Hill and John Mar-
tin, cliurch wardens of Lynnhaven, of parties for immorality; and in
1674, another party guilty of slander was condemned to be flogged,
"and shall stand three Saboath dayes in the parish church of Lynn-
haven, the congragacon there being present, with a paper on his head
written with these words following with Capitall letters, (vizt) I

als yeoman doe Stand here to acknowledge the great wrong

I have done in the slandering Mrs. Hall with my tongue. And the

said als yeoman shall pay the Court charges als execucon,

and the church wardens of Lynhaven parish or eyther of them are to
see the due performance of this order as they will answer the con-
trary to theire perrills."

In l(i48 the Reverend Robert Fowls, who had been minister of the
churches in Lower Norfolk ever since Parson Harrison deserted the
ministry of the church, was inducted minister of both Elizabeth River
and Lynnhaven Parishes.

In 1G4!), on the petition of Parson Powis, it was ordered by the court
that the parish of Lynnhaven shall call a vestry on Easter Monday
next and choose church wardens. Lancaster Lovett was one of the
church wardens chosen, and, in 1C50, it was recorded that he presented

unto the court "for a common blasphemer and swearer,

both at home and abroad, and for a most impudent and shameful car-
riage towards a widow woman, being her servant. It is therefore

ordered that a warrant issue forth for the for

his personal appearance at the next court to make answer for his
presentment."

In 164!1 Parson Powis was minister of Lynnhaven alone, another min-
ister being now in charge of Elizabeth River Parish, and It is most
notable as illustrating the unflinching discipline administered by the
wardens and courts of the county, that when this minister of Eliza-
beth River Parish was himself found guilty of immorality, the court

145

promptly took his case in hand, and on November 10th, 1649, ordered

that "whereas Mr. , minister of Elizabeth River

Parish, hath acknowledged to have committed the grievous sin of

; now upon ye hearty contrition ot the said Mr.

concerning his said foul offense, presented to the Cort in writing
under his own hand, it is therefore ordered, that he do make the
same confession in both churches by reading the said writing to the
people two several Sundayes Vizt Sunday next Come Senight at ye
parish Church & ye Sabboath day following at ye Chappell."

It must not be Imagined from these presentments that this section
was notoriously immoral, although the case of the clergyman was
certainly exceptional. The records of the mother country and of the
Colonies north and south of Virginia show that this period was marked
by a general laxity of morals. But what the records of these courts
and parishes indicate is a conscientious and unflinching discharge of
their duty on the part of the church wardens and county courts.

The Reverend Robert Powis died between the 2d of December, 1651,
and the 21st of December, 1652, when an inventory of his estate was
reported. It is most interesting to notice what this old parson died
possessed of. It was as follows, and the values are given in pounds
of tobacco:

Lbs. Tob.

Imprimis Seaven Milch Cowes at 3500

Itm six Calves of a yere ould apeece & ye advantage att 1100

Itm Two Steeres of fower yeres ould apeece or thereabouts att. . . . 0900

Itm Three steeres of two yeres ould apeece 1050

Itm two younge Sowes & and one barrowe shott at 0200

Itm two Barrowes & two Sowes at 0800

Itm: one feather bedd, one boulster, & one ould blankett 0400

Itm two palre ot ould Canvas sheetes & one holland sheete.... 0160
Itm two ould pillow beeres, five towells, two paire fustain draw-
ers one ould shirte five ould bands, two paire of Cuffes 0060

Itm three Coates, three Cassukes, two suits of cloathes two paire

of stockings all ould att 0250

Itm two & thirtye bookes at 0500

Itm one chest, one box 2: cases & two ould tables, one couch,

& one Chaire 0350

Itm 3: ould Iron potts. 3 old skilletts one fryinge pann one dris-
pinge pan one fire shovell, two paire of tonges, one chaffing
dish 0200

146

Itra Six iJewter dishes, one pewter salt, one pewter Candlesticke
one drinkinge Cupp, one dram cupp, one hatchett, one hammer

all att 0070

Itm Six barrens of Corne 0480

Itra one boate, fower oares, & two skulls 0600

Itm one pestle, one brasse kettle & five ould trayes 0080

10700

five bills amountinge to ye Some of 320

Received of Coll : Yeardley with Caske 600

920

Totall some is 11620 1 tob

Lelft Keelinge
Henery Snayle
Appraisers Owen Hayes their markes :/"

John Martin

What light an inventory like this throws upon the life of the country
parson in Virginia in the early Colonial period! After the death of
Parson Powis, there appears to have been no minister in Lower Nor-
folk county until December, 1654, when the grand jury made presentment
of •■the general breach of the Sabbath throughout the whole county,
which we conceive is most chiefly occasioned through want of a godly
iiiinister among us in the county, wherefore we humbly pray and
desire yt some speedy course may be taken to secure an able minister,
and some employed for yt purpose, lett the charge be what it will. We
for our parts (and hope all ye rest of ye county) shall be verry
willing and ready to undergo."

Vestries were accordingly ordered to be held in the several parishes,
and a committee composed of Colonel Francis Yeardley, Major Thomas
Lambert and others were authorized to appoint a minister of God's
word for the parishes of Lower Norfolk. The committee made Captain
Thomas Willoughby their special agent in this matter.

The next minister mentioned in Lower Norfolk is Mr. Mallory, who,
we conclude, was employed by the committee 'empowered to procure
a minister. He received a bill of tobacco in 1657. Next Mr. George
Alford is mentioned as minister in 1658, and Symon Barrowes received

147

a thousand pounds o£ tobacco for dieting the minister for half a year.

During the latter half of the seventeenth century several accusations
of witchcraft were made against unfortunate persons in Lower Norfolk
and Princess Anne county. In May, 1655, at a court held at the house
of Mr. Edward Hill, in Lynnhaven, commissioners were appointed to
investigate "divers dangerous and scandalous speeches raised by some
persons conserning several women in this county, terming them to be
witches, whereby their reputations have been much impaired and their
lives brought in question." The result of this Investigation we do not
know. Later, in 1675, Captain William Carver, who afterwards lost
his life in Bacon's Rebellion, gave information "against lone the wife
of Lazarus Jenking, concerning her being familiar with evil spirits
and using witchcraft," etc. Her case was also ordered to be investigated,
with what result does not appear. Again, in 1699, in Princess Anne
county, John Byrd and his wife, Anne, brought suit against Charles
Kinsey for defamation of Anne's character, declaring that she was a
witch, and that she had ridden him along the seaside and home to his
house, and that they, John and Anne, were in league with the devil;
in which suit the defendant professed that in his thought and appre-
hensions, and to the best of his knowledge, they did serve him so.
The whole matter being put to a jury, they brought in a verdict as
follows: "We the jury do find for the defendant. Hugh Campbell,
foreman." So John Byrd and Anne, his wife, had no remedy, but re-
mained suspected of witchcraft.

But the unique trial for witchcraft in Lynnhaven Parish was that of
Grace Sherwood. James Sherwood and Grace, his wife, were
very poor and ignorant people, as the pitiful inventory of
their goods plainly shows. But in spite of her pleasant name,
Grace got the reputation of being a witch. In 1698 one of her
neighbors said she had bewitched their cotton; another said she had
come into her at night and rid her, and went out of the keyhole or
crack of the door like a black cat; and on these accusations poor Grace
was brought before the justices of the county, which cost her heavily,
not only In reputation and distress of mind, but in heavy expenses.
The family became poorer than ever. Seven years passed, during
which James Sherwood died, and Grace became a widow. And now she
was again accused by one Luke Hill, and again brought into court; and
after suffering the law's delay, her house and every suspicious place
about it was ordered to be searched carefully for all images and such
like things, which might in any way strengthen the suspicion. And

148

further, "a jury of Anciente and knowing women" was summoned to
search Grace herself bodily for suspicious indications, and their find-
ings were not favorable to Grace. This time she narrowly escaped
ducking, the weather being bad. The case and the evidence was laid
before the Council Board of the Colony; but Mr. Attorney General said
the charges were too vague; and the matter was referred back to the
county. After more delay and costs, Grace was ordered to be tried in
the water. Now, the approved way of trying a witch in the water re-
quired that she should be "stripped naked and cross bound, the right
thumb to the left toe, and the left thumb to the right toe," and so cast
Into deep waters. Whether these requirements were complied with in
Grace's case we do not know.

The spot on Lynnhaven river whither she was carried, and where
she was bound and put in above man's depth, that they might "try her
how she swims," is stil! called Witch Duck. It is a very pretty spot.
If Grace was a witch, she must have been a water witch. For when
thus tried, she was seen to be "swimming when therein and bound,
contrary to custom and the judgment of the spectatore." So she was
taken out and again searched by more Anciente and Ivnowing women,
who brought in the condemning report that "she was not like tliem, nor
like any other women that they knew."

It is gratifying to note, in connection with this one witch ducking
in Virginia, that the sheriff was instructed "therein always to have a
care of her life to preserve her from drowning." What was to be done
with such a woman? The good people of Princess Anne were not pre-
pared to kill her. So she was again put in jail to be brought to future
trial. As there is no record of a further trial, it is likely she was re-
leased. She lived a good many years. Her will is dated 1733, and was
recorded in 1740, in which year it is probable that she died. The com-
mon tradition is that Grace Sherwood brought rosemary across the sea
in an egg-shell to Princess Anne, where the fragrant shrub still
abounds.

It must be remembered that at that period only a few people were
brave enough to declare their disbelief in witchcraft. As late as 1758
John Wesley wrote: "The English in general, and indeed most of the
men of learning in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches 'as
mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it, and I willingly take the op-
portunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent comple-
ment which so many that believe the Bible pay to those who do not
believe it." The last trial for witchcraft in New England was in 1692.

149

As in the case of Elizabeth River Parish, the earliest church was
situated on the northern shores o£ the parish, which were the first to be
settled. It was doubtless, at first, a wooden church, but in 1723 a brick
church had been built. This brick church lay within about a mile of
the Chesapeake, on the west side of Lynnhaven river, and just where
that river ran into a long estuary, which extended east and west, con-
necting Linkhorn Bay, Broad Bay, Lynnhaven River, and at that time
emptying into the Chesapeake at Little Creek, the dividing line be-
tween Lynnhaven and Elizabeth River Parishes. This topography has
been strangely altered by a circumstance which will be mentioned later.

In 1723 the Reverend James Tennant was minister of the parish,
Mr. Maxmillian Boush was church warden and Colonel Edward Mosley,
Capt. John Mosley, Capt. Henry Chapman, Charles Sayer, Mr. William
Elgood and Capt. Francis Land were vestrymen. Charles Sayer was
clerk of the vestry, Mr. James Nimmo was clerk of the church and of
one chapel, there being at that time two chapels in the parish besides
the church. The roof of this brick church was found in 1724 to be
too rotten to be repaired, which, considering the quality of shingles
used in those days, indicates a very considerable age. A new roof was
ordered to be put on, and the roof was ordered to be tarred, a practice
still sometimes resorted to in old Princess Anne. It does not produce
a thing of beauty, but comes near lasting forever.

At the same time Captain Hillary Mosley was given leave to gratify
himself by the erection, at his own cost, of a pew for his family over
the chancel door, taking up as little room as possible. These family
gallery pews were a highly esteemed feature of our Colonial churches.

The Reverend James Tennant continued minister until 1726, but
after November, 1726, when his salary of 16,000 pounds of tobacco was
recorded in the year's accounts, nothing more was heard of him; per-
haps he had died. On November 2d, 1726, Mr. Nicholas Jones, minister,
was employed temporarily to preach at the Brick church, and at each
of the chapels once every month, and for each sermon he preached
he was to receive 400 pounds of tobacco in cask, to be levied for him in
the next parish levy, which might be something like a year later. One
of the embarrassing difficulties which Colonial parsons had to contend
with, was pay long deferred. This paucity of sermons was to be
supplemented by Mr. James Nimmo reading every Sunday in the Brick
church, and John Dawley reading in the Eastern Shore chapel, Mr.
Peacock reading in the Upper chapel, sometimes called Pungo or Machi-
pungo. This continued through the years 1727-'28.

150

In 1728, while trying to secure a minister, the vestry had a curious
difficulty with the Reverend Thomas Baly, "who contrary to the desire
of this vestry insisted on being our minister." The vestry sent Mr.
James Nimmo as their representative to the Governor to secure his
assistance in this awkward case, and as might he expected, the Rev-
erend Thomas Baly was removed.

In 1729 the Reverend John Marsden was employed on the same terms
that Mr. Jones had been, and on November 14, 1729, the Reverend
Henry Barlow was regularly employed as minister of the parish at a
salary of 16,000 pounds of tobacco in cask.

There were in the parish at this time, a church and two chapels,
that is, the old Brick church on the bay shore, an old wooden chapel,-
standing where the Eastern Shore chapel now stands, about three
miles from the sea, which old chapel was replaced by a new frame
building not long afterwards, and the Pungo chapel, already referred to,
about four miles southeast of Princess Anne courthouse. There
were also two reading places, one on Knot's Island, in the southeast
part of the parish, and one in the Black Water District. The old
Brick church on the bay shore was found insufficient and badly lo-
cated. It was given up as a church in March, 1736, and turned into a
schoolhouse. How long it was used as a schoolhouse is not known,
hut it came to the following curious end: some of the parishioners
were engaged in the fishing business, and had their fishing shores on
the bay shore north of the estuary running east and west, on the
southern shore of which the church was situated. This made it neces-
sary for them to cross this estuary, or else follow it westward several
miles and so reach the bay shore, and then come back to the fishing
points, opposite their homes. To avoid this detour they determined
to cut a short and narrow waterway from a point opposite where the
Lynnhaven river ran into the estuary, out to the Chesapeake. It was
a considerable undertaking, but they accomplished it with conse-
quences far greater than any one at first imagined. The winter storms
from the northeast opened the new inlet more and more until it be-
came a broad, deep current; the sands encroached upon the old outlet
and practically filled it up; but most serious of all the waters of the
new inlet cut closer and closer to the church grounds until most of the
graveyard was submerged, and the tombs and bones of many of the
dead found their last resting place in the bottom of Lynnhaven river,
at a point still called Church Point.

151

Bishop Meade reports a communication to tlie above effect, and the
present writer heard it repeated and substantiated about 1S79, by the
venerable Mr. Solomon Keeling, whose family had owned land for
generations on Lynnhaven river, and who said that some of his an-
cestors had assisted in cutting the ditch which is now represented by
the deep, strong mouth of Lynnhaven river. The Bishop's informant
added as a finishing touch, that "in 1819 Commodore Decatur and an-
other eminent person still living (i. e., when tho Bishop wrote) -were
bathing there, and in the middle of the river were enabled, by feeling
with their toes, to decipher the names of those they (the tombstones)
had covered before the waters of the bay had carried away the church-
yard."

In 1736, when the old church was turned into a schoolhouse, a new
church, larger and more centrally located, was built on one acre of
ground at the Ferry Farm. This came later to be known as the Dona-
tion cliurch, from its being near a donation of land given by a subse-
quent rector, of whom we shall hear. It was ordered to be sixtj-Hvfi
feet long, thirty feet wide on the inside, the walls to be fifteen feet
high and three bricks thick from the ground to the water table, and
two bricks thick above the water table to the top. This church was
received by the vestry from Peter Malbone, the builder, on June 25,
1736. In the same year the glebe house was repaired and added to.
The new church was evidently a matter of pride in the parish, and the
wardens had to take extra care to get the congregations properiy
located and settled in the church. Therefore it was ordered by the
vestry, July 10, 1736, that "For preserving order and decency, peace
and haimony in the new church 'tis resolved and the vestry do hereby
assign and appoint the two opposite great pews for the Magistrates and
their wives; the next adjoining pew on the north side of ye Church
for the family of the Thoroughgoods as their privilege in considera-
tion of the gift of our glebe by that family; the third great pew on
ye north side for ye Vestrymen and their wives; vvd ye pew on ye
north side of ye Communion table is consigned to tn? family and name
of the Walkes as a benefit formerly granted them in consideration of
gifts and services made and done by Col. Tho. Walke dec'd, and Col.
Antho. Walke, Sen'r; the next great pew on the south side for the
elder women of good repute and magistrates' daughters; the other
great pew on ye same side for such women as ye church wardens with
the approbation of the Vestry shall think fit to place there."

"Resolved, That Mr. Patrick Hackett is a fit person to sit up in the

152

gallery to keep everybody in order, and If the boys or any other person
will be not restrained but do any indecency, he is hereby required to
report the same to the church wardens, who are desired to take proper
measures to punish such disorderly person: Likewise Mr. Francis
Mosely Is appointed to look out of doors and if any person or persons
are sitting and talking or committing any Indecency during divine ser-
vice he is hereby empowered to commit them to the care of the con-
stable, and inform the church wardens thereof, to be dealt with as the
law requires — Char. Sayer, CI. Vestry."

But it was easier for the vestry to pass these resolutions than to get
them accepted and complied with. Some of the congregation seem to
have resented the manner in which they were disposed of, and Mr.
Hackett in the gallery, Mr. Walke the church warden, and Mr. Mosely,
who was "appointed to look out of doors," found their offices no sine-
cures when they undertook to arrange and settle the congregation; and
at their next meeting on October 16th the vestry had to resolve further
that "Whereas several of the inhabitants of this parish has not thought
fit to accept off, and others to keep to the seats the church wardens
have assigned to and placed them In the new church lately built to the
great disturbance and disorder of ye congregation; to prevent which
disorder In ye said church for the future, we, the vestry of ye said
church, have met at ye parish church, and after due consideration have
assigned and Registered the adjacent persons and familys according to
their several stations, ye most proper seats or pews; do hereby publish
and declare that who or whatsoever person or persons shall assume to
themselves a power or take the liberty to place themselves or others
in any other seats or pews in ye said church, shall be esteemed a dis-
orderly person, and may exnect to be dealt with according to law;
and we do further impower and appoint ye church wardens for the
future to place all persons in the church of ye said parish. Teste,
Char. Sayer, CI. Vestry."

Evidently the parish was in a ferment, and the vestry was exerting
its utmost authority. But with what results we are not told. But
now one visiting the spot sees the walls of the old Donation church
standing in their plaintive dilapidation in the lonely woods, with the
big trees growing up within its walls, where the coveted "great pews"
used to be, and the disputants of former days lie about it in unmarked
graves. Let us hope that in another world their spirits are at peace.

The accounts kept by these old vestries of their many and various
duties are most Interesting, and often they were beautifully kept. The

153

salary of the rector was generally 16,000 pounds of tobacco. In Lynti-
haven, Mr. Ezra Brook, clerk of the church, received 1,000 pounds for
his services; Mr. William Keeling, clerk of the Eastern Shore chapel,
also 1,000 pounds; and Mr. Andrew Peacock, clerk of the Upper chapel,
a like 1,000 pounds.

The care of the poor was especially the vestry's charge. They seem
not to have been kept in a poorhouse but scattered in households
here and there in the parish, the householder receiving from 250 to 600
pounds of tobacco a year, according to the age and condition of the
child or person. Every four years the parish had to be processioned
under the direction of the vestry. For this purpose it was divided into
precincts, Princess Anne being divided into ten. The precinct repre-
sented a neighborhood. The processioners at the time appointed went
around the metes and bounds of every farm in the precinct, and set-
tled all disputes about boundaries upon the spot. This having been
twice done in any case by the processioners without an appeal being
taken from their decision, gave a title from which there was no fur-
ther appeal.

The doctor of the parish frequently appears in the church accounts,,
and in Princess Anne he not infrequently brought in bills for sali-
vating some poor patient, which cost the parish 1,000 pounds of to-
bacco, and perhaps cost the patient his teeth.

The tobacco with which these various expenses were defraj'ed was
raised by a yearly levy laid by the vestry upon the "tithables" in the
parish; a "tithable" being a person from whom tithes or levies might
be collected. At this period in Virginia, the tithables consisted of all
male servants (white servants being intended), all negro servants,
male or female, above the age of sixteen, and all Indian servants, maie
or female, above the age of sixteen. The levy varied according to the
requirements of the year. Sometimes it was as much as 50 pounds
of tobacco from each tithable, sometimes much less.

In lTo9 a new chapel was ordered to be built to take the place of the
old Puugo chapel. It was to be of brick, but it does not appear to
have been done; at least, it is not recorded as having been received.

The Reverend Henry Barlow, who became minister in October, 1729,
continued in charge of the parish until some time in 1747 — eighteen
years. During his ministry many improvements were made; the
Donation church was built and various additions were made to the
glebe house and property.

In 1748 Mr. Barlow was succeeded by the Reverend Robert Dickson,

154

who first appeared as minister of the parish in July of that year. He
continued in charge until 1776, nearly twenty-eight years. During
Mr. Dickson's ministry, in 1754, the present Eastern Shore chapel
was huilt, the third church to be built at that spot. The second
wooden chapel was still standing when the present brick chapel was
built in 1754. In the order for its construction it is described as 35
feet long, 25 feet wide in the clear, with a convenient large gallery
at the west end; the walls to be 18 feet high, with three windows on
each side, two at the east end, and one in the gallery. "The Com-
munion to be railed and ballusttred"; the walls to be two bricks and
a half thick from the foundation to the water table, and two bricks
thick upward; the windows to be of good crown glass, eight by ten
inches, six lights by three beside the arch. The middle aisle to be
five feet wide, with four wainscot pews, with two on the north and two
on the south side thereof. The whole church to be completely painted,
where it is requisite, a sky color. It was to be covered with heart
cypress shingles.

In October, 1753, Mr. Joseph Mitchell, of Norfolk, contracted to build
the chapel and undertook to finish it by Christmas, 1754, for 324
pounds, 10 shillings sterling. It was actually finished and received
by the vestry March 12, 1755.

In 1772, 23,000 pounds of tobacco were raised for the purpose of
building Pungo Chapel.

The long and uninterrupted ministry of the Reverend Thomas Dick-
son or Dixon, as his name was sometimes spelled, came to an end
some time between the 25th of February and the 26th of November,
1776. The Register of the parish was then lodged with Mr. Edward
Mosley, clerk of the Brick church (afterwards called Donation), that
he might register all the births of the parish until further orders. The
will of Mr. Dickson was admitted to record February 14, 1777. By it
he made provision for the support of his widow, and then left his land
and slaves in trust to the vestry for the purpose of establishing a free
school for the education of orphan boys.

The vestry undertook to carry out the will, and after several at-
tempts to secure a teacher, on December 8, 1780, they employed Mr.
George Stephenson to keep the Dickson Free School, giving him the
use of the plantation on easy conditions; among them that he should
teach six poor children assigned him, and seventeen children on his
own account, who would pay for their schooling.

The Church was now in troublous and revolutionary times, and

155

Lynnhaven suffered accordingly. The Reverend Mr. Dickson had died
in the great year 1776, when the full force of the spirit of the Revo-
lution was abroad in the land, and nothing felt that force more dis-
astrously than the Church. Not that the Church was opposed to the
Revolution, for the Revolution was begun, sustained and consummated
by the most prominent Churchmen in Virginia. In Princess Anne
county, as in all the other counties, the vestrymen and officers of the
church are found upon the county committees, who guided and sus-
tained the Revolution throughout the country. Fourteen of the twenty-
five names of that committee in Princess Anne in 1774-'75 are found
among the vestry and officers of the church.

But not only was the whole country distracted and absorbed by the
disturbances of the Revolution, but the men who were its avowed pro-
moters, felt that there was much growing out of tiie connection be-
tween the Church and the State, which must needs be modified by the
Revolution which they were advocating. It was at this period also
that the Church was violently attacked by the Dissenters in Virginia,
who were Revolutionists, not only as concerned civil questions, but
still more violently in their hatred and opposition to the Church. They
very naturally took advantage of the disturbances incident to the Rev-
olution and of the difficulties growing out of the connection between
the Church and the State, which difficulties the leaders of the Revolu-
tion, who were themselves Churchmen, were contending with and
seeking to solve in the way which would involve least disturbance and
loss to the religious interests of the country.

The Dissenters, however, were not at all concerned to avoid dis-
turbance, but rather courted it; not to prevent any loss that might
befall the Church, but did all in their power to destroy it; and by agi-
tation and opposition in the parishes, as well as by appeals with which
they flooded the Convention of the patriots, the large majority of
whom were Churchmen, they hampered and weakened the influence of
the Church in all directions, little regarding the invaluable work that
the Church had done for the moral and religious civilization of the
land, under unspeakable difficulties, from the very foundations of the
country.

The weak point in the Church system in Virginia from the first, con-
sisted in the fact that, while it was an Episcopal Church, it was at
once without a Bishop and dependent upon an uncertain and scant
supply of clergy. Naturally it fell into the hands of the vestries, and
the records of the work of the vestries show what in the circumstances

156

must be regarded as admirable faithfulness and efficiency on the part
of these laymen. Especially do the records show devotion to the
Church of their fathers, and a genuine effort to advance the moral and
spiritual welfare of the country; but they worked as laymen, and their
work was rarely balanced or sustained by sufficient clerical force.
Their duties were manifold, covering the work of a number of sala-
ried officials in our present county system, and this work they did
without other compensation than the honor and satisfaction of serv-
ing the community. But the most marked characteristic of a Virginia
vestry was the jealousy with which these men regarded their rights
and liberties. They resented, and generally successfully, everything
that they regarded as an encroachment upon their rights, whether
made by the local parson, whom they generally managed to keep quite
at their mercy, or by the Bishop's commissary, or by the Governor, or
even if it was a decision fortified by the Attorney-General of the Eng-
lish Crown.

This spirit of independence which they had cultivated for many a
year, was now bringing fruit in the Revolution; and they were more
absorbed in the question of civil liberty than in any other. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the set of men in Virginia, who composed,
at once, the vestries in their several parishes, and who were also the
magistrates, justices, burgesses, and from whom the Council Board
of the Commonwealth was taken, were found in those days of political
upheaval to be somewhat neglectful of what they regarded as the minor
matters of the parish. Thus it v/as that for two full years after 1780
there was no vestry meeting in Princess Anne. This was complained
of to the General Assembly, and in May, 1783, an act was passed dis-
solving the vestry of Lynnhaven, and ordering the election of another
vestry. The sheriff acted as directed by the Assembly, and on Novem-
ber 7, 1783, made return of the new vestry, which consisted of twelve
men, all but two or three of them vestrymen of the past, so that the
affairs of the parish were still committed by the freeholders to the old
hands.

The same Assembly which dissolved the vestry of Lynnhaven parish
!n 1783 established Kempsville, in Princess Anne county, to be a town.

In October, 1784, the General Assembly passed an act by which the
minister and vestry of any parish became a corporation, or in the ab-
sence of a minister the vestry became incorporate. This act was to go
into effect on Monday in Easter Week, being March 28, 1785, on which
day all existing vestries were declared dissolved, and new vestries

157

ordered to be elected on that Easter Monday, 1785, or else on the next
fair day, in case that proved a foul day.

It may be noted that the same General Assembly of 1784 made it law-
ful for an ordained minister of any Christian society whatever to cele-
brate lawful marriages in Virginia, provided such minister received
the license of the county so to do. And for even the Quakers and
Menonites to solemnize their own marriages, either with or without a
ceremony, only provided it was done publicly. This Assembly also
declared certain marriages to be legal, which had been performed by
laymen in the absence of any minister, or by others who had no legal
right to perfonn marriages. So the Church parson was not nearly so
essential after 1784 as he had been.

Acting in accord with this direction of the Assembly, an election
for vestry to take place on Monday in Easter Week, 1785, was adver-
tised. When this meeting was approaching, the vestry, which had been
elected in Lynnhaven, in 1783, employed the Reverend Charles Petti-
grew to be minister of the parish and teacher of the Dickson Free
School, telling him of the election of a new vestry, which was to take
place on the 28th of March on this same month. Mr. Pettigrew ac-
cepted, but did not come in time to fulfil his engagement, and was not
accepted as minister.

The new vestr5% under the act of its corporation, was elected on
April 14, 1785, and subscribed to be conformable to the doctrine, dis-
cipline and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church. All of them
were old vestrymen. As the property now became incorporated in
their own hands, the following account of the parish was recorded and a
copy ordered to be sent to the next County Court.

An Account of Pkopeett Belonging to Lynnhaven Parish, April

14, 1785:

About 200 acres of land as a glebe, with an old dwelling-house and
a few outhouses, all in bad order; about 50 acres of land, with an
old house built for the reception of the poor and a kitchen, both want-
ing repair.

Belonging to the Mother Church: A large silver tankard and a silver
salver; a cup washed with gold; three pewter plates; one pulpit cloth
and broadcloth covering for the Communion Table; three sets of
Seeker's sermons, seven volumes each; volume of Tillotson's sermons;
three good Bibles and two old ditto; three Common Prayer books, large.

Belonging to the Eastern Shore Chapel: A silver tankard; a silver

158

cup and a small silver salver; three pewter plates and one pewter
basin; one draper table-cloth and one napkin for the Communion Table.
Belonging to Pungo Chapel: A pewter tankard, two glass tumblers,
two pewter plates, one table-cloth and two napkins for the Com-
munion Table, a few old cushions at the mother church and the Eastern
Shore chapel.

Revenue: Rent of glebe land in 1785, £8; rent of parish land in
1785, £7, 5.

Anthoky Walke,
John Ackiss,
Edwd. Hack Moseley,
James Henley,
John Coenick,
joei. coknick,
Francis Land.

On May 6th, 1785, the Reverend James Simpson was inducted min-
ister of the parish and appointed master of the Dickson F^-ee School.

The Rev. Mr. Simpson and Mr. Anthony Walke were appointed
delegates to the First Episcopal Convention, which met that same
month in Richmond. Mr. Simpson attended, but Mr. Walke's name
does not appear among the delegates in attendance.

This same year — 1785 — Is notable because in October the General
Assembly passed its great act for establishing religious freedom. After
a noble preamble, that act which was drawn up by Churchmen reads
as follows:

"II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be
compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or min-
istry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested or bur-
thened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of
his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to
profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of
religion, that the same shall in no wise deminlsh, enlarge, or affect
their civil capacities."

The large majority of the House which passed this action were
vestrymen of the Church. And In the Episcopal Convention which
met in Richmond in May, 1785, appeared the names of many dis-
tinguished patriots of the Revolution, the Convention being presided
over in its first meeting by Carter Braxton, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence.

159

Returning to Lynnhaven Parish: although the connection between
the Church and the State was now almost wholly broken, the vestry
are still found charged by the County Court with the important duty
of processioning the lands in the precincts of the county, and many
entries in their records indicate their active interest in the affairs
of the Church in this year, 1785.

Among other steps, they ordered account to be made of the mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church in the parish above the age of sixteen,
with a view to providing, through subscriptions, a due financial sup-
port of the parish.

In closing the connection between the Church and the State, the
vestry ordered their wardens to make a statement of their accounts
to the overseers of the poor, which was done in 1786; and the tran-
sition period is noted in the form in which the vestrymen signed their
next act qualifying as vestrymen, which was as follows:

"At a meeting held at Kempsville the 27 December, 1787, we, the
underwritten, having been fairly elected vestrymen and trustees ac-
cording to an act of assembly, as well as an ordinance of the Conven-
tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held in Richmond on the 16
day of May, 1787, do agree to be for ever conformable to the doc-
trine, discipline and worship of the said Episcopal Church, and to
use al! rational and just means in our power to advance the true
interest thereof." Then follow the names of the vestrymen.

On December 27, 1787, the Reverend J. Simpson "agreed to resign
his ofBce of Lynnhaven Parish on the sixth day of May, 1788, when an
election of minister shall be held."

Mr. Simpson, being an inducted minister, could not be forced to
resign without due process; he therefore "agreed to resign," and
in doing so, he said that three years of experience had proven to him
that the emoluments of the said parish were not adequate to the
trouble. It appears, however, that one of the gentlemen of the parish,
Mr. Anthony Walke, was looking forward to the ministry and to being
called to the parish, which may well have Influenced the action of Mr.
Simpson. Accordingly, on the 29th of March, 1788, Mr. Anthony Walke
was formally recommended to the Right Reverend William White,
Bishop of Pennsylvania, to receive orders, and on July the 3d, 1788,
Mr. Walke, having been in the meantime ordained (the record does
not say whether he was ordained both deacon and priest, but only
that he had returned to the parish and desired to be inducted), was
Inducted minister of the parish.

160

Four years later, while Mr. Walke was still minister of the parish,
the I'ollowiiig interesting declaration was made by one John McClennan,
a Romanist, who desired to enter the Episcopal Church.

nECLAUATION OF .lOIIN M'cLENNAN, FROM IRFXAND.

"I John McClennan having been educated in the Principles of the
Roman Church and Iraving been convinced tliat, since the Rise of
the Pope's temporal Power, tlie members of tlie said Church have been
cruelly imposed upon by their Priests, who vainly pretended that they
could grant Absolution for Sin, and Dispensations for Sums of money,
thus usurping an Authority over the Consciences of Men, and who
have supported the Doctrine of the real Presence at the Administration
of the Eucharist, do now solemnly abjure the Supremacy of the Pope,
and hereby I'enounce all the superstitions of the Cliurcli of Rome and
declare that I will be a member of the reformed Church, holding the
Faith of a Protestant from this Day, being the 22 of July 1792."

"This is to certify that the above Declaration was publickly, made
by Jolm McClennan at the Altar, in the Eastern Sliore Chapel, of the
Pai-ish of Lynnhaven and County of Princess Anne, on Sunday the
22d of July Anno Domini 1792

Anthony' Walke, Minr."

On October 10th, 1800, the Reverend Anthony Walke resigned the
parish, and on the 1st November the Reverend Cornelius Calvert was
inducted as minister of this parish.

"Until July, 1797, the vestry held unquestioned right to the Dickson
donation. In that year the question to their right was raised, possi-
bly by the dissenting element in the county, who were pressing in
many directions to obtain possession of Cliurch property, or It may
be by some heirs, relatives of Mr. Dickson. In December, ISOO, the vestry
took council of John Wickham, Esq., the distinguished lawyer of Rich-
mond, who advised them that, in his opinion, the vestry could, witli
perfect safety to themselves and with propriety, continue the direc-
tion of the charity as hitherto, and no person had any right to dis-
turb in this duty.

That if they were obstructed in the management of tire property
a court of chancery might interfere and appoint other trustees, and
that, in view of the testator's will, he thought that the vestry would
be reappointed.

Lastly, he declared that the heiis of Mr. Dickson could certainly not

161

support a claim to the land whether under the management of the
vestry or not.

At this time not only had the right of the church to the Dickson
donation been questioned, but in July, 1801, it was found that certain
dissenters were seeking to force an entry into and take possession of
one of the churches.

The Reverend George Holston was put in charge of the free school
in 1803, and in August of the same year he was inducted minister of
the parish.

As late as April, 1813, the vestry and trustees of the parish were
still in lawful possession of the Dickson Free School property, but had
become involved in a troublesome suit with some of Mr. Dickson's
relatives in Scotland.

After this date there is a gap in the record of the vestry covering
eight years and six months — the next record is of a general meeting
of the members of the parish in November, 1821. The parish had
suffered much, both by neglect and otherwise, in this interval. At this
meeting Mr. Thurmer Hoggard was chairman, a vestry was elected,
and the Reverend Mr. Prout was called to be minister of the parish,
at a salary of $500, and soon afterwards took charge.

In March, 1822, the vestry ordered the Donation church and the
Eastern Shore chapel to be put in repair, which was done at once, at
a cost of $386.

In 1824 delegates were elected to the Episcopal Council, and also
Pungo chapel was ordered to be repaired. Mr. Prout left the parish
in 1824, and the Reverend Mark L. Chevers was employed to give
some services.

In 1825 the church was again destitute of services, and the Reverend
•lohn H. Wingfield was employed, and after him the following min-
isters served the parish on and after the dates given with their
names:

The Reverend David M. Fackler, 1838; Rev. B. F. Miller, occasional
services, 1841; Rev. John G. Hull, 1842; Rev. Henry C. Lay, 1846;
Rev. Edmund Withers, 1847; Rev. Lewis Walke, 1848; Rev. Robert
Gatewood, 1865; Rev. A. A. McDonough, 1873; Rev. E. A. Penick,
1877; Rev. C. B. Bryan, 1878; Rev. C. J. McCollough, 1881; Rev.
Riphard Anderson, 1883; Rev. W. R. Savage, 1884; A. W. Anson, 1891.

In 1895 the eastern half of the parish, containing the Eastern Shore
chapel, was set off as a separate parish. The following ministers
continued to serve one or both of the parishes: Rev. W. R. Savage,

162

1895. Rev. W. F. Morrison, 1896; Rev. Henry L. Lancaster, 1898; Rev.
J. E. Wales, 1898; Rev. Frank Stringlellow, 1906.

After the final declension o£ the old Donation church, which suffered
much from the isolation of its position, that congregation built a
ctiurch called Emmanuel church, about 1850, in Kempsville.

Of recent years many members of the Episcopal Church have removed
from the county to live in Norfolk. On the other hand, quite a settle-
ment of Church people have gathered at Virginia Beach, where a con-
venient chapel has been erected. Through the efforts of the Reverend
Mr, Savage, a chapel was built for the benefit of the life-saving crew
on the shore at and below Virginia Beach, and thus, while weakened
at some points, the Church has been strengthened in others, and
still has an abiding hold upon the hearts of the people of Princess
Anne county. Certainly no one building in the county is so gen-
erally revered as is the old Eastern Shore chapel, and it is pleasant
to hear from its present minister, the Reverend Mr. Wales, that the
church is in an encouraging and growing condition. The western end
of the county has suffered more on account of its nearness to Norfolk,
but it is blessed in a faithful company of workers and in the devoted
service of one who, while not a clergyman, has for years done a
minister's work in all things that were within his power, Mr. R. J.
Alfriend, of Norfolk.

These parishes still retain their beautiful communion vessels. Those
which formerly belonged to the old Donation and the churches which
preceded it now belong to Emmanuel church, Kempsville. The cup
is marked with the date letter for 1705, the paten, which was the
gift of Maximilian Boush, and bears his arms, has the date letter
for 1711, and the flagon, the date letter for 1716. These pieces,
with the old Vestry Book, dating from 1723, have long been in the
keeping of the Hoggard family at Poplar Hall, on Broad Creek. The
Communion vessels of the Eastern Shore chapel, consisting of a hand-
some cup, paten and flagon, all bear the date letter of 1759.

BLANDFORD CHURCH, BRISTOL PARISH,
VIRGINIA.

( " THE BRICK CHURCH ON WELLS'S HILL" )
BY CHURCHILL GIBSON CHAMBEELAYNE, PH. D.

ih[ p^ HE General Assembly of Virginia at the session of March, 1642-
'43, enacted that "for the conveniency of the inhabitants on both
sides of Appomattock River being farr remote from the parish
church of the said plantation upon Appomattock be bounded
into a parish by themselves as follovfeth, to begin at Causon's ffeild
within the mouth of Appomattock River on the eastward side, and at
Powell's Creek on the westward side of the river, and so to extend
up the river to the falls on both sides, and the said parish to be called
by the name of Bristol. (Hening's "Statutes at Large," Vol. L, p. 251).
This was the genesis of Bristol Parish.

At the same session of the General Assembly a Church-government's
Act was passed, one of whose provisions was "That there be a true &
perfect register kept in a booke .... of all weddings, christenings &
burialls and that the clerke of every parish shall present to the com-
mander of every monethly court a list of all weddings, christenings &
burialls within their parish the present moneth." If, in compliance
with this enactment, Bristol Parish did from the beginning possess
such a "booke," it must have disappeared a long time ago; absolutely no
trace of it remains to-day. With it, and the companion Vestry Book —
if any such ever existed — were lost the records of the first seventy-sev-
en years of the parish's history. But for the period beginning with
the year 1720 and coming down to the present time the contemporary
sources for a history of the parish are ample. To these original sourc-
es, and to one or t'wo works, like Slaughter's "History of Bristol Parish"
and Bishop Meade's "Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Vir-
ginia," based in part upon them, reference will be made from time to
time during the course of this article.

In the year 1720 Bristol Parish contained about a thousand square
miles. It lay along the Appomattox river on both sides, extending
westward forty miles from the junction of the Appomattox with the
James. There were 848 tithables in the parish, and two places of wor-

164

ship, a church and a chapel. (See Perry's "Papers Relating to the His-
tory of the Church in Virginia, A. D. 1650-1776," pp. 266-268. Queries of
the Lord Bishop of London, answered by Oeorge Robertson, Minister of
Bristol Parish; also "The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish,
Virginia, 1720-1789," pp. 3-4.)

In regard to the situation of the Church, there has been some di-
versity of opinion. Bishop Meade says ("Old Churches," etc.. Vol. I., p.
439) : "Within the bounds of this parish," i. e., Bristol, "was the old
settlement of Sir Thomas Dale, in 1611, called Bermuda Hundred, at the
junction of James River and Appomattox. Settlements were from time
to time, formed along the river up to the Falls, where is now the town
of Petersburg. The mother or parish church was at Bermuda Hundred,
opposite to City Point, and it was desirable to organize a parish and pro-
vide for those who were settling higher up the Appomattox or Bristol
River. That the mother church was at this place is evident from an early
entry in the vestry book, where, for the first and only time, the mother
church is mentioned; and there in connection with the ferry at the
Point (City Point) which is directed to be kept in good order for per-
sons, on Sunday, going over to the 'mother-church' called, in the Act
of Assembly, the Parish Church."

According to Bishop Meade, then, the mother church of Bristol Parish
was at Bermuda Hundred. Was this the case? Let us examine first
his own testimony. That examination discovers errors of fact in his
account. Bermuda Hundred was never within the bounds of Bristol
Pai'ish. The parish church referred to in the Act of Assembly was not
the "mother church" of which occasional mention is made in the Bristol
Parish Vestry Book dating from 1720. At the time that Act was passed
(i. e., March, 1642-'43), Bristol Parish was not in existence, and the parish
church therein referred to was of course the church of that older parish
of which the territory on Appomattox river, to be cut oft and made
into the new parish of Bristol, was the outlying portion. Whether the
parish church mentioned in the Act of Assembly of 1642-'43 was situated
at Bermuda Hundred or not is a matter which does not concern us.
That it was not the "mother-church" of Bristol Parish referred to in
the vestry book, is certain. In his endeavor to confirm his argument
by an appeal to the vestry book Bishop Meade falls into numerous
errors. The mother church is mentioned in the Vestry Book not once
only, but several times, though not always, under that name — never,
however, in connection with the ferry at City Point, "which is direct-
ed to be kept in good order."

165

The following entry in the Vestry Book (printed volume, page 59,
manuscript volume p. 42), under date of October 21st, 1731, is the one
to -which Bishop Meade refers: "Order'd that a Ferry be Keept at the
Point and that it be attended when the sermon is at the Mother Church
and that tha Min'r pass when he hath Occation." It is to be noted
that this entry was made eighty-eight years after the establishment of
Bristol Parish, and eleven years after the first entry in the book, that
there is nothing said in it about the Ferry being kept in good order; but
merely that a Ferry be kept — proof positive that at this place no ferry
had previously been operated — and that the place itself is referred to aa
the Point simply, not as City Point. Bishop Meade's theory in regard
to the location of the mother church of Bristol Parish is untenable.

Where, then, was the Mother Church situated? First, let the records
speak for themselves. In the Vestry Book under date of November
10th, 1726, there is the following entry: "It is ord'red that henry tatam
be Clerk for the ferry Church and Chapell and y't he be AUow'd two
thousand pounds of tob'co by the parrish P'r annum." Again under
date of November 16th, 1727, the following: "To henry tatam Clerk of
the Mother Church and ferry Chappie." These two entries taken in
connection with the following, under date of October 21st, 1731: "Ordi-
er'd that a Ferry be Keept at the Point and that it be attended when
the sermon is at the Mother Church and that the Min'r pass when he
hath Occation," make so much at least plain, that the Mother Church
and the Ferry Chapel were on opposite sides of the river, and that the
two places of worship were not so far apart as to prevent one man's
acting in the capacity of clerk at both of them.

The question now is. Where was "the Point" where, in the year
1731, a ferry was ordered to be kept? That it was not at the
place now knov>fn as City Point has been already shown. There
must have been ferries at City Point as far back as a hundred years
before 1731, and we know from the Vestry Book that as early as
1720 there was a ferry still higher up the river, at Conjurer's Neck,
between City Point and the falls, kept by Mrs. Elizabeth Kennon.
With every year the population moved farther and farther toward
the west, and keeping pace with the movement in the population,
ferries were continually being established higher and higher up the
rivers. Everything, then, tends to confirm the supposition that
"the Point" referred to in the minutes of the vestry meeting held
Oct. 21, 1731, was Peter's Point, afterwards Petersburg, at the falls

166

of the Appomattox. If any doubt remained as to its truth, it would
seem to be set at rest by the following independent witness, taken
from Col. Wm, Byrd's diary of his "Journey to the Land of Eden,"
in the year 1733: "When we got home, we laid the foundation of
two large Citys. One at Shaco's, to be called Richrqond, and the
other at the point of Appomattuck River, to be nam'd Petersburg."
("The Writings of 'Col. William Byrd, of Westover in Virginia, Esqr.'
Edited by John Spencer Bassett, New York, 1901.)

The records, finally, do not leave one in doubt as to which church
was on the north, and which on the south side of the river. By
act of the Assembly, Bristol Parish lost, in the year 1735, all that
part of its territory lying north of the Appomattox. After that year
the Vestry Book makes no further mention of the mother church,
while references to the Perry Chapel are as frequent as ever. A
thorough knowledge of the existing records, then, tends to confirm
Dr. Slaughter's opinion, held in opposition to Bishop Meade, that
the indications that point to old "Wood's Church," five miles from
Petersburg, in Chesterfiedd county, built in 1707, as the mother chui-ch
referred to in the Vestry Book of Bristol Parish.

The site of the Chapel, or Ferry Chaple, as it is frequently called
In the Vestry Book, has never been a matter of serious investigation.
Bishop Meade erroneously supposed that it "stood near the falls, and
not far from the old Blandford church, which took its place in the
year 1737 or 1738." (Bishop Meade's "Old Churches," etc., Vol. I.,
p. 439). But, as has been shown, the ferry at "the Point," that is at
what is now Petersburg, was not established until 17 31, while the
Perry Chapel was being used as a place of worship in 1720, and
doubtless it had been in existence for some time when the first en-
tries in the Vestry Book were written. The ferry from which the
Chapel took its name, and hence at, or near which it was situated,
was without the least shadow of a doubt that kept by Mrs. Elizabeth
Kennon, who lived at Conjurer's Neck (the Brick House) in what was
then Henrico, now Chesterfield, county, on the Appomattox River,
between City Point and the falls. The Chapel was located on the
south side of the river in Prince George County.

During the fourteen years between 17 20 and 17 3 4 the number of
tithables in Bristol Parish more than doubled. In the latter year
there were returned 20S4. The places of worship too had increased
from two to five. Besides the mother church and the Ferry

167

Chapel there were now chapels on Namozine, Sapponey, and Flat
Creeks, all south of the Appomattox.

Some time during the session of 17 3 4 the General Assembly of
Virginia passed an act creating the parish of Raleigh, and another
creating the parish of Dale. The former act was to go into effect
on March 25th, 1735, the latter, on May 31st of the same year.
The creation of these new parishes very much reduced the area of Bria-
tol. The number of tithables, too, which in the meantime had increas-
ed to 2,305, was cut down to 1,349. Of the five places of worship for-
merly in the parish only two were left, the Ferry Chapel, and the
chapel on Sapponey Creek, both frame buildings, the former being in a
half-ruinous condition.

The passage of the acts in regard to Raleigh and Dale parishes
placed the vestry of Bristol in an embarrassing situation. Before
that time, namely, at a vestry meeting held March 11th, 1733, it
was "Ordred that a new Church be built of Brick on Wellses Hill
for the Conveniency of this Parish Sixty foot long and twenty-five
foot Wide in the Clear Eighteen foot Pitch with Compass Sealing
and Compass windows the Isle Eight foot wide Laid with Portland
stone or Bristol marble Sash Glass Covered first with Inch Plank
Ciphir'd and a Coat of hart Cipruss or pine Shingles % of an inch
thick at the lower End nailed on foalding Shutters of windscut
for the windows"

In November of the next year (i. e., 1734,) in spite of the fact that
in the meantime the creation of the two new parishes had been
determined upon by the General Assembly, it was ordered "that
Colo Robert Boiling, Capt William Stark and Majr William Poyth-
res agree with workmen for Building a new Church according to
the former Order made March ye 11th 17 3 3." At the laying of the
levies for that year 25,000 pounds of tobacco was levied toward
building the new church. This caused trouble, for those tithables
whose affiliation with Bristol parish was to come to an end in
March and May, 1735, objected to being made to contribute toward
the building of a church with which they would never have any of-
ficial connection. An echo of the protest they made is heard from
Williamsburg. At a vestry meeting held on August 12th, 1735, it
was ordered "In Obedience to the Governors order that the Church
warden do desire the workmen to delay going forward with the

169

ables in the parish continuing to increase, it was found necessary to
put up too more chapels, the one, for the convenience of the in-
habitants in the lower part of the parish, on Jones' Hole Creek, the
other on Hatcher's Run.

In the meanwhile, during the year 1739, or early in 1740, the
Rev. George Robertson, who had been minister of the parish since
1694, died, and the Vestry proceeded to take steps to secure another
minister. Their first choice was an unfortunate one, as the records
sufficiently show. "VVe will let them speak for themselves.

"At a Vestry held at the Brick Church on Wells's Hill May 26th, 1740.

Present. Colo Robert Boiling, Capt Wm. Stark, Capt Peter Jones,
Mr. John Banister, Majr Wm. Poythress, Capt Willm Hamlin, Mr.
Theo. Feild, Mr Theok Bland, Capt Charles Fisher.

Order'd That Mr. Richard Heartswel be received Minister of this
Parish dureing the approbation of the Vestry he haveing agreed ta
accept thereof on these terms."

"At a Vestry held at the Brick Church on Wells's Hill May 27th
1740.

Present. Colo Robert Boiling, Capt Wm Stark, Mr. Theo. Feild,
Capt. Charles Fisher, Majr Wm. Poythress, Mr. Theok Bland, Capt
Peter Jones.

Mr. Richard Heartswel haveing in company with Several of the
Vestry yesterday Evening declared that he did not understand the
order of Vestry that day made for receiving him as Minister of this
Parish on the Terms therein mentioned altno entered in his pres-
ence & with his approbation & now insisting on Twenty Pounds p
Ann in lieu of a Glebe which he with some warmth, said he thought
he merrited; & without such Allowance would not stay, thereupon
the Church wardens conviend this Vestry who upon the representa-
tion of the matter by several of their own Members, Orders that
the said Richard Heartswel be discharged as Minister of this Parisa
on the Terms by him & the Vestry agreed to on the 26th Instant or
on any other whatsoever.

Test John V/oobank Clk Vestry"

In this connection the following extract from a letter of the Rev.
James Blair, Commissary, at Williamsburg, to the Bishop of London,
dated May 29, 1740, will be of interest: "There is a clergyman, one Mr.
Richard Hartwol came into this country from Liverpool about a year
ago, only in Deacon's orders. He was ordained by Joseph,

170

Bishop of Rochester, Sept. 21, 1735. He brought no letters of
recommendation, and came very unprovided of books or any-
thing else. The Governor befriending him, he preached in
several churches, & has a taking way of delivery, but no
parish seems desirous to have him for a minister chiefly
because he is not capable of administering the sacrament of
the Lord's supper, which they are very pressing for, especially on
their death-beds. The Governor has very lately recommended him
to some gentlemen of that parish which was Mr. Robertson's, and
he is gone thither, but as I hear, meets with great opposition. I
want your Lordship's directions about him for I am somewhat
diffident of his character in England, by reason of his coming away
so suddenly and abruptly, and that he has been so long since ne
was Deacon without receiving Priest's orders, and seems averse to
repairing to England for compleat orders." (Perry's "Papers Re-
lating to the History of the Church in Virginia 1650-1776" pp.
862-3.)

That is the last word that history has to say of the Rev. Richard
Heartswel in connection with Bristol Parish. The Vestry finally
secured the services of the Rev. Robert li'ergusson, who remained
minister of the parish until his death in 1749.

In the year 1742 Bristol Parish was divided (Heninga "Stat-
utes at Large," Vol. V., p. 212). At the time of the division there
were 1,668 tithables in the parish. With the formation of the new
parish (Bath) Bristol parish lost 897 tithables and two out of the
tour churches. The Brick Church and the chapel on Jones Hole
Creek remained to Bristol. Sapponey and Hatcher's Run Chapels
went to Bath parish. Out of this division and the expenses in-
cident thereto arose a dispute between the two parishes which lasted
until 1745.

In March, 1750, Rev. Bleazer Robertson was appointed minister
of the parish "for Twelve Months on Tryal" as the Vestry Book
expresses it. Evidently his "Tryal" proved satisfactory to all par-
ties, for at the Vestry meeting in March, 1751, he was regularly re-
ceived as minister of the parish.

Either the eloquence of Mr. Robertson's discourses or the natu-
ral growth of the parish — there were now 1081 tythables — was
responsible for the following order of the Vestry made June 22nd,
1752: "That an Addition be made on the South Side the Brick

171

Church, Thirty feet by Twenty five in the Clear and fifteen feet
from the Spring of the Arch to the Floor which is to be the same
height with the present Church three Bricks thicli to the Water
Table and two and a half thick to the plate, the Roofe to be Framed
as the present Roofe, the Isle Six Feet wide laid with white Bristol
Stone. Two windows of the Same dimentions as the present on
Each Side of the Addition, and Glazed with Sash Glass, the Floor
to be laid with Inch and Quarter heart plank, the pews to be Framed
as those now in the Church, the Roofe to be first Covered with plank
and Shingled on that with Good Cypress heart Shingles, a Cornish
the Same as the present. Square Celling, a Door in the South End of
the Addition, the present South Door to be shut up, and another
Window and a pew Added In its place. The whole to be done
Strong, and workmanlike in the Best plain manner, to be finished
by the First day of July 1754. Also the Church to be walled in
with a Brick Wall of one and a half Brick thick Five Foot from the
highest part of the Ground to the Top of the Copeing, Length from
East to West One hundred and Sixty Feet, from North to South
One hundred and Forty Feet in the Clear, One Gate at the West
End and One on the South Side the Church and the Church War-
dens are to give publick Notice when it is to be Let." In November
of the same year the Vestry ordered "that the Addition to the
Church be built on the North side thereof. This day being the day
Advertized in the Virginia Gazette for Letting the Addition to the
Church, and Walling it in, Collo Rlcnard Bland being the Lowest
Bidder agrees to do it for four hundred pounds Current money."
Originally the church had been a simple rectangular building, sixty
feet by twenty-flve facing east and west. The addition above re-
ferred to made a radical change in its appearance. Its form was
now that of a squat T shaped cross. From the completion of this
addition — it was not finished until the year 1764 — until the aban-
donment of the building the Brick Church remained practically
unaltered.

The Rev. Eleazer Robertson left Bristol parish in 1753. It was
during the incumbency of his successor Rev Thomas Wilkinson, that
the matter of a poor-house for the three parishes of Bristol, Mar-
tins Brandon, and Bath began to be agitated. The first action in
regard to this business was taken at a Vestry meeting held No-
vember 27th, 1755. It culminated in December of the year fol-

172

lowing in the appointment of a committee, consisting of Messrs.
Steptien Dewey, Alexander Boiling, Theoderick Bland, and William
Eaton, to "meet the persons appointed by the Vestry's of Brandon
& Bath Parishes to agree in settleing the Terms of the Poors House."
The result of the conference held by the representatives of the
three parishes was embodied in the following report taken from the
record of the minutes of the vestry meeting held at the Brick Church
February 23rd, 1757:

"At a meeting of the members appointed by the Respective
Parishes of Bristol, Martins brandon and Bath as a Committee to
Consider of the best and most proper method for Building a Poors
House at the Joint Expence of the said Parishes —

It is the opinion of this Committee that a Convenient House
ought to be Rented for Entertaining the poor of the said Parishes,
if to be had. But If not, that then Land ought to be bought & Con-
venient Houses to be built for the joint use of the said Parishes
in proportion to the number of Tithables In each of the said Parishes.
This Committee having taken under their most serious Considera-
tion the unhappy and indeed miserable Circumstances of the many
poor Orphans and other poor Children, Inhabitants of the said
Parishes whose parents are utterly unable to give them any Edu-
cation and being desirous to render the said House as Beneficial as
possable & that such poor Children should be brought up in a Re-
ligious, Virtuous & Industrious Course of Life so as to become
useful members of the Community, Have Resolved earnestly to rec-
ommend it to their Respective Vestries that they should join In a
petition to the General Assembly to procure an Act to enable the
said Parishes to erect a FREE SCHOOL for Educating the poor
Children of the said Parishes in Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
at the joint Expence of the said Parishes, and Uniting the same to
the said Poorshouse Under such Rules, Orders and Directions as
shall be most just and proper for perfecting so useful and Chari-
table a Work, And in Order to facilitate the obtaining such Act to
propose that the said Vestries should unite in opening Subscriptions
that the Rich & Opulent & all other well disposed people may have
an opportunity of Contributing towards so pious a design out of that
STORE which the FATHER of Bounties hath bestowed on them.

It is the opinion of this Committee that Four of the Members of
each of the said Vestries ought to be appointed as a Committee to

173

Petition the General Assembly in the name and on behalf of the

said Vestries in Order to obtain such Act as aforesaid And also to

put the said resolutions into Execution.

It is the opinion of this Committee that these Resolutions be

Communicated to the respective Vestries as soon as possable for

approbation or Descent.

Signed According to the Directions of the Committee By

Jany 19th, 1757. RICHARD BLAND."

In spite of this very excellent report nothing seems to have come
of the Poor-house plan. At the Vestry meeting held November 15th,
1757, it was ordered "That the Churchwardens at the most Conve-
nient place put up the poor of this Parish to the lowest Bidder."

If the Vestry oi Bristol Parish proved incompetent to influence leg-
Islaiion in the marter of providing for the poor, they showed a very
commendable and fainy successful zeal in the suppression of vice.
The credit side of tne parish's yearly balance sheet exhibits frequent
entries like the following;

"By Richd Harrison & Rd Harrison Junr and Peter Aldridge for
profane swearing 5/Each 15.

"By mary Jones fine for a bastard child pd by Nat Rains £2:10.

"By a fine from The. Whitmour for Profaning the Sabbath Day. 5.

"By Henry Delony Gaming fine £5 :

"By Cash Reed of Richd Booker A fine of Some Person Sold Oats

by false measure at ye Bridge £1:"

That the vestry was disposed to class non-church going among the

vices to be rooted out appears from the following credit entry in the

balance-sheet for the year 1754:

"By 3 fines for not going to Church 15/"

As Thonias Whitmour's fine for Profaning the Sabbath Day was 5
Bhillings, it is probable thaat the profanation of which he was found
guilty was that of absenting himself from divine service.

On November 22d, 1762, the Rev. Thomas Wilkerson resigned the
parish. The same day he was succeeded by Rev. William Harrison.
The first twelve years or so of Mr. Harrison's incumbency seem to
have been uneventful enough; then came the troublous times of the
war with England. Under date of October 19th, 1775, occurs the fol-
lowing entry in the vestry book:

"Whereas, The callamitous State of the Country renders it Doubtful)

174

whether a SufBcient Sum Can be Collected from the people, for pay-
ment of the Paiochial Debt, In Money, And by the Restrained Laid
on Exports, By publlck Consent, The Parishoners are Precluded of the
Election which the Law Had Giveing them, in paying their Due's in
Tobo or Money. It is Determined by Vestry That the Ministers Sal-
ary Shall be Estimated at One Hundred And Forty four Pound's, to
be Collected as Nearly as Possible in Money Unless the prohibition on
Exports Should be Removed, And in that Case the People to be at
Liberty to pay in Tobo at Eighteen Shillings Per Hundred, In Lieu
of Money, According to there Own Choice. And It's further to be Un-
derstood that the Revd Mr. Harrison shall wait for the Ballance, After
the Collection is made, three Years without Interest, unless it should
Please HEAVEN to Put an End before that time. To the Troubles of
our Country, And then it is understood that the Encumben [t's] Sal-
ary shall be Demandable in the usual and 'accustomed way.' "

Poor Mr. Harrison! One is hardly surprised at finding the follow-
ing entered on the minutes of a vestry meeting held February 4, 1780:
"This day the Late Recter, the Revd. Mr. Harrison, wrote in his Resig-
nation of his Cure of this Parish, which is accepted."

After lying vacant four years the parish secured the services of the
Rev. John Cameron. He is the last minister of the parish of which
the vestry book speaks, as he was still living and serving the parish
in the capacity of rector when the closing entry of the volume was
written. This was on April 18, 1789. Dr. Cameron resigned his
charge in 1793, and was succeeded the next year by the Rev. Andrew
Syme, who served Bristol parish faithfully for forty-five years.

He was the last rector of the parish that regularly held services and
preached in the Brick church, on Well's Hill. With him, then, the
references in this article to the history of the parish, as such, may well
end.

What remains of the history of the old church is soon told. After
the Revolution the town of Blandford, which lies between Wells's Hill
and the river, rapidly declined in importance as a tobacco port, while
the new town of Petersburg, to the west, grew steadily. Between the
years 1802 and 1808 the new St. Paul's church, Petersburg, was built.
This sealed the fate of the old Brick church, on Wells's Hill, though
for awhile services were still held within its walls alternately with the
church in Petersburg and the outward church. Finally the services

175

at the Brick church were discontinued absolutely, and the old building
was left alone in its glory. Thus abandoned, it gradually fell into
ruins. Writing in 1879, a short while before the Brick church under-
went its first "restoration," Dr. Slaughter says, quoting in part Charles
Campbell: " 'Blandford is chieily remarkable for the melancholy charm
of a moss-velveted and ivy-embroidered, ante-Revolutionary church,
(whose yard is the Petersburg cemetery), at present in the most pic-
turesque place of dilapidation.' And we add that it is the pride of
Petersburg, and the most attractive of all her historical surroundings.
The pilgrim and the stranger who tarry but a night is sure to wend his
way and pay his homage at this shrine. Time, too, in its revolvings,
'brings in other revenges.' The children, and the children's children,
of the scattered worshippers who were baptized at this font or knelt
at this shrine, when they have finished their course on earth, are borne
back in solemn procession and laid in the bosom of old Mother Church,
which invests her with a charm, in the eyes and hearts of the whole
community."

A few years after the above was written it was found necessary, in
order to preserve the ruins from utter destruction, to have the building
re-roofed. The writer thinks that he is not mistaken in saying that
this work was undertaken and paid for by the city of Petersburg. How-
ever much to be regretted, inasmuch as the new slate roof has given
a rather incongruous air of smartness to the venerable building, these
repairs done by the city were unavoidable.

Not so, however, the recent "restoration" of Old Blandford, through
the efforts of the Ladies' Memorial Association, aided — one is tempted
to say also, and abetted — by the Petersburg chapter of the Daughters
of the Confederacy, by which this relic of the Colonial period has been
converted into a Confederate memorial chapel. A monument of the
early eighteenth century converted into a memorial of the events of
1861-'65 — could no better way than this have been found to honor the
Southern cause? It is always so, however. The past is ever being for-
gotten in the Interests of the present, and history shows many such
glaring instances of robbing Peter to pay Paul. But the day will come
when the intelligent people of Petersburg will regret having allowed
this piece of utter vandalism to be perpetrated.

A visit to Blandford church recalls many memories of the historic
past. Here preached in days long gone by the ministers whose names
have already been given; the Robertsons — George and Bleazar — Robert

176

Fergusson, Thomas Wilkerson, William Harrison, John Cameron and
Andrew Syme. Occasionally, too, the walls of the old church rang
with the voice of some famous divine like William Stith, the Virginia
historian; Devereaux Jarratt, the stirring preacher of Bath parish, or
George Whitfield, the great English evangelist. As one wanders about
among the tomhstones outside, stopping from time to time to decipher
some half-obliterated inscription, the ancient glory of the church is
brought vividly to the mind. Here worshipped with their families, in
that to us dim pre-Revolutionary time, James Munford, William Poy-
thress, Robert Boiling, Peter Jones, William Stark, Theophilus Field,
Charles Fisher, Francis Poythress, William Hamlin, Theoderick Bland,
David Walker, Thomas Short, Stephen Dewey, William Epes, George
Smith, Samuel Gordon, James Murray, Hugh Miller, James Boisseau,
Alexander Boiling, Anthony Walke, Thomas Williams, William Eaton,
Roger Atkinson, George Nicholas, Sir William Skipwith, John RufSn,
John Bannister, Theoderick Bland, Jr., Nathaniel Raines, Nathaniel
Harrison, William Call, Richard Taylor, Thomas and Joseph Jones and
many others — truly an array of worthy names of which any Church
might well be proud.

From the churchyard one sees about two miles off to the north the
hills on the Chesterfield side of the river, from which Lafayette, in 1781,
standing by his guns, must have watched the bombardment of the Brit-
ish in Petersburg — that bombardment that is said to have disturbed
the last hours of the English General Phillips, as he lay dying in the
house on East Hill. Tradition has it that the dead general was laid to
rest in the southeast corner of Blandford churchyard.

Less than a mile away to the east and south are the remnants of
the earthworks held by the Confederate forces during the memorable
siege of Petersburg, which lasted from the 9th of June, 1864, to the 2d
of April, 1865. The fighting was at times so near the church that
the building itself and the surrounding tombstones did not escape en-
tirely the rain of shot and shell directed against the town and its de-
fenders. To this day bullets are not infrequently found in the ceme-
tery, and, indeed, close up to the old churchyard wall.

It is scarcely necessary to add, in closing, that Blandford church, so
rich In associations that appeal to cultivated minds, possesses a litera-
ture of Its own, the natural outgrowth of the thoughts and emotions
which it has itself inspired. One can do no more here than refer the
reader to Dr. Slaughter's valuable "History of Bristol Parish," where
the greater part of what is best in that literature may be found.

>

ABINGDON CHURCH, GLOUCESTER COUNTY,

VIRGINIA

BY THE REV. WILLIAM BYED LEE, RECTOR.

^Q ^^TT^ ^^^ history of the Episcopal Church of Virginia has been,
from the very beginning, a most interesting and eventful
<!_i one beyond that of any other diocese in the Union."
We refer the reader to Bishop Meade's "Old Churches and
Families of Virginia," from which the foregoing quotation is
made. In attempting to write articles on Ware and Abingdon
Parishes and their churches, I am embarrassed by finding the
county and church records almost wholly destroyed up to the year
1830. Many valuable documents were burned at Jamestown in
1676, when Nathaniel Bacon kindled the first fires of rebellion in
the Colony. Again at Williamsburg, in 1776— the War of the Revo-
lution — many precious documents were consumed by fire. In 1820
the clerk's oflSce at Botetourt, which is now called Gloucester, the
county's old seat, was burned with its contents. A further fire at Rich-
mond, on April 2, 1865, destroyed all of Gloucester county records. As
a precautionary step, Gloucester being in the lines of the enemy, the
records had been carried to Richmond. A mutilated register of Abing-
don Parish, from 1677 to 1761, and a like uninjured vestry book of
Petsworth Parish, in that county, is all that remains from the fires
prior to and including that of 1820. From these old books and other
fragments of history we get a dim light of Colonial Church work in
Gloucester, telling what our fathers did to perpetuate the religion of
our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Church of England received and planted
it in America.

In the absence of her burned and losL records, Gloucester points to
the names and history of her families, to the character of their homes
and family graveyards, to the remaining Colonial churches, Abingdon
and Ware, and to remnants of foundations where Kingston and Pets-
worth churches and earlier old chappJs stood when the State was
almost a solid forest. These are monuments to the culture and piety
of her people.

In 1608 Capt. John Smith, with his hardy followers, first visited what
is now Gloucester county. It is here Pocahontas saved the life of

178

Smith. Here also our forefathers in the Church found the first fruits
unto Christianity among the Indians, in the person of Pocahontas, the
daughter of the Indian Iving. Her numerous offspring in Virginia and
elsewhere occupy positions high in Church and State, and trace their
ancestry beyond Jamestown even to Gloucester, when it was the seat
of an Indian empire.

Weworocomico, the chief home of Powhatan, is distinctly lo-
cated on the map of Captain John Smith, and also on the map of
Tyndall, fixing the locality on Purton bay, York river, as the spot
where Pocahontas saved the life of Smith.

In the food borne from Gloucester by Smith to the starving people
at Jamestown, this county became, as it were, a foster-mother to the
stricken colony

Gloucester lies on the north side of York river, about fifteen miles
from Jamestown. York river and York county were first called Pa-
munkey river and Pamunkey shire. Afterwards they bore the name of
Charles river and Charles shire. (One of the original eight shires
mentioned in Hen. Stat., Vol. I., page 224.)

In like manner the county bordering on the north side of York river,
being once a part of York county, shared the names successively Pa-
munkey shire, Charles River shire, York county; and finally Glouces-
ter. I mention these changes of names, which together with land
grants, to be referred to, will throw light upon the genesis of Glouces-
ter county and her parishes.

What is now called Gloucester Point, just across the York river from
Yorktown, was first called Tyndall's Point. Subsequently it was called
Gloucester Town, which name it bore up to about 1850. Like York-
toY.-n, it has an imperishable history. Gloucester county was cut out
of York county about 1G51. Land grants were located in York county
on the north side of York river until April, 1651. (See York County
Land Book.) Prior to this date, between 1630 and 1644, a considerable
v.hite population had settled on the north side of York river. In the
absence of history to the contrary, it is probable that public worship of
God was first conducted in Gloucester at Tyndall's Point. When the
geographical and other advantages of Gloucester became known to the
English settlers, they were eager to avail themselves of them. The
un'isual extent and nature of its water front, the enduring wealth of its
land, and the mild, salubrious climate have been well and long known.
King Powhatan showed bis wisdom by m.aking his permanent home
there. It was at a strategic locality.

179

A study of the long Gloucester water front and country back of
Gloucester town, and also up and down York river shores develop some
very Interesting features and history that, very likely, controlled the
direction of the first farmers' settlements outside of Gloucester town.
The "War Path," or "Indian Road," well known in Gloucester, crossed
York river at Page Rock, in order to reach the "Indian Field," the red-
man's settlement in York county. The "War Path" also ran northward
from Shelly, in Gloucester, passing to the west within a few miles of
the present site of Abingdon church, and on to within half a mile of
where Ware church now stands; then onward to the Piankitank and
Rappahannock rivers.

Shelly, about eight miles above Gloucester town, is noted for the
great bank of oyster shells left there from Indian feasts in the long
past. Timber Neck and Carter's Creek plantations are both close to
Shelly, and like the latter place their waters are celebrated for oysters
that could be easily taken and were abundant. The Indian needed
shallow, quiet waters for oyster gathering. The red warrior would be
slow to give up these delightful haunts of his ancestors, and to aban-
don the "war trail" that led to his neighbors' wigwams, south and
north, in the kingdom of Powhatan. The ruins of what is known as
Powhatan's chimney, on the east side of Timber Neck creek, and addi-
tional oyster shell mounds on the west side of Carter's creek, at Rose-
well, indicate a long-standing and large Indian settlement upon these
waters. Therefore it is not probable that the first settlers on Glouces-
ter shores spread up the river. What is more likely, they settled east-
ward, on the shore line of York river and along Sarah's creek, and an
arm of this river close to Gloucester town. Guinea, a very favorably
protected peninsula about five miles long, is surrounded by wide waters
on three sides, north, south and east. The west side is partly cov-
ered by Sarah's creek. This neck, cut off from the Indians, offered ex-
cellent pasturage all the year long on its extensive marshes for horses,
cattle and hogs of the whites. The pines, wild myrtle and horse
bushes protected the stock in bad weather. This peninsula, unique in
its location and advantages, was doubtless, with Tyndall's Point, the
earliest section of Gloucester settled by the whites. With few excep-
tions it has been the home of small farmers and fishermen. Ministers
located in Klskyacke Parish likely visited and administered to these
hardy citizens, as Tyndall's Point was at first in that parish.

Abingdon church Colonial register preserves the names of many fam-

180

ilies that have lived in Guinea since 1677. Her people were among
the earliest worshippers at Tyndall's Point and at Abingdon, and they
probably came to church in their boats and a-foot in the early days.
Later on the better conditioned drove in the carryall, sulky and stick-
gig. The bodies of many of them sleep in Abingdon churchyard, leav-
ing the story told of the mother church upon the hearts of the people.

Water courses and the divides of water-sheds most frequently mark
the metes and bounds of State, county and parish. As the white set-
tlements advanced into the interior, county and parish areas, under
the multiplication of settlers, became more contracted and defined.
The changes that Gloucester Parish lines underwent, in over two hun-
dred years, it is impossible to follow clearly. Settlers had moved into
what is now Gloucester county before the second attempted Indian
massacre of 1644. In making this second attack the Indians were mind-
ful of the struggle between the Roundheads and King Charles I., and
took advantage of the disturbed state of affairs. (See Smith ey's Hist,
of Va., page 68.) From 1640 to 1650 was a most trying period to the
settlers in what is now Gloucester county, and doubtless had a retard-
ing influence upon the Church development. Settlers were summoned
by the Burgesses to return to the south side of York river. After this
the country north of the York and on the Rappahannock was not open
for settlement until September 1, 1649. (See Acts of House of Bur-
gesses, Hen. Stat., Vol. I.)

As early as 1623 the House of Burgesses ordered, "There shall be In
every plantation where the people meet for the worship of God, a house
or room sequestered for that purpose." A court was held in York coun-
ty in a private home, before a courthouse was built, so we may conclude
the same people habitually assembled in private houses for worship of
God before a church could be built.

There was a place of worship at "Temple Farm," about two miles
below (east) Yorktown. Doubtless hardy spirits, seeking God at that
time, from Gloucester town crossed the wide, boisterous river, with its
sweeping tides, to worship at the locality where, over one hundred
years later, Lord Cornwallis was to ask terms of surrender for his
"red coats."

The plantations were at first all on the river (or bay) shore. Farms
were patches cut out among the trees. Communication was mostly by
boat. (See Men, Women and Manners, Fisher, Vol. I.) It is then
not surprising (Gloucester abounding in rivers) that in 1648 (See Hen.

ISl

Hist., Vol. I, page 353), the settlers petitioned the House of Burgesses
to allow them to return to Gloucester.

Having called attention to the direction in which the settlers of
Gloucester, seeking best natural living advantages and greater security
from the Indians, I think the chosen locality for a chapel or church
would be at Gloucester town or near it, and overlooking the placid
waters of Sarah's creek.

Charles I. was beheaded in 1649. With his downfall many Cavaliers
flocked to Virginia and not a few settled in Gloucester. Three years
later — November, 1652 — Gloucester for the first time appears as a
county of the Colony, represented in the House of Burgesses by Col.
Hughe Gwynn and Mr. Fi-ancis Willis. (See Hen. Stat, Vol. I., page
371.)

Having no church records as to when the Gloucester Parishes of
Abingdon, Ware, Petsworth and Kingston (the latter now in Mathews
county) were formed, I turn to the Gloucester book of Land Grants.
There I find a grant to one John Chapman for four hundred acres of
lard in Kingston Parish in 1657. Grants wore located in Petsworth,
Abingdon and Ware Parishes in 1665 and 1666. There Is nothing in
the York records about these parishes. I think they were established
about 1652, because Gloucester being nearer Williamsburg than Lan-
caster county, where court records reported two parishes in 1654, one
of them bordering Gloucester on the north.

Abingdon Parish lies in the southeastern part of Gloucester county,
fronting on York river and Mobjack bay. It is bounded on the north
and west by Ware and Petsworth Parishes. The area is between thirty
and forty miles in circumference. The church stands in a walnut
grove near the road leading from Gloucester Courthouse to Gloucester
Point, and is six miles from the latter. This is the second known
church at this place. The foundations of the first church, close beside
the present building, show that it was much smaller than is the church
now in use. This first building, which the Rev. Charles Mann said
"had been enlarged," is supposed to have been built in early days of
this parish, and upon ground donated by Augustine Warner.

The foundations of an old wall that enclosed the Warner gift of half
an acre of land for this church and cemetery in which the church
stood, are still to be traced. This cemetery was enlarged in Colonial
days and enclosed by an excellent brick walk. The sight of these an-

182

cient ruins should awaken profound interest in every true-hearted
American. Here Mildred "Warner, daughter of Col. Augustine Warner,
must have worshipped and received her early religious training. Slie
married Lawrence Washington, of Westmoreland county, Virginia,
and was the grandmother of George Washington.

This church was used about one hundred years, when it became un-
safe and steps were taken to build the present beautiful Abingdon.

The present church is in the form of a square or maltese cross,
Ironting: the west, the main entrance being at that end. The two out-
side faces of the western and eastern ends of the cross are each thirty-
six feet wide. The faces of the northern and southern outside ends
of the arms of the cross are each thirty-five feet wide. The extreme
length of the building from west to east is eighty-one feet. The ex-
treme width of the building from north to south is seventy-six feet
six inches. The walls are two feet thick. I was unable to measure the
height of walls and angle of roof, but both are in fine proportion with
the width. I think the walls were built of brick made in Gloucester
(from an excavation near the church), and according to the Flemish
bond, and with glazed heads. The bricks framing the entrances are
of different sizes, color and clay from chose in the body of the church,
suggesting the probability of their having been imported. But few
bricks were imported in the colonies.

I am of the opinion that this structure was completed about 1755,
and for these reasons: First, the late Mrs. Robert C. Selden, of Sher-
wood, who was born in 1815, and died April, 1906, told me that in her
childhood, she remembered her aged aunt Innis, of Warner Hall, say-
ini; tihe attended services in the first church when she was a little girl;
second, high in the church wall is a brick which I have carefully ex-
amined, dated 1734; third, the Williamsburg Gazette of Februai-y 14,
1751, has the following:

"Notice is hereby given, on Wednesday, 27th day of this month, a
vestry will be held at Abingdon church, in the county of Gloucester, in
order to contract with workmen for building a new church in said
parish."

There is still another brick in the southwest corner of the wall,
three feet from the ground, with 1755 neatly cut in it, which I think
gives the date of its completion. The high Colonial pulpit stood at the
southeast re-entrant angle to the right of the chancel.

1S3

The beautiful pentagonal reredos is accurately described by Mrs.
Fielding- l^ewis Taylor, as follows:

"It represents the facade of a Greek temple in the bas-relief, about
twenty feet in height and extending entirely across the back of the
chancel, it i,? handsomely carved and painted snowy white. Straight
across the lintel of the facade runs the first line of the Te Deum, 'Ws
praise Thee, God.' The roof of the reredos dividing at the apex, sup-
ports a pineapple, both in high relief. Between the four fluted pilas-
ters of the reredos are set four long black tablets, framed and lettered
in gold. These contain the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten
Commandments. Alas! the breath of time has dimmed the beautiful
words. The light from the great arched windows (in the head of the
cruciform building, on either side of the chancel) shines full upon
these four foundation pillars of the Faith once delivered to the saints.
The effect of the whole is simple, but beautiful, full of deep spiritual
earnestness." Above the apex of the reredos is a gilt cross painted on
glass.

Abingdon church, within and without, is exceedingly impressive and
beautiful. The main and cross aisles were formerly laid in flagstones,
a step below the level of the pew floors. They were probably imported.
The pews were large and with high sides, according to Colonial style,
with benches on three sides. The chancel occupies the east end of the
cross. There are galleries in the arms of the cross, still furnished with
the same high pews. In early days the Thruston and Lewis families
are said to bave occupied the south gallery, and the Burwells and
Pages the north gallery. In the rear of these pews benches were placed
for servants. There was no flue nor other evidence, nor is there any
tradition that the church was heated in any way. As far as I have
learned, this condition at Abingdon is not an exception in the first
plan of Virginia Colonial churches. The fathers brought from Eng-
land the custom of not providing the churches with stoves, but certain
families, no doubt, brought heating boxes, charcoal braziers, hot
bricks and abundant wraps. In later times stoves were introduced, in
which wood was burned, the stovepipes passing out through a per-
forated sheet of tin substituting a pane of glass. The stoves were in-
effectual for heating, and delicate persons were provided with bricks
heated on the stove and wrapped in woollens. Uncle Guy, the old
negro sexton, did this. A modern furnace is now in use.

In the Colonial section of the cemetery graves are so numerous

184

that it is impossible to find space for an interment in unoccupied
ground. The vestry have forbidden the interment in the old cemetery
as a burying-ground. There are numbers of sunken stones that have
no lettering or dates. There are three well preserved tombs with
legible inscriptions. Two of these have coats-of-arms. A few years
ago the late Mrs. Robert Colgate Selden, a descendant of Augustine
Warner, gave an acre of ground adjoining the cemetery, for enlarging
the graveyard. Recently Mr. Joseph Bryan enclosed the whole ceme-
tery, about two and a half acres, with a substantial brick wall. The
tendency to use the new section of the cemetery is increasing.

The plantations in this and the adjoining parishes of Gloucester
generally have family burying-grounds. In the burying-grounds are
handsomely inscribed gravestones — at "Timber Neck," "Carter's
Creeli," "Rosewell," "Warner Hall," "Wareham," "Toddsbury," "High
Gate," "Violetbank," and other homes, along with destroyed Petsworth
and its abandoned churchyard. Prom these were gathered some history
of our Church.

For many a holy text around she strews
Which teach the rustic moralist to die.

In many instances, where these old estates have passed into other
hands, the family graveyards have become overgrown with shrubs,
trees and briars.

There is no record of ministers that I can find who served Kiskyacke
or York-Hampton Parishes, in York county, when their lines em
braced what is now Abingdon Parish, Gloucester. Doubtless ministers
from these parishes served in private houses or at a chapel of ease,
at or near Tyndall's, now Gloucester Point. Neither can a list of
ministers be given wlio have served Abingdon from its beginning as
a parish until 1674, when the Rev. John Gwynn removed there from
Wave Parish, and continued in charge through Bacon's Rebellion until
1688. (See Court records.)

With him we begin the list of known ministers in the parish, al-
though it is almost certain one or more preceded him, as I find from
Dr. Hawks' Ecclesiastical History that "in 1659 there were fifty parishes
in the Colony of Virginia, and the number of ministers about the num-
ber of the parishes."

Since Bishop Meade's day, an Abingdon Parish register, dating from
1677 to 1761, has been found, a copy of it has been made and placed
with the Virginia Historical Society. The original is in the charge of

185

the officers of Abingdon Parish. From this record we find the Rev.
G'W Smith served the parish from 1702 until his death in 1718. Dur-
ing his ministry the Rev. George Keith, missionary of the S. P. G.,
preached in the first Abingdon church, June 13, 1703. This year was
also notable as being the time that Major Lewis Burwell, of Carter's
Creek, presented the handsome communion service, still used in the
parish. It consists of a flagon, a cup and two patens, engraved, "The
Gift of L. B. to Abingdon Parish." According to maker's mark, the
set was made in London in 1702. The flagon is 13% inches high and
Si/o across the base. The cup is nearly 8 inches high and 5% across
the mouth. Diameter of the large paten is 11^^ inches, and of the
smaller 6 inches.

According to the report of the Rev. Thomas Hughes to the Bishop
of London, made in 1724, he succeeded Rev. Mr. Smith in 1719, and was
still in the parish in 1744, when he baptized a member of the Thrus-
ton family. (See Thruston Bible.) In 1724 Mr. Hughes reported
about 300 families in the parish; that services were held every Lord's
Day, Good Friday and Christmas, in the forenoon; that there were
sixty or seventy communicants; that the Holy Communion was admin-
istered three times a year, and that about 200 Christians generally at-
tended the church. Mr. Hughes said the surplice had never been
used in the parish. (I suppose he used the black gown.) He reported
his salary was 1,600 pounds of tobacco. He also reported a glebe,
which he occupied, to be in good condition. This glebe house which he
mentioned is in existence in the limits of Ware Parish, and is one of
the most interesting brick Colonial houses in the county, and is now
owned by Mr. William S. Robins. The glebe buildings and lands were
confiscated by legislative act in 1802.

Mr. Hughes also reported a free school endowed and 500 acres of
land for the benefit of the poor children of Abingdon and Ware Par-
ishes. This grant was made by Mr. Henry Peasley, of Robins' Neck,
in 1675. (See Hen, St.. Vol. VII., p. 441.) Some years ago this bequest
was changed by the Virginia Legislature to benefit the poor of Glouces-
ter county. I think equity demands that it should be applied accord-
ing to the will of the testator.

Referring again to the Thruston Bible, there being no reference to
the Rev. Wm. Yates in the old Parish Register, I gather he was in
charge of the parish in 1750 and 1759. In this latter year he became
rector of Bruton Parish and president of William and Mary College.

186

Reference is made to him in Bisliop Meade's book as rector of Abing-
don, thougli the printer calls him "Gates."

In the absence of other records, I again turn to the Thruston Bible,
and I find the Rev. Richard Hewett was in the parish in 1772. The
Rev. William Hubard in 1773, and Rev. Thomas Price in 1778, each of
these ministers having baptized members of the Thruston family.
Bishop Meade says Mr. Price was in the parish 1773, 1774, 1776. After
this thei e is no record of ministers for several years.

Abingdon was the third church in the diocese to receive an Episco-
pal visitation — possibly in the early part of 1791. (See Bishop Madi-
son'?, report to the Convention of that year.)

Rev. James Maury Fountaine is said to have had charge of the par-
ish in 1784. It is probable that about that time he preached in all the
churches in Gloucester. In April, 1791, his name appears as presiding
at a vestry meeting in Petsworth Parish. He was then unanimously
asked to continue as "lecturer" of the parish, for the year to end the
eleventh (11th) of April, 1792. May 11, 1792, he was again present
at the Petsworth vestry meeting, and chosen "lecturer" for the next
twelve months, with this addition: "Mr. Fountaine is at liberty to at-
tend the Church of Abingdon at least three times a year." He is re-
corded as declining. July 2d of the same year he wrote to Bishop
Madison from Ware, endorsing Mr. Armistead Smith, of Kingston Par-
ish, for holy orders. From the foregoing, it seems he served the three
parishes for a time.

Mr. Armistead Smith's name next appears in connection with Abing-
don Parish. It is recorded in the Thruston Bible that on "December
22, 1804, at Bell Farm, Rev. A. Smith united Robert Thruston and
Sarah Brown in "holy matrimony." Mr. Smith entered the ministry
from Kingston Parish, Mathews, 1792. He was ordained priest in
Abingdon church by Bishop Madison in 1793. He died in 1817. Fur-
ther note will be made of him in the Ware article.

In 1827 the Rev. James Carnes became rector of Abingdon, in con-
nection with Ware, and served in both parishes until 1829. He was
followed in both charges by the Rev. John Cole (deacon), who contin-
ued rector until 1836. He was succeeded in both parishes the next year
by the Rev. Charles Mann, who continued his joint ministry until
1867, when he resigned Abingdon Parish. Further note of Mr. Mann
will be made in the article on Ware Parish.

The Rev. S. H. Phillips became rector in 1868 and was in charge

1S7

until 1872, when he was followed by Rev. Alexander T. Hundley, who
fontiuuod in charge until 1883. He was greatly beloved by many
within and without the church and drew many to the church.

In 1884, the present rector began his ministry in the parish, first
temporarily, then permanently, in June, 1885.

During the late Mr. Hundley's ministry a mission was established
in Robins' Neck, about five miles from the church, upon what is known
as the "Free School Tract," the land formerly donated by Henry Pea-
body to Abingdon and Ware Parishes. From this beginning, in 1888,
the present rector was able to build the Holy Innocents chapel, not
where the mission started, but upon a piece of land given by the late
Mr. Robert C. Selden, of Sherwood — a devout Churchman and vestry-
man.

In connection with this chapel I wish to make special mention of
my friond and parishioner, the late Mr. Joe Deal. He owned a part
of the "Free School Tract," and lived and died in the original Peas-
ley house, built about 1655. He was a liberal subscriber to the chapel,
and, according to his request, he was burled with his parents and
other members of his family at Abingdon church.

In October, 1904, Rev. S. R. Tyler assisted in Abingdon and Ware
Parishes until July 1, 1905, when he left to take charge of Hamilton
Parish, Va. He was at once followed by the Rev. R. Y. Barber, who left
at the end of a year for Texas.

Having given, as far as I could, a list of the ministers of Abingdon
Parish, it will be Interesting to add the names of officers and of ves-
trymen as far as they are known. There are no known records prior
to 1785 that give information on this subject. In Dr. Dashiell's Digest
of the Councils of the Diocese of Virginia, I find Governor John Page,
of Rosewell, represented Abingdon Parish in the Diocesan Council in
the years 1785, '86, '87, '91 and '97. Thomas Lewis in 1787 and Warner
Lewis in 1794.

In 1785 I find Governor Page chairman of a committee in the Con-
vention to prepare an address to the members of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church of Virginia, representing the condition of that Church.

In 1854 Bishop Meade says Governor Page had seven descendants in
the Episcopal ministry.

The first recorded vestry meeting in Gloucester county was held at
Gloucester Courthouse, July 31, 1830. It represented the joint parishes
of Abingdon and Ware. Present, Rev. John Cole, Dr. William Talia-

ferro, Sr., Colonel Catesby Jones, Captain William Robins, Dr. William
G. Wlatt, Phillip E. Tabb, William P. Smith. On motion being made.
Colonel Catesby Jones and Dr. William Taliaferro, Sr., were unani-
mously elected wardens for Ware church. Mr. Archibald Taylor, Sr.,
and Captain William Robins were in the same manner nominated and
appointed wardens for Abingdon church.

On April 30, 1832, we have a list of the joint body of vestrymen:
"The following members are appointed for Ware parish vestry: Colo-
nel Catesby Jones, Rev. John Cole, Dr, William Taliaferro, Sr., W. T.
Taliaferro, William P. Smith, Philip E. Tabb. For Abingdon Parish:
Colonel William Jones, George B. Taliaferro, Thomas Smith, John R.
Bryan, William Smart and A. L. Davies. Dr. William Taliaferro and
Colonel Catesby Jones, wardens for Ware. George B. Taliaferro and
John R. Bryan, wardens for Abingdon."

That same vestry met December 31, and passed the following:

"On motion being made and seconded, the resignation of the Rev.
John Cole was accepted, and it is further resolved that the vestry,
through their secretary, do express the high sense they entertain of
Mr. Cole's services, and their entire approbation of his conduct during
the whole time he has officiated as minister of the parishes above men-
tioned, embracing a period of aoout seven years."

Again the Vestry Book is missing to the year 1868.

Abingdon vestry May 4, 1867: Colonel J. Lyle Clarke, Charles Selden,
Captain R. M. Page. At this period both church edifice and its officers
had to be re-established. The vestry for 1868: Colonel J. Lyle Clarke,
Dr. Charles Selden, Captain R. M. Page, Mr. John Backhouse, Captain
J. B. Brown, Captain John T. Perrin.

Abingdon and Ware were represented in the Council in 1827 by Aug.
Li. Dabney, and again in 1831. Abingdon was represented in the Con-
ventions of 1827 and '31 by Augustine L. Dabney; in 1836 and '40, '50,
'54, '57, by John R. Bryan.

The following are vestrymen of Abingdon and Ware conjointly from
1865 to 1867, when relationships were dissolved: Warner Taliaferro,
William Patterson Smith, Wyndham Kemp, Dr. Francis Jones, Dr. Sam-
uel Gary, Gen. William B. Taliaferro, Colonel William T. Robins, Col-
onel J. Lyle Clarke, Captain Richard M. Page, Dr. Charles Selden, Mr.
Richard P. Jones, Major William K. Perrin.

From 1867 to 1885 the following were added to the vestry: Messrs.
Robert C. Selden, John W. C. Catlett, Daniel C. Hopper, M. J. Musson,

189

John Backhouse, T. J. Meredith, Captain Joseph S. James, Burnet
Brown, Judge Fielding Lewis Taylor, Captain J. M. Nicholson. Since
1885 the following have been added: Richard W. Jones, Joshua G.
Bray, Walter Harwood, J. Curtis James, Ashton Sinclair, Joseph Bryan
and John Lewis Bouldin.

The present vestry consists of Judge Charles Catlett, senior warden;
J. Curtis James, junior warden; J. L. Bouldin, treasurer; Judge F. L.
Taylor, register; Messrs. Joseph Bryan, J. G. Bray, Walter Harwood
and Ashton Sinclair.

It is worthy of note that the future historian of the parish will re-
joice when he comes across the minute and complete records that
Judge Taylor has kept of the proceedings of the vestry.

Abingdon has been repaired three times — first in 1841, when the
Rev. Charles Mann, Messrs. John Tabb, J. R. Bryan and Richard Coke
were appointed a committee to attend to the same. About that time,
it is probable, the present beautiful reredos was placed in the chancel,
on which are the tables of the Commandments, the Creed and the
Lord's Prayer.

In 1807 the church having been much injured by the Federal troops,
who occupied it at times during the war, was repaired at a cost of
$1,500. Some of the Colonial pews had been destroyed and others were
used as stalls for horses. The floor was raised and modern pews re-
placed the original ones.

It is interesting to note that while the church was closed to divine
services, the words, "We praise Thee, O God," remained high on the
reredos from the Christmas dressing of 1861. When the church was
repaired these words were painted on the reredos in golden letters.

Colonel J. Lyle Clarke was leader in this second repairing of the
church. There is a claim for damages done the church pending in the
United States court.

In 1897 the heavy timbers in the roof were found to be unsafe, and
for the third time repairs had to be made.

Mrs. Charles H. and Mrs. William C. Dimmock were indefatigable
in their efforts to again repair the beautiful old church. Indeed, every
member of the congregation and many friends outside contributed to
the same. It was necessary to remove the woodwork down to the walls
and build over again; to put in two chimneys and a furnace; to change
the chancel, placing it and the pulpit in their former places, and to
make a vestry room. All this involved an expense of about $3,000.

190

The work was executed according to the plans of Mr. Marion Dimmock,
of Richmond, and under his charge. It was begun and finished in the
year 1897. That November the Rev. C. B. Bryan preached the re-
opening sermon, this being the church of his childhood.

It would be an imperfect sketch of Abingdon church without the men-
tion of some of the families who, in all their history, have been identi-
fied with the work. Such were the Warners, Robins, Lewises, Tay-
lors, Thrustons, Manns, Seawells, Perrins, Carys, Thorntons, Burwells,
Pages, Ennes, Roots, Tabbs, Deans, Bryans, Seldens, Sinclairs, Catletts
and Harwoods. Doubtless from among these and others were found
early vestrymen, who attended to the affairs of the church.

I shall reserve certain conclusions as to the work of these worthies
until I speak of families in Ware, as these two parishes were closely
united and many of the same names were in both.

A careful count has been made by Mr. St. George T. C. Bryan of the
recorded baptisms in the old register, 1677 to 1761, as follows: Infant
male, white, 1,384; infant female, white, 1,422; adult white, 12; negroes,
950. Total, 3.768.

It is to be noted that the registration of the baptisms of the colored
persons was made in regular order along with the registration of white
persons, and without distinction in place. There were also found, and
an alphabetical list made of 572 different surnames of white families,
some of which occurred very often in the registration. Each surname
is recorded but once. This list appears below.

Reflect, that more than 150 years ago, 572 white families in Abing-
don Parish alone received Christian ministrations at the hands of the
Church of England. Had our forefathers been godless in this new
land what would have been their fate, and that of their children and
children's children?

I wish to express my thanks to Mr. St. George T. C. Bryan, Dr. and
Mrs. William Q. Stubbs and other friends for valuable aid in material
and otherwise in this and the Ware article.

INTERESTING CHUKCH AND FAMILY RECOKDS.

Below are seen the surnames of 570 resident families of Abingdon
Parish, Gloucester county, Virginia, from 1677 to 1761. This alpha-
bedcal list was taken from the parish records of births, marriages and
deaths during eighty-four years. There may be repetition in a few
instances, due to difference in spelling these family names:

191

Adams, Albin, AUoway, Anderson, Ashlngton, Augustin, Arnold,
Abney, Allman, Ames, Antony, Ashlej', Austin, Arnall, Absalom, Allen,
Ambrose, Archibald, Atkins, Allberson, Tylestock, Alcomb, AUard, Am-
nion, Armstrong, Angur, Andrews, Babbs, Barbary, Barrow, Best,
Berkeley, Boswell, Briggs, Brown, Broadbent, Harrison, Buchanan,
Burton, Baker, Barkley, Barnet, Botts, Beddos, Bourk, Breeding, Broad-
ley, Brunner, Burrows, Burwell, Barth, Bates, Baden, Beveridge, Black-
burn, Bowry, Brockley, Broach, Bryan, Burford, Burnett, Barlow, Bay-
lor, Bartlet, Berryman, Bolton, Boloine, Bradley, Buck, Butler, Bishop,
Barnes, Barton, Belvin, Bew, Booker, Boutwell, Brooks, Bromfleld,
Buckstone, Busbie, Broderick, Catrine, Cane, Cannifack, Cawdle, Cham-
berlain, Clare, Cole, Correll, Cocker, Crittenden, Crow, Caker, Cannon,
Cannaday, Chance, Chandler, Clover, Collins, Cottrell, Compton, Crane,
Creedle, Callingerne, Carter, Call, Chapman, Christian, Cleveland,
Cocke, Cornwell, Cooper, Critchfleld, Crawson, Camp, Carr, Caul,
Churchill, Clayton, Clement, Cooley, Coleman, Couchman, Crutchfield,
Curry, Campbell, Cary, Cawdell, Charwell, Clerk, Cluverius, Corriwell,
Cowper, Coward, Creswell, Culley, Daniel, Davies, Day, Dennis, De
Jarnette, Dorton, Dudley, Dennaby, Dalton, Dearing, Dens, Dickson,
DTUth, Dunbar, Danney, Dawson, Deal, Dent, Dixon, Drewett, Dyer,
Darnaly, Dandy, Dodenharn, Densborow, Dobbs, Drummond, Davis,
Dawzey, Deneson, Dew, Dobson, Dunford, Eames, Elliser, Erborough,
Earne, Elvidge, Earning, Ellis, Edwards, Ellenor, Ebbit, Blkin, Fal-
cher, Figg, Frawer, Firnice, Farrier, Finley, Freeman, Parril, Fitzhar-
ris, Fulcher, Forsythe, Fox, Furbet, Fletcher, Foster, Fuller, Gawin,
Gibbs, Gower, Gorman, Green Gromley, Gaines, Giles, Goswell, Gravlt,
Grixon, Guttery, Gascoigne, Goodman, Goreing, Graves, Groves, Gut-
teridge, Gardner, Goram, Gough, Granley, Greenwood, Gwathmey, Glllet,
Gordon, Golsher, Grawson, Grlswlt, Hall, Harrington, Hearn, Hill,
Hockett, Howell, Hopdon, Huff, Hunley, Haley, Hartwell, Heywood,
Hinch, Hogg, Holies, Howell, Hughes, Hale, Haswell, Hemmingway,
Highland, Hobday, Hollinger, Humphrey, Huggins, Harvey, Hatch,
Hilery, Higgens, How, Holyfried, Hunt, Hugsey, Harwood, Haynes,
Hilliard, Holt, Howard, Houch, Hudson, Hussy, Hupsey, Isabel, James,
Jobbin, Janson, Jock, Jeffries, Jennings, Jones, Johnston, Jenkins,
Keaton, Keyes, King, Keek, Kibby, Kendrick, Knight, Kerbie, Knowles,
Keymer, Kemp, Lacey, Lanier, Lee, Lively, Levett, Langhinghouse,
Lashadoe, Leek, Lithgoe, Lodge, Latsringhouse, Lawyer, Lowlynn,
Lighgo, Loyal, Lane, Lewyllin Lenford, Lobb, Lucas, Latter, Ledson,

192

Lester, Love, Lutridge, Major, March, Mannisher, McKendrie, McWil-
liams, McCIary, Marstick, Marriner, Mattocks, Mead, McDaniel, Mas-
toak, Mason, Mathews, Megrah, Michniel, Marnix, Marca, May, Mever,
Mapp, Mannox, Martin, Mayo, Megson, Meriday, Minor, Moody, Morrel,
Miirrell, Millicint, Mitchel, Moore, Morris, Murfey Mills, More, Morrow,
Mynne, Millward, Mixon, Moring, Moxen, McCollister, Miller, Moeln,
Morney, Mumford, Neatby, Neuman, Nochols, Nelson, Newman, Noden,
Nevel, Neving, Nolton, Newell, Newcomb, Norman, Nernie, Nicholls,
Nowell, Okey, Orrill, OUlway, Oxenbridge, Oliver, Olive, Orgin, Paddi-
son, Parala, Pate, Perry, Pierce, Powell, Pritchett, Page, Partridge, Pat-
terson, Perkins, Pointer, Pomeroy, Prince, Pallet, Pargison, Peat, Pey-
ton, Pollard, Powers, Prosser, Pallison, Parsola, Peage, Pippin, Poore,
Popham, Purcell, Parry, Paston, Parrin, Plesey, Pollet, Potter, Pur-
chase, Quales, Quarles, Rachford, Redd, Rider, Rolf, Ruggles, Ryland,
Ralph, Reed, Robins, Rose, Rup, Ruglass, Ramsey, Reiheson, Roberts,
Ross, Rupie, Ran, Richeson, Robinson, Rowe, Rupel, Rawbottom, Rice,
Rogers, Robeson, Russell, Sadler, Sares, Scriven, Shackletord, Simmons,
Smith, Spiller, Street, Stoaks, Swift, Saches, Sargison, Scriviner, Sher-
iff, Skelton, Soals, Speed, Stanton, Stone, Sykes, Salisbury, Savage,
Seawell, Sherwin, Slater, Spann, Spratt, Steevens, Stubbs, Sympson,
Sanders, Sawyer, Serwiner, Shilling, Slatterwhite, Spencer, Stafford,
Stevens, Sumer, Saunders, Sharras, Shools, Simpson, Slave, Spruce,
Straghan, Stevenson, Surles, Tarleton, Temple, Thompson, Tillage,
Tomson, Tomstram, Tyler, Tarrant, Terrill, Thornton, Todd, Tool, Tug-
den, Tate, Terry, Thrift, Tombies, Tornson, Turner, Tawell, Thomas,
Throckmorton, Tomkeys, Trancham, Twails, Teagle, Thorogood, Thrus-
ton, Tomkins, Trawer, Twine, Ueding, Upton, Vest, Voluntine, Vaughan,
Vines, Vincent, Villine, Waddle, Wafers, West, Whiting, Williams,
Woodfolk, Walker, Wormley, Waterfleld, Westborn, Wilson, Whitaker,
Woodfult, Wafer, Watkins, Wheeler, Willsborn, Wingate, Wood, Wel-
lington, Wave, White, Wiley, Witrong, Wyatt, Washington, Watts,
WHaitehead, Willis, Woodfork, Wynn, Yarborough, Young, Yates.

WARE CHURCH. GLOUCESTER COUNTY,
VIRGINIA

BY THE REV. WILLIAM BYRD LEE, RECTOR.

'ARE Parish was established between 1G52 and 1654. It em-
braces the southeast section of Gloucester county, and Is
between thirty and forty miles in circumference; bounded
on the east and north by Mobjack bay; North river and
Mathews county on the west, and south by Petsworth and Abingdon
Parishes.

Tradition says there was a former church or chapel in the parish,
located about one and a half miles from the present church, on Glen
Roy estate, formerly the home of William Patterson Smith, now owned
by Dr. William R. Jaeger. A clump of trees and one or two tomb-
stones mark the spot. Mrs. Isaac H. Carrington (nee Smith) says that
her father protected this old site from encroaching cultivation. When
she was quite a young girl she made copies of the inscriptions on
two old gravestones for Bishop Meade, and sent them to him, at his
request. Then there were a good many broken bricks on the spot.
The field where this graveyard is, has long been known as the "Church
Field," and Bishop Meade speaks of it in "Old Churches and Families
of Virginia." On the same farm is Glebe Point, suggestive that part
of the forgotten glebe lands of Ware Parish may have been there-
about. This first church is supposed to have been built soon after
Ware Parish was established.

In 1680 a petition was made before the Colonial Court and Council
for permission to build another church in Ware Parish. (See records
in Virginia Historical Society.) In the absence of early parish re-
cords, I conclude that this petition was for the building of the present
Ware church, and that it was erected within the next ten years. The
ground on which it stands is said to have been donated by the Throck-
mortons who once owned the adjoining estate, it being a part of
"Mordec'ai Mount," the original seat of the Cookes. 1 believe, however,
the church was built before the estate passed into the Throckmorton
family as Gabriel Throckmorton did not marry Frances Cooke until
1G90. '(See descendants of Mordecai Cooke, by William C. Stubbs,
Ph. D.)

194

The present church is of brick, with glazed heads; is rectangular,
80 feet by 40 feet; walls three feet thick. It is surrounded by a brick
wall that confines a cemetery of half an acre of land, shaded by a
grove of cedars and walnuts. Six acres of land, recently acquired,
adjoin the old churchyard.

Three doors, "North," "South" and "West," give entrance to the
church. The chancel occupies the east end. The space directly in
front of the chancel is covered by inscribed horizontal gravestones.
There were — before the change of the interior plan— four rows of
medium high pews; a row along the north and south walls, respect-
ively, and a double row, end on end, extended through the body of
the church. Two longitudinal flagged aisles ran between the lines
of wall-pews and the opposing central rows; a cross aisle between
the north and south doors and an aisle at the west end, under the
servants' gallery, each made connection with the two longitudinal
aisles. The tall pulpit stood near the south door. It was a strik-
ing and handsome interior. Much objection was raised at the time
when modern pews were substituted in 1854.

The church is lighted by twelve large windows. Of these, two
double ones are in the chancel, and each describes an arc above.
There appears to have been the same absence of provision, as at
Abingdon, for heating the church. It was left, doubtless, in early days,
to each family or person to come prepared or else worship regardless
of the cold. Under the best conditions in winter the churches were
very cold. One devout lady, of whom I have heard, while riding to
church in her high swing "C" spring carriage on wintry days, sang
herself into a fervent mood, and on arrival she found nothing so warm-
ing to her in church as a sermon from the Rev. John Peyton McGuire,
of Tappahannock, who occasionally visited Ware and Abingdon.

The earliest minister I have record of was Rev. John Gwynn, who
served this parish from 1672 to 1674, when he went to Abingdon. I
can hardly think that the parish was without ministerial services
from its beginning to 1672.

In an old Root family paper it is said of Rev. John Gwynn: "He was
a cavalier parson, turned out of his parish in England by Parliamen-
tary authorities during the Civil War." He doubtless came to this
country prior to 1660,

Possibly the next minister in Ware Parish was Rev. Wadding.
Dashiell reports him in Gloucester in 1676. The other parishes were
supplied in 1677.

195

The next known minister was Rev. James Clack, who served
from 1679 until his death In 1723. His tomh is four feet from the
east wall, outside the church with this inscription:

"Here lyeth the Body of

2 James Clack, the Youngest Son

.S of William and Mary Clack —

^ Born in the Parish of Marden,

J miles from Devizes,

2 —the county of Wilts,

m

'- came out oi England August 18.

Arrived in Virginia upon New Year's day following. Came into this
Parish of Ware at Easter, where he Continued Minister near forty-
five years, till he Dy'd. He departed this life on the 20 day of Decem-
ber, in the year of Our Lord God 1723, in hopes of a joyfuU Resurrection
to Eternal Life, which God Grant him for his Blessed Redeemer's
Sake. Amen."

Under his ministry the present church was built. His descendants
are still in the parish and have done much to maintain the gracious
mission of the ancient church. Among them Mrs. Eliza A. Gary and
her son, Mr. Charles E. Cary, vestryman for thirty-nine years and now
senior warden.

After Mr. Clack's death, according to reports of Rev. Emmanuel
Jones, of Petsworth, and Rev. Thomas Hughes, of Abingdon, to the
Bishop of London, in 1724, they each held services in Ware church
on alternate Sundays In the afternoon. This, however, was not long
continued.

On May 14, 1724, Rev. John Richards left England for the Colony
of Virginia. (See Emigi-ant Book to America.) He was minister in
Ware church the following year, as seen from the inscription on
his wife's tombstone in the church, which reads:

"Underneath this stone lyeth interred the body of Amy Richards, the
most dearly beloved wife of John Richards, minister of this parish,
who departed this life 21st of November, 1725, age 40."

Also: "Here lyeth the body of Mary Ades, her faithful and beloved
servant, who departed this life the 23rd of November, 1725, aged 28
years."

Rev. Mr. Richards was rector until his death in 1735, as seen from
the following inscription on his tomb in Ware church:

196

"Underneath this stone lyeth the body of Mr. John Richards, late
rector of Nettlestead, and vicar of Teston, in the county of Kent, in
the Kingdom of England, and minister of Ware, in the county of
Gloucester and Colony of "Virginia, who, after a troublesome passage
through the various changes and chances of this mortal life, at last
reposed in this silent grave, in expectation of a joyful resurrection to
eternal life. He died the 12th day of November, in the year of our
Lord 1735, aged 46."

The next minister in the parish may have been Rev. Reid J. Ford,
as Dashiell's Digest of Councils of Virginia locates him in Gloucester
county in 1740. Then Abingdon and Kingston Parishes were supplied
and Petsworth vacant, waiting the arrival of Mr. Yoak. Mr. Ford's
ministry must have been very brief, as another tombstone in the church
shows Rev. John Fox as rector in 1742.

"Here lyeth the body of Isabel, daughter of Mr. Thomas Booth, wife
of Rev. John Fox, minister of this parish, who, with exemplary pa-
tience, having borne various afflictions, and with equal piety discharged
her several duties on earth, cheerfully yielded to mortality, exchanging
the miseries of this life for the joys of a glorious eternity on the 13th
day of June, in the year of our Lord 1742, of her age 38."

Bishop Meade speaks of Mr. Fox as having been in the parish in
1754 and 1758.

About 1764 the parish was vacant and Rev. James Maury Fountains,
of Petsworth, accepted a call to fill the same. (See record in Pets-
worth Vestry Book for 18th day of November, 1764) :

"As the Rev. James Maury Fountaine, who was minister of Petsworth
Parish has left to go to Ware, this parish is without a minister, the
vestry hath thought proper to recommend Mr. Chas Mynn Thruston to
his lordship, the Bishop of London, to be ordained a minister of the
Church of England."

It ia,ppears from the same record that in 1762 Mr. Fountaine had
been recommended by the vestry to the Bishop of London for ordin-
ation. Thus, two men were sent from Gloucester to England to be
ordained about the same time. Captain Charles Mynn Thruston
was a member of that vestry.

Mr. Fountaine seems to have ended his days as rector of Ware. He
was in charge in 1792, when he signed testimonials for Mr. Armistead
Smith's ordination. One of his descendants, Mr. Francis Maury
Wyatt, reports he was stricken with apoplexy on his return from
Ware church and died March 13. 1795.

197

There are those now living who have heard from their forefathers
what a good man Mr. Fountains was. In "Old Families and Churches
of Virginia," Mrs. Page, of Shelly, gives a description of Petsworth
church, and alludes to Mr. Fountaine's death. She says: "Child as I
was, I thought Mr. Fountains must have been the best and greatest man
in the world, except my father." Her father was General Nelson, ol
Yorktown. He hag descendants in the county who have been baptized
in the church of their forefathers and have great regard for the same.
Rev. Mr. Mann says Mr. Fountaine taught a school near "Ware. There
is a house known as the old schoolhouse, not far from the church,
and supposed to have been Mr. Fountaine's schoolhouse.

From what was said in my article on Abingdon, Mr. Fountaine had
served all the churches In the county. His Bible, which I have seen,
is still preserved by Mr. Francis Wyatt, and bears his name as
"minister of Ware, Abingdon and Petsworth."

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Bishop Meade states
that Virginia had 91 clergymen officiating in 164 churches and chapels.
At its close, he says, only twenty-eight ministers were found labor-
ing in the less desolate parishes of the State. This accounts for Mr.
Fountaine having to divide his services in these three parishes.

In 1795 Rev. B. L. Talley seems to have followed Mr. Fountaine in
the charge of Ware Parish. The Petsworth preserved record closes
In 1792, and there is none of Abingdon; so there is no way of telling
whether he served in those churches. Mr. Talley probably came to
Gloucester from St. Paul's, Hanover, where he once ministered. He
seems to have been an unworthy minister. He gave trouble to the trus-
tees of Ware Parish glebe in 1795. When or how he left Ware I cannot
say. In 1805 he was expelled from the order of Masons for unworthy
conduct. Bishop Meade makes but little mention of him. He says:
"Rev. Mr. Talley became a Universalist, and died a drunkard."
About that time there was a Rev. Mr. Hefferman in Middlesex, of ill
report. These two men did the Church much harm. How needful, in
all ages, is the prayer appointed for Matthias Day: "O Almighty God,
who, in the place of the traitor Judas, didst choose Thy faithful ser-
vant Matthias to be of the number of the twelve Apostles; grant that
Thy Church, being alway preserved from false apostles, may be ordered
and guided by faithful and true pastors, through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen."

As noted In the Abingdon article, Rev. Armistead Smith served

19S

Ware in connection with the other parishes of Gloucester and Mathews,
I think, from the time the unfortunate Mr. Talley left until the death
of Mr. Smith in 1817.

Mr. Thomas A. Smith reports his father, Mr. Patterson Smith, as
saying that the Rev. Armistead Smith generally rode a trotting horse
from his home, "Belleview," in the lower part of Mathews, to his
appointments at Ware and Abingdon. He lived about thirty miles
from Abingdon church. He did a good work and left a sweet memory
behind him. His son, Mr. W. P. Smith, was a most active vestryman
and supporter of the parish for many years, until his death. He
trained his family in the ways of the Church. I am told that when
he and they could not attend church, he held the Church's service with
his children in his home, and read a sermon. This excellent custom
was and is still practiced in families in the two parishes, and is worthy
of emulation and perpetuation.

Mr. Armistead Smith was a native of Mathews county. He was
recommended by the vestry of Kingston Parish, as well as by Mr.
Fountaine, for holy orders. He served as deacon in Kingston Parish
and W8s ordained priest In Abingdon church by Bishop Madison in
1793. He entered the ministry when the Episcopal Church was in her
most depressed period, after her disestablishment in this land. It
took, indeed, a true, wise, strong and faithful man to exercise the
ministry she had received from the Lord Jesus. Her depressed and
scattered children were as sheep going astray. Such was Mr. Smith
to his people. He attempted to fix their hope in God; to calm their
fears; to rekindle their devotion to their Church and to encourage
them to labor to rebuild her waste places. To this he gave his
heart and life. He died in 1817 and was buried at Toddsbury, the
home of his daughter, Mrs. Thomas Tabb, in Ware Parish.

Inscription on the tomb of Rev. Armistead Smith, "Toddsbury,"
Gloucester county, Va:

"Sacred to the memory of The Rev. Armistead Smith, of Mathews
Co.. who after having faithfully served God in the Gospel of His Son,
departed this life Sept. 12th, 1817, aged 60 years, 9 months and 12 days.

"If sincerity in friendship, a heart glowing with true piety, benevo-
lence and charity have a claim to lasting regard, the memory of the
deceased will be fondly cherished."

He was the son of Captain Thomas Smith, of Beechland, Mathews
county (then Gloucester), and Dorothy Armistead, of Hesse. Among

199

his descendants in Gloucester are Messrs. Thomas A. Smith, William
A. Smith and Miss Marian S. Smith, the Tabbs of "Newstead" and
"Showan."

After Rev. Armistead Smith's death Ware, like Abingdon, was
without a minister for about ten years. During a part of this
period, I am told, the doors were left open, and passing persons and
beasts found shelter from storms under its roof. About 1826 God
stirred the hearts of the people to think upon His Church, and about
their spiritual needs.

Bishop Meade makes mention "of old Mrs. Vanbibber and Dr.
William Taliaferro, Sr., two of the props of the Church in the daj-s
of her adversity, in this wise: "I need not speak to the present gen-
eration in Gloucester, as there are still some living who knew their
religious worth, and continue to dwell upon the same to the younger
ones." Of Mrs. Vanbibber some interesting notices appeared many
years since in one of our religious papers. Of Dr. Taliaferro I may
say, from personal knowledge, that it is not often we meet with
a more pious and benevolent man or more eminent physician." So
wrote Bishop Meade.

Other kindred spirits came forward to the help of this holy cause,
which resulted in the call of Rev. James Carnes to the parishes of
Ware and Abingdon; which he accepted, and was rector about two
years, from 1827-1829.

In 1829 Rev. John Cole became joint rector of Ware and Abingdon,
and so continued for about seven years, when he resigned and moved
to Culpeper Courthouse, Va.

It will be interesting to note the efforts of the vestry to obtain
another minister: "At a meeting of the joint vestry of the parishes
of Ware and Abingdon churches, convened at Gloucester Courthouse,
on the 4th of February, 1837, for the purpose of inviting a Pastor,
to take charge of the above Parishes — On motion being made, and
seconded by Mr. W. T. Taliaferro, Mr. G. Booth Taliaferro and Mr.
J. R. Bryan were appointed a committee to correspond with the
Rev. Thomas Atkinson, and failing in the application to Mr. Atkinson,
they are then authorized to correspond with Mr. Bowers or Mr. Wilmer
to fill the vacancy having occurred by the resignation of the Rev.
John Cole."

Being unsuccessful, a call was extended to the Rev. Charles Mann,
who was a former rector of Christ church, Alexandria, Va., and at
the time of this call filled the chair of Pastoral Divinity at the Vir-

200

ginia Theological Seminary. Mr. Mann came to the parish in Novem-
ber, 1837. He continued his long and faithful ministry for forty years,
until his death, January 16, 1878. His grave is just east of the church
wall and close by that of Rev. Mr. Clack, the first minister of the
present church. I quote from Mr. Mann's letters to one of the mis-
sionary societies, perhaps the last he wrote: "The aid of your society
is now more needed than ever before in this parish, as in consequence
of my age (85) and infirmity (being lame), I have been obliged to have
an assistant. This parish has never been in so thriving a condition
as it now is. Of the seven persons confirmed, four were among the
most influential men in the parish, and there are several others who
wish to be, as soon as the Bishop can visit us; and as the church in
the adjoining parish has been closed for want of a rector, the con-
gregations are increased in size though the salary paid is smaller than
ever; but I do not complain, as I believe it is the best this impov-
erished people can do. Through the generosity of Mr. Charles Bruce,
of Charlotte county, by money given from the Bruce fund, the church
has been thoroughly repaired and is now a really handsome building.
The people are so scattered that we cannot have a Sunday-school
at the church, but there several scattered about in the parish, which
are all taught by pious and intelligent members of the church."

Mr. Charles E. Cary, a member of Mr. Mann's vestry says: "I knew
the Rev. Charles Mann from my earliest recollection to the time of
his death in 1878. He was one of the godliest men, as well as one of
the most intelligent and best informed, that I ever knew; and one
of the most thoroughly practical. He was full of faith, in consequence
of which he was always bright and cheerful. I remember on one oc-
casion, when there was some fear of dissension in the Church, on ac-
count of the High and Low Churchmen, that he remarked to me:
'There is no cause for fear; it is God's Church, and He will take care
of it.'"

In the dire days of 1864-'5, when the Northern soldiers had stripped
Gloucester county of what would feed the citizens, a young Confederate
soldier carried to Rev. Mr. Mann, in the dead of winter, a liberal
quantity of flour for those times, and several joints of pork. This
young man was the son of one of Mr. Mann's parishioners, then in the
Confederate lines. When the aged minister was shown the provis-
ions he said: "I did not think God would have sent you. I trusted
Him and I knew I should be taken care of, though we were almost
out of food."

201

He had three servant men. Spencer he trained as a missionary,
and sent him to Africa to preach to his benighted race. The other two
servants, Will and George, proved their good training and devotion
to their old master and his helpless family by resisting every temp-
tation and offer made them by the Northern enemy. They worked the
little farm and helped keep the wolf from the door so long as the
war lasted. Mr. Mann fell on sleep, as he had prayed should be his
earthly end, passing painlessly through the gates of eternal life at
night, while his family slept — and so they found him in the morning.
His favorite hymn was, "Lord, Forever at Thy Side."
There is in Ware church, in the east wall, to the left of the chancel,
a tablet Inscribed:

Erected

by a loving congregation

to the memory of

a ''aithful friend and pastor

Rev. Charles Mann

More than 40 years rectoi of this parish

Died Jany. 16, 1878,

in the 87th year of his age

and the 60th year of his ministry.

He showed forth the praise of God not only with his lips,
but in his faithful giving himself to his service and walking
before Him in holiness and righteousness all his days.

The memory of the just is blessed.

Rev. William Munford became Mr. Mann's assistant in 1876 and in 1878
succeeded him as rector. He resigned the parish in 1879.

I became rector of the parish June 12, 1881, in connection with
Kingston Parish, Mathews county, Virginia. In June, 1885, I re-
signed the Mathews churches to accept a call to Abingdon Parish.
Thus Abingdon and Ware became reunited under one minister.

As stated in my Abingdon paper. Rev. S. R. Tyler assisted me in
both parishes from October, 1904, to July 1, 1905. At that date Rev.
R. Y. Barber followed Mr. Tyler and continued his aid for one year.

Although the list of the clergy for the parish is incomplete for want
of early records, still Ware, with Abingdon, was, I think, fairly well
supplied with ministers in the Colonial period.

Beverley, in his History of Virginia, speakng of the whole Colony,
says: "They have now several vacant parishes." And again, "There

202

are no Benefices whatever in the Colony that remain without a min-
ister if they can get one, and no qualified minister ever yet returned
from the country for want of preferment."

Prom a careful examination of the Register of Abingdon Parish
from 1677 to 1761, it appears there was a minister generally at hand
to administer baptism and other rites of the Church.

When I turn to the Petsworth vestry book, from 1677-1792, I find
that vestry, when the parish was without a minister, was prompt to
call another, and usually obtained one in reasonable time.

I infer from the foregoing that Ware was generally supplied with
ministers, who did a faithful work.

I believe if we had the records the baptisms would compare favor-
ably with those in Abingdon, where, for the eighty-five years prior —
from 1677 to 1761—2,806 infants, 12 adults, and 950 negroes were bap-
tized.

In Petsworth Rev. Emmanuel Jones reports to the Bishop of London:
"Masters afforded the ministers every opportunity to instruct the ne-
groes." I believe the same was granted in Ware. Members of the con-
gregation recall the colored people occupying the gallery and the pews
under the gallery.

It will be interesting to note the first Episcopal visit to Ware church.
Bishop Madison reported to the Convention which met in Richmond
May 3, 1792, that he had visited the following parishes: York-Hampton,
Elizabeth City, Abingdon, Ware, Christ Church (Middlesex), St. Anne,
St. Paul's (King George), Berkeley, Westover, Blisland, Bruton, James
City, Henrico and Lunenberg, and is happy to assure the Convention
that in most parishes the conduct of the ministers appeared to be such
as merited the highest commendation. The congregations were gen-
erally numerous and attentive to the form of worship established by
the Church; and though he had too much reason to lament that suf-
ficient regard was not paid to the decent support of the clergymen in
many of the parishes, yet the diligence with which most of the min-
isters continued to discharge their sacred functions, while it afforded
the highest proof of their zeal and piety, yielded at the same time
a pleasing hope that the Church would gradually revive..

"In the five parishes of Abingdon, Ware. Christ Church (Middle-
sex), Berkeley (Fredericksburg), and Bruton, upward of six hundred
persons have been confirmed," reports Bishop Madison.

The Ware communion service consists of two plates, S% inches in
diameter, two cups, 7% inches high and 4% inches across the mouth

203

and base. The original flagon is not with the set. A small one was
given to the church some years ago.

I see in Bishop Meade's book that Hon. Augustine Warner gave Pets-
worth church a service, consisting of one silver flagon, two silver
bowls and two silver plates. I have heard, when Petsworth church
went down, this service was divided between Ware church and another
church, unknown to me. If the above is true. Ware has the four
smaller pieces. Can anyone give a clew to the missing flagon of the
service reported by Bishop Meade, the gift of Augustine Warner?

Having told the beginning of the parish and church and given a list
of the ministers, as far as known, it will be well to note the glebes
and rectories that have belonged to the parish.

In 1680 Mr. Zachariah Crips left 300 acres of land in Ware Parish
for the support of the minister. This became the glebe and was sold
in 1769, because the vestry found one much better for the incumbent,
containing 378 acres. To effect this sale (See Hen. Stat. Vol. VIII, p.
435), the House of Burgesses appointed Rev. James Fountaine, Robert
Throckmorton, Francis Tomkies and Francis Whiting, Gentlemen, to
hold in trust said land; that they may "sell and by good and sufficient
deeds convey, for the best price that can be got for the same."

During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Talley he and the trustees of a
tract of 352 acres of land, commonly known as the Glebe, had some
trouble to arise between Mr. Talley and the committee, growing out
of the question of its sale. I cannot say whether this was a part of
the 370 acres or not.

The trustees were Philip Tabb, Thomas Baytop, Christopher Pryor,
Matthew Anderson, Richard Baynham, Morgan Tomkies, Mordecai
Cooke, Peter Beverley Whiting, William Hall, Philip Sansum, and
John Dixon. It is possible some or all of these may have been ves-
trymen. The further history of glebes in Virginia is too well known
to be reviewed in this article. They were abolished in 1802.

During the ministry of Mr. Cole there was no rectory in either
parish. He was a single man, and I understand lived with his par-
ishioners — a good portion of his time with Mr, George B. Taliaferro,
Edge Hill, near Gloucester Courthouse. His last home was with Mr.
John R. Bryan, at Eagle Point.

In April, 1837, there is this item from the vestry book: "Resolved,
That Geo. B. Taliaferro be authorized to collect subscriptions for the
parsonage for the two parishes of Ware and Abingdon." The place
purchased was a little more than forty acres of land, with a house

204

and outbuildings, secured from Mr. Chiswell Nelson, and located on
the "Indian Road," between "Church Hill" and "Campfield" estates
and about a mile from Ware church.

I have described its location because I find it impossible to locate
the 370 acres and the other parcel or parcels of land just mentioned.

Mr. Mann came to the parish in November, 1837. He and his
family spent several months with parishioners while the rectory
was repaired and enlarged. There he spent the rest of his long and
useful life. He and his family made it a home of sunshine — a place of
joy and welcome to his parishioners, friends and strangers.

I never occupied the old rectory. About the year 1883 it was sold,
and the funds were divided between the two parishes. Ware vestry
purchased a house and forty acres of land for a rectory, near Glou-
cester Courthouse, which I have since occupied.

I learned from Dr. and Mrs. William C. Stubbs that in June, 1752,
there was stolen from Ware church the communion table, pulpit cloth
of crimson velvet double laden with gold; a surplice and gown. A
reward of ten pounds was offered for the apprehension of the thief.

In 1724 Rev. Thomas Hughes, in his report from Abingdon to the
Bishop of London, §aid: "Surplices had never been used in the parish."
In the Petsworth vestry book, 1733, I find an item of expense, "Wash-
ing surplice twice " These items are mentioned as showing when

and where the surplice was used, and when and where it was not used.

It will be interesting to note some of the vestrymen who have served
the parish — namely: John Throckmorton was church warden in 1679,
and Henry Whiting church warden 1674. (See General Court Records,
p. 374.) William Hall represented the parish in Convention in 1790
and again 1795; Peter '^Vhiting in 1797; Richard Baynum, 1805; Thomas
Smith, 1821; Augustine L. Dabney, Ware and Abingdon, 1827; John
S. Dixon, 1832; Catesby Jones, 1833; Warren T. Taliaferro, 1834 and
again in 1839; G. Booth Taliaferro, 1840; J. R. Bryan, Abingdon and
Ware, 1843; Dr. J. R. Page, 1857; Dr. Samuel Carey, 1871; Joseph S.
James, 1872; Samuel B. Taylor, 1875; Charles B. Gary, 1876; Dr. M.
Miller, 1854. (See Dashiell's Digest.)

It is noted in my article on Abingdon that the vestries of Ware and
Abingdon met together, and they so continued until 1867, when their
relationships were dissolved.

Prior to 1830 Mr. Thomas S. Dabney was a vestryman. In 1841 the
Ware half of the vestry consisted of Dr. William Taliaferro, Sr.,
W. T. Taliaferro, William Patterson Smith, Philip E. Tabb and Charles

205

Curtis. Those since added^ were Dr. J. Prosser Tabb, Dr. M. Miller,
Dr. John R. Page, Wyndnam Kemp, Sr., Dr. Francis Jones, Dr. Samuel
Gary, Col. William T. Robins, Maj. William K. Perrin, Samuel D. Puller,
Maj. Tazewell Thompson, Charles B. Gary, Maj. Powhatan Ellis,
John Tabb, John N. Tabb, T. Todd Dabney, George W. Morgan,
Thomas L. Benton, James L. Taliaferro, William S. Mott, N. S. Hop-
kins, Walter C. Perrin, Lewis M. Byrd, Isaac Slingluff, Gen. W. B.
Taliaferro and Frederick Bayton Jones.

The last eight, with Mr. Charles E. Gary, compose the present vestry.
Among the family names prominent in the history of the parish
are Curtis, Cooke, Booth, Jones, Lewis, Willis, Todd, Whiting, Throck-
morton, Kemp, Tabb, Yateman, Corbin, Wiatt, Page, Ware, Montague,
Byid, Reade, Gary, Baytop, Dabney, Tompkins, Vanbibber, Tomkies,
Nelson, Dixon, Davies, Taliaferro, Smith, Field, Roy, Smart, Camp-
field and others.

Before closing this article it will be well to note the times Ware
church has been repaired. The first we have knowledge of was in
1827, when under the brief ministry of Mr. Games, Mr. Thomas Tabb,
Col. Thomas Smith, Dr. William Taliaferro, Sr., and others, had it
put in order for divine service. (See Bishop Meade's book.)

Mr. Mann, in 1836, was authorized to have chimneys placed in
Ware church. Evidently they did not give satisfaction, as they were
removed and stovepipes again projected through the walls.

In 1854 the church was again repaired, reroofed, and this time al-
tered, the floor of the chancel being extended over the tombs in the
east end of the church. The flagstone floor of the aisles was removed
and laid with boards to the level of the pew floor, and two modern
blocks of pews put in. The space under the gallery was partitioned
off from the church and made into a vestibule; the old high pulpit
removed from its position near the south door and substituted by a
modern one placed within the chancel.

In 1902 a new slate roof was put upon the church, the former chim-
neys were reopened and extended and have proved satisfactory.

It is worthy of note that in removing the old roof the timbers were
found in excellent condition.

There have probably been few counties in Virginia where a larger
number of long rectorships have existed than in Gloucester. Mr. Clack
served nearly 45 years; Mr. Gwynn, 16; Rev. Guy Smith, 18; Rev
Emmanuel Jones (in Petsworth) 39; Rev. Mr. Hughes, 25; Mr. Poun-

206

talne, 31; Mr. A. Smith, in Mathews and Gloucester, 25 years; Mr. Mann,
40, and the present pastor, 25 years.

From what I can gather of the condition of the church in the Coloriial
period from private letters, from extracts of wills, from references in
sermons and wills, and from epitaphs on tombstones, there were many
exalted Christians who loved God and His Church, and tried to live
godly lives. They endeavored to instill spiritual teachings and prin-
ciples in the hearts of their children.

In my Abingdon article I spoke of Mildred Warner, ancestress of
General Washington, as having received religious instruction and
training at Abingdon church. Colonial Gloucester and her churches
seems to have been one of the seed-beds for raising up great men
in the Church and State. As an example, Petsworth Parish gave back
to the mother Church Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London; our own
Bishop Meade's ancestry goes back through a single line to Gloucester.
At Carter's creek, in Abingdon Parish, there once lived and is now i
buried Lucy Higginson, widow of Maj. Lewis Burwell, after wife of I
Philip Ludwell, and ancestress of that illustrious Churchman, patriot j
and statesman, Richard Henry Lee. Another Gloucester Parish,
"Kingston" (now in Mathews county), had the honor of training
Judith Armistead in the ways of the Church of England to Christian
womanhood. She became the wife of Robert Carter, of Lancaster
county, Virginia, and thus the ancestress of that Christian gentleman
and soldier — a star of the first magnitude in the Church Militant,
General Robert Edward Lee.

Such was the work that was being done by "The Old Church in this
New Land," in former days, that the enemy of all righteousness sowed
seed about and within her to injure her usefulness. Though the Church
in Gloucester and throughout Virginia and in the other Colonies was
prostrate after the Revolution, God, as of old, was watching over her,
abiding His time to raise her up and send her forward upon her great
commission to aid in the evangelization of mankind. Let us, then,
cease casting aspersions upon her and upon our forefathers within her
told, and instead, pray for her greater cleansing and labor for her up-
building.

Note. — The Communion Table was stolen from the church a second
time. See Act of Vestry November 11, 1865: "The rector, Mr. Mann,
is requested to take up a collection, after proper notice, for purchas-
ing a Communion Table, to supply the place of the one stolen from the
church during the war."

VAUTER'S CHURCH, ST. ANNE'S PARISH,
ESSEX COUNTY, VA.

BY P. S. HUNTER, LOKETTO, VA.

F all the magnificent river views in Tidewater Virginia few
excel that from the summit of Chimborazo hill, in upper Essex
county. Commanding on one side long stretches of the beau-
tiful Rappahannock, flowing through its fertile plains, it dis-
plays, on the other, thickly-wooded uplands in ascending terraces of
richly blended verdure. But the most prominent object in the fore-
ground is old Vauter's church, standing in its ancient grove of oak
and walnut. It is approached by the "Church Lane," considerably
elevated above the fields on either side, from the accumulation of soil
washing down from the hills, and is bordered by dense hedges of growth
so characteristic of the country, and in spring so exquisitely fragrant
with the bloom of the wild grape and the eglantine.

The church is a brick building of cruciform shape, with its three
high, sharp gables supporting a shingle t-oof, cut close to the edges of
the wall. Its high and narrow windows are guarded by heavy solid
wooden shutters, and there are two entrances to the church by double
doors, in the south and the west ends. The present chancel, raised
one step from the stone-paved aisles, is furnished now with two modern
stands or lecterns for the service and sermon, but back against the
wall there still stands the old reading desk and pulpit above it. The
latter is reached by a stairway from the chancel floor, and this stair-
way is guarded by a hand-rail. Both pulpit and reading desk are
draped in crimson hangings. The pews are the same old box stalls,
with benches of uncompromising rigidity, and furnished with clanging
doors, which announce the retirement of the occupants; but they have
been cut down to nearly half of their former height. A vestibule
partition crosses the western end of the church, forming a vestry-
room, and supporting a gallery reached by steps in the vestibule.
Another gallery over the southern door is the organ loft. Formerly
the chancel and pulpit stood in the eastern end of the church, and pews
and pulpit were so high that both minister and congregation could
enjoy deep seclusion.

Bishop Meade tells us In his book— Old Churches and Families of
Virginia— that when visiting these old Colonial churches he frequently

208

had to hasten his arrival, to erect temporary platforms of bricks or
stones in the pulpits, to enable him to see the congregation; but the
sermons of those days were so long and closely written that the
minister had to be more engaged in the scrutiny of the manuscript
than in the observation of the audience. In fact, from the shape of
the church, the pulpit could be only visible from some points of the
building. To complete the des<'xiption of this venerable building, there
is only to be added that its walls are covered by the most luxuriant
mantle of English ivy, which is with difficulty restrained from in-
vading and decaying the wooden roof.

The early history of St. Anne's parish and its two churches is veiled
in much obscurity, and rests more upon dim tradition than actual
fact. Rappahannock county, formed from Lancaster county, about
the middle of the seventeenth century, contained Littlebourne parish.
Littlebourne parish, lying on both sides of the Rappahannock river,
was divided into North Farnham parish, in Richmond county; South
Farnham parish, in lower Essex, and St. Anne's parish, in upper Essex;
as both Richmond and Essex counties were formed from Rappahan-
nock county.

St. Anne's parish contained two churches. One of these churches,
now destroyed and even its name lost, but of which the foundation
Is visible, stood near the present St. Matthew's church, one-fourth of a
mile above it, on the road leading to Lloyd's When St. Matthew's church
was begun in 18G0, its location was selected by its members, and spe-
cially recommended by Colonel Wm. Beverley, of Blandfield, because
of its neighborhood to the old church which had been the regular place
of worship of the Blandfield family and other Episcopal families in
that vicinity. This old church fell into the possession of an owner
named Sale, from which fact It was known as "Sale's Church." Legend
tells us that its material was taken away, and applied to such prac-
tical uses' that its chancel rail was made into a chicken coop. About
two miles from this old church, and on a branch of Occupacia creek,
stood the rectory, called "The Glebe," later sold to the Rowzie family,
and was known as Clover Field. An old colored man named Frederic
Robb, and owned by the Rowzie family, delighted in narrating his
reminiscences of this old church, and the assembling of its congrega-
tion, conspicuous in that day by the rare possession of coaches, and
by the English style of costume — knee breeches and boots worn by the
gentlemen.

N

3

209

About eight miles farther up in the county of Essex, and situated
upon or near Blackburn's creek, stands Vauter's church, and Mr.
Richard Baylor, of Kinloch, writes the following interesting sketch
for Bishop Meade's above-mentioned work:

"The first thing that I recollect as connected with the old sanc-
tuary is that my father used to keep the old English Bible at Marl
Bank, and when the casual services of a passing Episcopal minister
were to be held there a servant took the old Bible on his head and
accompanied the family by a near walking way across the same Black-
burn's creek, and after service brought it back. I still have the old
Bible at Kinloch, valued for its antiquity, and on its blank leaves are
numerous references in my father's handwriting. I remember when
the church doors always stood wide open, if indeed they could be
closed, and have taken refuge myself from a storm in the body of
the church, leading my horse in with me."

Mr. Baylor relates the occurrence of a duel between two gentlemen
before the south door of the church, of which he says he was informed
by Mr. R. B. Starke, of Norfolk, who attended as surgeon. Mr. Baylor
continues:

"We are indebted to the firm friendship of a lady that Vauter's
church did not share the same fate of other sanctuaries, as, for in-
stance, the church at Leedstown, just across the river. So soon as
Mrs. Muscoe Garnett heard that persons had commenced carrying away
the paving stones of the aisles, and perhaps some of the bricks, she
claimed the church as her own, and threatened prosecution to the
next oifender. The ground on which she placed her claim was that
the church stood on her land, or that of her family."

Mr. James Garnett, the father of Mrs. Muscoe Garnett's husband,
did purchase lands adjacent to the church from the Vauter family
before the middle of the 18th century, but we must ascend the stream
of time higher than this, to trace the origin of Vauter's church. The
d'ate, 1731, is marked on a brick in the southern wall of the church,
and this has led to a popular belief that the church was built in.
1731; but this date may have been that of some alteration or repair.
At any rate, the following facts seem to contradict the idea that the
church was built in 1731: It has been the legend for years that
Vauter's church was endowed with a communion service by Queen
Anne of England, and the old cup of the church service was lost.
A few years ago a gentleman in New Jersey was shown a communion

210

cup in the collection of a friend, and marked "St. Anne's Parish,
Essex County, Virginia." The new owner had purchased it in a New
York shop to add to his collection as an antiquary. Now, no doubt,
this was the missing cup presented to St. Anne's parish by the Queen,
and as she died in 1714, the presentation must have been prior to
1731, when the church was supposed to have been built. This fact
alone, however, may not be conclusive, because of the possibility that
there was an earlier church in this parish; but in an old land survey,
made by John Vauter for Buckingham Brown, who owned land on
Blackburn's creek close to Vauter's church, there is a "road leading
to the church" on the plot, and this plot is dated 1722; and in another
survey, made for John Hawkins (who also owned land on this same
creek), by John Vauter, surveyor, there is shown as a boundary the
"church land," and this plot is dated 1719. Blackburn's creek (for-
merly Lucas' creek), is the starting point in tracing many contiguous
pioperties at the date of the earliest mention of Vauter's church; and
as we find Vauters taking up "King's lands" on this creek close to
Vauter's church, very early in the ISth century, it seems probable
that the church was built upon "King's land," by order of vestry
empowered by the Governor of Virginia, and took the name of "Vau-
ter's" from propinquity to lands occupied by Vauters. However this
conjecture may be, it seems certain that Vauter's church was standing
in 1719, and possibly considerably earlier. Church and glebe lands in
existence at that remote date are difficult to trace, as the vestries of
the parishes seem to have been empowered to buy or sell property and
to levy taxes for the maintenance of the church, often getting into
difficulties with the Governor of the Colony, and administering their
prerogative with great irregularity and little record of their proceed-
ings. The combination of ecclesiastical and secular affairs was indeed
so remarkable that in an old deed conveying land from Gaines to
Garuett in 1766, there is the statement that it was "published in the
Parish Church of St. Anne's."

Bishop Meade, in speaking of the earliest Church conventions after
the Revolution, says: "In 1814 Thomas Matthews and Hon. James
Hunter were delegates from St. Anne's Parish; in 1817 Hon. James
M. Garnett; in 1820 Mr. Robert Beverley;" making this statement in
connection with his narrative of the complete disorganization of the
church for years previously, and its faint revival about the date of
these conventions. While there is a notice of the first vestry in Rap-

211

pahannock Parish under a minister named Francis Doughty, we do
not hear of any minister ot St. Anne's Parish before Rev. John Bagge
in 1724. He seems to have died soon after he tooli charge of the
parish, and to have been succeeded by the very remarlcable Rev.
Robert Rose. Mr. Rose appears to have enjoyed the great confidence
of his people, both as a minister and a business man, and to have
been a universal counsellor to his friends scattered over the wide
territory of his ministry, reaching to Nelson county. He died while
attending the laying out of Richmond city, in 1751, and was buried
there. Mr. Smelt succeeded Mr. Rose. In 1774-76 "Parson John
Matthews" was minister of St. Anne's. Then, after a long interval,
Rev. John Rennolds was minister in 1822, succeeded in 1825 by Rev.
John P. McGuire, after whom were the following successors: Rev.
Edward B. McGuire, 1852 to 1867; Dr. Charles Goodrich, in 1869; Rev.
Alexander Overby, 1873 to 1880; Rev. W. S. Campbell, 1881 to 1884;
Rev. J. C. Koon, 1885 to 1888; Rev. D. T. C. Davis, 1890 to 1899; Rev.
E. W. Cowling, 1900 to 1902; Rev. J. F. Burks, 1902.

The early history of St. Anne's Parish, in the immediate vicinity
of Vauter's church, is strikingly illustrative of the transitoriness of
human affairs. Even the names of families, which for generations
were prominent land owners and influential citizens, have completely
disappeared. Cornhill, Lucas, Gaines, Hawkins, Brookings, Shipp,
Meadows, Vauter and many others have left no trace, except in tat-
tered deeds or records of land transfers, dating nearly or quite two
centuries in the past. And yet it is still remarkable that for at least
one century this old church has been supported by the same small
band of hereditary members: Saunders, Dishmans, Pilkingtons, Bay-
lors, Warings, Sales, Rowzies, Bairds, Beverleys, Brookes, Hunters and
Garnetts. Nearly all of these families furnish the same congregation
for the two churches of St. Anne's parish, Vauter's and St. Matthew's.

ST. PETER'S CHURCH. ST. PETER'S PARISH,
NEW KENT COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BY CHURCHILL GIBSON CHAMBEBLAYNE, PH. D. .

TO the question. When was St. Peter's Parish established? the
student of Hening's "Statutes at Large" is surprised to find
that that work gives no direct answer. It is, perhaps, to this
omission on the part of Hening that Bishop Meade's discreet
silence upon the subject Is due. His "Old Churches, Ministers and
Families of Virginia" has much to say about the parish of St. Peter's
and its people, but not a word in regard to its establishment. To the
writer of the present article it seems probable that the parish — if not
co-eval with New Kent county, which was formed from the county of
York in 1654 — was created shortly after 1656, in which year the General
Assembly of Virginia passed the following act:

"Whereas, there are many places destitute of ministers, and like
still to continue soe, the people content not payinge their accustomed
dues, which makes them negligent to procure those which should teach
and instruct them, soe by this improvident saveing they lose the great-
est benefltt and comfort a Christian can have, by hearing the word and
vse of the blessed sacraments. Therefore he it enacted by this present
Grand Assembly. That all countys not yet laid out into parishes
shall be divided into parishes the next County Court after publication
hereof, and that all tithable persons in every parish within this colony
respectively, In the vacancy of their minister, pay 15 lb. of tobacco
per poll yearly, and that tobacco be deposited in the hands of the com-
missioners of the several counties, to be by them disposed of in the
first place for the building of a parish church, and afterwards the sur-
plusage thereof (if any be) to go towards the purchaseing of a gleab
and stock for the next minister that shall be settled there: Provided,
that the vestrys of the several parishes be responsible for the said to-
bacco so leavied."

This act, with some slight verbal changes, was re-enacted by the
General Assembly in March, 1657-S.

For the period between its foundation and the year 1684 — the date
of the first complete minutes in the published "Vestry Book of St.

213

Peter's" — there are no extant records from which a history of the
parish could be written. For the period subsequent to 1684, however,
and coming down to 1857, the materials — official documents and other
sources — for such a history are ample.

Between 1684 and 1700 Church life in St. Peter's parish was not of
the most active sort — that is, judged by modern standards. There Is
no good reason to suppose, however, that it compared unfavorably with
the life in many another parish in Virginia at the time, notwithstand-
ing a statement to the contrary made once by one of its own
ministers, of which more later on. Vestry meetings were held two or
three times in the year — some years there were even four meetings,
but this was not often the case. These gatherings were mostly of a
business nature, and business matters of all sorts in regard to the
parish were brought forward, discussed and settled. Whether it were
simply the election of a vestryman or Church warden in the room of
another, resigned or deceased, or a quarrel with the neighboring parish
of Blissland; whether it were the appointment of a vestryman to serve
as the representative of the parish in a law suit, or the determining
of the parish levy for the year — whatever the matter might be, it did
not go unrecorded in the minutes-book of the vestry.

For example, the dispute with Blissland, in regard to the location
of the dividing line between the two parishes, furnished the vestry-
book of St. Peter's with material for frequent entries like the follow-
ing:

"At a Vestry hold at St. Peter's parish Church on ye behalf of ye
s'd parish this 3rd day of Sept., 1688. Present: Gideon Macon, Corn.
Daberni, Geo. Smith, Hen. Wyatt, Mr. Thorn. Mitchell, James Moss.
"Mr. Jno. Roper, Mr. Will. Bassett, Church wardens.
"It is ordered by this present vestry that Mr. Gideon Macon do & is
hereby impowered to appear before his Excelansy Francis Lord How-
ard, Baron of Eifingham, his Majes' Left. Gen'l of Virgr. & ye Hon'l
Counsoll of States upon ye 10th day of ye next Gen'l Court in obedience
to an order of his Excell. to y't purpose to answer ye complaint of Mr.
Lanselott Bathurst, attorney of ye vestry of Blissland parish, concern-
ing dividing line to be run between ye parish of Blissland & ye parish
of St. Peter's, according to an agreement & conclusion of twelve men
Elected by an order of vestry of ye whole parish of Blissland before
ye same * and this present vestry hath Ratified and confirmed all
whatsoever ye Mason shall act or do in & about ye premises above s'd."

214

The minutes of these old meetings, however, show that the vestry
did not confine its attention to matters of a purely material nature.
At this time there were two churches in the parish. The vestry was
careful that the spiritual needs of the inhabitants in both neighborhoods
should be looked after. It was provided for that services be held at
both churches regularly. Under date of November 25, 1686, the vestry-
book contains the following entry: "* * ♦ This vestry taking into
consideration the present want of ye parish and desirous of the ad-
vancement of God's Glory and ye continuance of ye sacred function
in this parish do consent and agree with ye said Mr. Jno. Ball Minis-
ter to ofRciat-e as minister in this s'd parish of St. Peters * * * at ye
two churches, at ye lower Church one Sunday & at ye upper Church
ye other for this ensuing year from ye date of these presents, at ye
rate of one thousand pr month."

The ordinary morality of the community was a matter with which
the vestries of the Colonial period had to concern themselves generally.
The records of St. Peter's Parish show that its vestry was at least
fully awake to a sense of its duty in this respect. Entries like the
following, under date of October 5, 1<)87, are not infrequently met
with in the vestry-book: "It is ordered that Mr. Thomas Mitchell do
prosecute ye woman servant belonging to Capt. Jo. Forster for having
a bastard child." In St. Peter's Parish, too, as elsewhere, the care of
the poor, the lame, the maimed, the halt, and the blind devolved upon
the vestry, and the vestry-book shows that, outwardly at any rate,
this obligation was not neglected.

In spile of all that has been said, however, one Is hardly warranted
in maintaining that at this period religion was flourishing in New
Kent county. During the sixteen years from 16S4 to 1700, St. Peter's
Parish had no less than nine regular ministers, and the times — often
months in duration — when there was no minister at all, were frequent
enough. One of these nine ministers was the Rev. Nicholas Moreau,
who, to quote the vestry-book again, had "been recommended by his
Excell. and Mr. Camesery unto this parish." What Mr. Moreau thought
of his parish, of the people, and of the state of affairs and religion
generally in the community can be seen in the following extracts from
a letter of his, dated April 12, 1697, written to the Lord Bishop of
Lichfield and Coventry, His Majesty's High Almoner:
"My Lord,

"After my dutiful respects presented unto your Lords-hip, I make

215

bold to acquaint you that being landed in these parts of Virginia in
August last, and being ready to go for Maryland, wherein your charity
hath vouchsafed to recommend me to his Excellency Nicholson, I heard
such great talk among the Gentlemen of this Country that the said
Governor was to come here to be Governor, that I did resolve to settle
here if I could. And his Excellency Nicholson being here, would say
nothing of the contrary. His Grace of Canterbury has recommended
me to Mr. Blair, Commissary, but to no purpose, because the said
Commissary has cast an odium upon himself by his great worldly
concerns, so that I was forced to make use of the commander of the
fleet who did recommend me to this parish wherein I live now. * ^ * i
don't like this Country at all, my Lord, there are so many inconven-
iences in it with which I cannot well agree. Your clergy in these
parts are of a very ill example, no discipline, nor Canons of the Church
are observed * * * Several Ministers have caused such high scandals
of late, and have raised such prejudices among tlie people, that hardly
can they be persuaded to take a minister in their parish. As to me,
my Lord, I have got in the very worst parish of Virginia and most
troublesome. Nevertheless I must tell you that I find abundance of
good people who 9,re very willing to serve God, but they want good
Ministers; ministers that be very pious, not wedded to this world, as
the best of them are. God has blest my endeavors so far already that,
■i/ith his assistance, I have brought to Church again two families, v,-ho
had gone to the Quakers' meeting for three years past, and have bap-
tized one of their children three years old. This child being christened
took my hand and told me: 'You are a naughty man, Mr. Minister,
y.ju hurt the child with cold water.' His father and mother came to
church constantly, and were persuaded by me to receive the Holy Com-
munion at Easter day; which they did perform accordingly with great
piety and respect. I have another old Quaker 70 years of age who left
the Church these 29 years ago, and hope to bring him to church again
within few weeks. Lucere et non ardere parvum: ardere et non lucere,
hoa Imperfectum est: lucere et ardere, hoc perfectuw, est: saith St.
Bernard. If ministers were such as they ought to be, I dare say there
would be no Quakers nor Dissenters. A learned sermon signifies next to
nothing without good examples. Longum Iter per praecepta. Breve
autem per Exempla: I wish God would put in your mind, my Lord, to
s md here an eminent Bishop, who by his piety, charity, and severity in
teeping the canons of the Church, might quicken these base ministers,

216

and force them to mind the duty of their charge. Th.ough the whole
country of Virginia hath a great respect for my Lord Bishop of London,
they do resent an high affront made to their nation, because his Lord-
ship has sent here Mr. Blair, a Scotchman, to be Commissary, a coun-
cellor, and President of the College. 1 was once in a great company
of Gentlemen, some of them were Counsellors, and they did ask me,
'Don't you think there may be in England amongst the English, a
clergyman fit to be Commissary and Counsellor and President of our
College?' I have wrote all these things, my Lord, freely, but have said
nothing by myself. It was only to acquaint your Lordship how the
things are here. The Governor is very well beloved by the whole
country, but because his time is over they think of another Governor,
and do desire earnestly to have his Excellency Nicholson, who indeed
is a most excellent Governor; and as fit (as said to me, once, your
Lordship) to be a Bishop as to be a Governor. * * * When I do think
vnth myself of Governor Nicholson, I do call him the Right hand of
God, the father of the Church, and more, a father of the poor. An
eminent Bishop of that same character being sent over here with him.
will make Hell tremble and settle the Church of England in these parts
forever. This work, my Lord, is God's work and if it doth happen
that I see a Bishop come over here I will say as St. Bernard said in
his Epistle to Eugenius Tertius ft.ic dicitur Dei est. I have been very
tedious to your Lordship, but God's concerns have brought me to that
great boldness. I wish God give you many years to live for the good
of his Church, over which that you might preside long will be the con-
stant prayers of, my Lord,

Yrs, &c., Nich's Moreau."

[Perry's "Papers Relating to the History of the Church in Virginia,
A. D. 1G50-1776," pp. 29-3.3.]

So much for the Rev, Nicholas Moreau and his impressions. It is
to be regretted that he was never given the opportunity to air his
latinity before a Bishop of Virginia. Mr. Moreau did not continue at
his post longer than the average minister at this time. He left at the
end of the year 1G97 or the beginning of 1698, whether driven away by
discouragement or not, history does not say.

The first reference in the Vestry Book to the present St. Peter's
church is found in the record of the minutes of the vestry meeting
held August 13, 1700: "Whereas the Lower Church of tills parish )s
Very much out of Repair and Standeth very inconvenient for most of

217

the inhabitants of the said parish. Therefore ordered that as soon as
conveniently may be a new Church of Brick Sixty feet long and twen-
ty fower feet wide in the cleer and fourteen feet pitch with a Gallery
Sixteen feet long be built and Erected upon the maine Roade by the
School House near Thomas Jackson's; and the Clerk is ordered to
give a Copy of this order to Capt. Nicho Merewether who is Requested
to show the same to Will Hughes and desire him to draw a Draft of
the said Churcii, and to bee at the next vestry and Mr. Gideon Macon
and Mr. Thomas Smith are Requested to treate with and buy an acre
of Land of Thomas Jackson whereon to build the said Church and for
a Church yard."

The fact that the old church is spoken of as being very much out
of repair and that brick is mentioned distinctly as being the material
out of which the new church is to be constructed, lead one to infer
that this new church was the first one in the parish to be built of
brick. This inference is confirmed by the way in which the new
church is, with one exception, always referred to in the vestry-book.
It is called invariably the "Brick Church."

Work on the new church was not begun until about the spring of
the year 1701. By July, 1703, the work was so far advanced that ser-
vices could be held in the building, for the vestry-book shows that a
vpstry was held for St. Peter's Parish at the Brick Church on the 13th
of that month. While this brick church was in process of erection
the vestry, upon petition of the upper mhabitants of the parish, order
"that a new Church or Chapell be built upon the upper side of Me-
ehamps Creeke adjoining to the King's Roade forty-feet long and
twenty-feet wyde, framed and planked in every respect like to the
upper Church." St. Peter's Parish now had three places of worship,
besides the old frame Lower church building, which was much out of
repair— namely, the new Lower church, called the Brick church; the
old frame Upper church, and new frame chapel.

On April 3, 1704, the vestry of the parish agreed upon a division,
by which what was afterwards known as St. Paul's parish was cut oft
This new parish contained the two frame upper churches. St. Peter's
parish had now as places of worship the Brick church and the old
frame Lower church. Services in this old building were now resumed,
as appears from an entry in the vestry-book under date of August 18,
■1704: "Mr. Richard Squire is Requested to preach two sermons in
every year at the old Church, commonly known by ye name of ye Bro-
ken back'd Church."

218

The r,ew Brick churcli ol St. Peter's Parish was a plain rectangular
structure, sixty feet long by twenty-four wide. For upwards of twenty
years this building remained unaltered, and nothing was done to
change the appearance of the place except that in the year 1719 it was
ordered that a wall of brick be built round the church yard, "s'd wall
to be in all Respects as well done as the Capitol wall in Williams-
burgh." Toward the end of the year 1722, however, a belfry was erect-
ed at the west end of the church, and in the year 1740 an entry in the
vestry-book states that "the Minister and Vestry of this Parish have
Agreed with Mr. Wm. Worthe, of the Parish of St. Paul, in the County
of Stafford, Builder, to Erect and Build a Steeple and Vestry Room
according to a Plan Delivered into the Vestry drawn by the S'd Walter
(?) for the Consideration of One hundred & thirty Pounds at times to
be paid." In the same year "the Summe of Twenty Pounds" is or-
dered to be paid out for the erection of a "Porch according to
Agreem't, & white washing & other Repairs of the inside of the
Church." Such minor alterations and repairs as have been made to
the old church since 174(1 have not changed its outward appearanoo
to any great extent. There is now an attractive mellowness of age
about the building; in other respects St. Peter's looks to-day much as it
did toward the middle of the eighteenth century.

Under date of November 20, 1752, there is an entry in the vestry min-
utes in which the "Brick Church" is referred to as "St. Peter's Church."
So far as known to the writer this is the first time that the name
"St. Peter's" was ever given to this church. (The fact is not, however,
to be denied that between the years 1684 and 1698 one of the churches
in St. Peter's Parish was frequently referred to as "St. Peter's Churcii"
by the then clerk of the vestry. On the other hand it is to be noted
that he refers to the same church under the names "Christ's Church
In St. Peter's," "ye Church of St. Peter's Parish," and "St. Peter's
Parish Church." See Vestry Book in loc.) The church is not again
referred to as "St. Peter's" in the book. In these times it was always
known and referred to as the "Brick Church," just as the church of
Bristol parish, known now as Old Blandford, which was erected be-
tween 1734 and 1737, was always spoken of in Colonial times as the
"Brick Church." Perhaps some one better informed than the writer
can say whether Christ church, Lancaster county, [See Southern
Churchman for December 1, 1906,] was not also always referred to
in early days as the "Bri.ck Church," and whether its present name

219

of "Christ church" was not a creation of comparatively modern times
and derived from the name of the parish. In the opinion of the writer
the names of Christ and the Saints as officially applied to churches in
Virginia was practically unknown before the American Revolution.
St. Paul's church, Norfolk, erected in 1739, was long known as the
"i.'orough" or "Parish" church. [See Southern Churcliman for No-
vember 3, 1906.] St. John's church, Richmond, was not called by that
name before 1818. [See Southern Churchman for November 17, 1906],
while St. Luke's church. Isle of Wight county, was known as the "Old
Brick church" until 1827 or 1828. [See open letter, "Colonial Churches
and Clergy," Southern Churchman for February 16, 1907.]

But enough of this digression. Let us return to the subject of St.
Peter's, in New Kent county, and in the next place learn something
about Mr. Mossom, its most famous minister.

The Rev. David Mossom, or Parson Mossom, as he was generally
called, is well known in the annals of the Colonial Church in Virginia
— though by no means on account of the eloquence of his discourses.
Many things have conspired together to keep Parson Mossom's memory
green. In the first place, he ministered to St. Peter's church for
nearly forty years — a circumstance extraordinary enough in itself to
cause some surprise, when it is recalled that the length of the average
tenure of office in the parish before his time was less than two and
a half years. Then, too, his irascible temper was against his being
forgotten.

In his "Autobiography," Parson Jarratt, of Bath Parish, another of
Virginia's famous divines of the period, tells a good story on Mr. Mos-
som. It seems that one day the minister of St. Peter's had a quarrel
with his clerk, and assailed him from the pulpit in his sermon. The
sermon over, the clerk, nothing daunted, gave out from his desk the
2d Psalm, containing the lines,

"With restless and ungovem'd rage.
Why do the heathen storm?
• Why in such rash attempts engage.
As they can ne'er perform?"

a method of revenge as humorous as it was pointed.

Bishop Meade evidently thought that the Rev. Mr. Mossom's anger
was to be classed rather with the venial than among the mortal sins,
for after relating the incident just given, he writes: "He (i. e., Mr.

220

Mossom) was married four times, and much harrassed by his last
wife, as Col, Bassett has often told me, which may account for and
somewhat excuse a little peevishness."

Rev. David Mossom officiated at the marriage of George Washington
and the Widow Custis. Some persons have thought that the ceremony
was performed at St. Peter's church. Bishop Meade, however, is au-
thority for the statement that the marriage took place at the "White
House," the home of Mrs. Custis, on the Pamunkey river, several miles
from the church. Mr. Mossom died on the 4th of January, 1767. His
monument, still to be seen in St. Peter's church, within the chancel,
bears the following inscription:

"Reverendus David Mossom prope Jacet,

Collegii St. Joannis Cantabrigiae obiti, Alumnus,

Hujus Parochiae Rector Annes Quadraginta,

Omnibus Ecclesiae Anglicanae Presbyteriis

Inter Americanos Ordine Presbyteratus Primus;

Literatura Panels secundus.

Qui tandem senis et Moerore Confectus

Ex variis Rebus arduis quas in hac vita perpessus est

Mortisq; in dies memor ideo virens et valens

Sibi hunc seulpturae locum posuit et elegit

Uxoribus Elizabetha et Maria quidem juxta sepultis

Ubi requirescat dones resuscitatus ad vitam Eternam

Per Jesum Christum salvatorem nostrum

Quails erat, indicant illi quibus benenotus

Superstiles Non hoc sepulchrale saxum

Londini Natus 25 Martil 1690

Obiit 4 Janii 1767.

Bishop Meade followed by the writer of an article in the "William
and Mary College Quarterly," Vol. V., p. SI, interprets the epitaph
as saying that Mr. Mossom was an American by birth. But to the
writer of this article "Londini Natus" seems to point unmistakably
to England as Mr. Mossom's native land.

After giving so much space to St. Peter's famous minister it seems
unfair to dismiss with a word the people who "sat under" him. But
nothing more can be done here, for in this case, as always, history,
dealing leniently with all save those in public life, has preserved but
a memory of them — the name — and of many of them not even a

221

memory. However, the following list, containing the names of vestry-
men of the parish in the period between 1685 and 1758 will not be
without interest:

George Jones, William Bassett, Stephen Carlton, Henry Wyatt,
Thomas Mitchell, John Parke, William Paisley, John Rever (?), Cor-
nelius Dabney, Gideon Macon, Matthew Page, George Smith, John
Roger, David Crawford, James Moss, John Lydall, Joseph Porster,
John Lewis, Nicholas Merriwether, John Parke, Jr., Richard Little-
page, Thomas Butts, Thomas Massie, William Waddell, Henry Childs,
Robert Anderson, Richard Allen, Samuel Gray, Ebenezer Adams,
Charles Lewis, Charles Massie, Walton Clopton, William Macon, John
Netherland, William Brown, William Marston, David Patterson, Wil-
liam Chamberlayne, Michael Sherman, John Dandridge, Daniel Parke
Ciistis, Matthew Anderson, George Webb, William Hopkins, Jesse Scott,
Edmund Bacon, William Vaughan, William Clayton and John Roper.

On the inner wall of the chancel of St. Peter's, opposite the memorial
tablet to Parson Mossom, is another to William Chamberlayne, vestry-
man, and for many years one of the churuh wardens of the parish.
The inscription reads as follows:

M S

Near this place lyes interred ye

Body of Mr. William Chamberlayne

Late of this Parish Mercht.

Descended of an ancient & Worthy Family
in the County of Hereford.

He married Elizabeth ye eldest Daughter

of Richard Littlepage of this County,

by whom he has left issue three Sons,

Edward Pye, Thomas & Richard.

& two Daughters, Mary & Elizabeth.

Ob: 2 Augt. 1736 Aetat 36

Hoc Marmor exiguum summi amoris

Monumentum posuit Conjux moestissima.

1737

Also Ann Kidly Born Sense

Her Father's Decease.

M. Sidnell Bristol fecit.

I 222

From Bishop Meade one learns that Rev. Mr. Mossom was succeeded
in office "by the Rev. James Semple, who continued the minister of the
parish for twenty-two years. The Rev. Benjamin Blagrove was the
minister in the year 1789. The Rev. Benjamin Brown was the min-
ister in the year 1797.

"After a long and dreary interval of nearly fifty years, we find the
Rev. E. A. Dalrymple the minister from 1843 to 1845. (The Rev.
Farley Berkeley officiated some time before this as missionary at
St. Peter's church.) Then the Rev. E. B. Maguire, from 1845 to 1851.
Then the Rev. William Norwood, from 1852 to 1854. Then the Rev.
David Caldwell, from 1854 to 1856." [Bishop Meade's "Old Churches,
Ministers and Families of Virginia. Philadelphia," 1872, Vol. I., p.
386.J

Bishop Meade finished writing his book in May, 1857. Four years
later the Civil War broke out. A correspondent, writing in the South-
ern Churchman for February 9, 1907, gives the following account of
affairs at St. Peter's immediately before, during, and after the war:

"Just before the Civil War, St. Peter's had a large and prosperous
congregation. During the war the church was abominably defaced
by the Federal soldiers, who stabled their horses in the cnurch, and
seemed to take great pleasure in ruining it. A company of soldiers
from Hartford, Conn., wrote their names on the inner walls of the
porte cochere, and left many other marks of their occupancy. Those
of the congregation who were not killed either never returned with
their families, moved away, or had all they could do to live in any
instance. Among all these things the people devotedly set to work
to renew and repair the church. The rectdr, the Rev. Mr. Kepler,
was largely instrumental in this, and received large contributions
from wealthy gentlemen living at the North. After some years, he
and his people succeeded in having the church thoroughly repaired,
and it has been kept so ever since, chiefly by the faithful few Epis-
copalians to whom the church is very dear and very sacred."

The interior of St. Peter's church as it appears to-day demands at
least a passing notice. The high, plastered walls, marked off in blocks
and colored a soft grey, the but partially carpeted floor, the simply
designed benches painted a sober brown, finally the large, deep-set
windows, filled with plain glass, make together a not unpleasing pic-
ture — a picture somewhat severe in its simplicity, but not without the
advantage of offering little to distract the worshipper's attention from

223

service or sermon. The two mural tablets, whose inscriptions have
been given, are the only objects approaching to the ornamental to
be seen in the church, and they are completely hidden by thin wing-
like partition walls, cutting off a part of the sanctuary space on either
side the communion table. These walls are modern. The object had
in view in building them was rather that of adding attractiveness to
the chancel than to provide robing space for the clergyman, a pur-
pose which the somewhat closet-like rooms so made but imperfectly
fulflll.

St. Peter's church is within easy driving distance of Tunstall's
Station, on the York River branch of the Southern Railway. This
station is distant just about twenty miles each from Richmond and
West Point, the two terminals of the line.

In the autumn of 1898 Bishop Whittle issued to the son and
nephew of the then Bishop Coadjutor of Virginia licenses to read the
service in St. Peter's. Since that time the doors of the old church
have bef,n open for divine service with more or less regularity. The
last rector, the Rev. Charles J. Holt, Cied during the year 1906. He
liad been connected with the parish which he held along with West
Point, only since 1904. At present a lay reader, with headquarters
at West Point, holds service in St. Peter's on one Sunday in the
month.

To-day, after more than two hundred years of authenticated history,
St. Peter's church stands, to all intents and purposes, as good as
new, a monument to those who built and worshipped in it.

YEOCOMICO CHURCH, WESTMORELAND
COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BY THE EEV. J. P0YNT2 TYLER.

p^ p^HE section of country In which this venerable huildlng is sit-
uated is identified with the very early history of Virginia.
The county of Westmoreland was cut off from Northumber-
land in 1653, and extended along the Potomac as high as the
Falls above Georgetown. This large territory was subsequently divided,
and in time the country was included in a narrow strip of land be-
tween the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers. There were two par-
ishes in the county; the upper, Washington, and the lower, Cople
Parish.

Bishop Meade states in his "Old Churches and Families of Virginia,"
that there were originally two churches in this latter parish — one on
the Yeocomico creek, from which it takes its name, and the other
about ten miles distant, on Nominy creek, from which it also is named.
The latter was destroyed by fire soon after the late war with England,
and has been replaced by a brick one of more modern style. The
plate belonging to this was carried away by Admiral Cockburn and his
party, when they were on a pillaging expedition along the Potomac.
Concerning the subject of the sketch. Bishop Meade says: "Yeoco-
mico church is one of the old churches, being built in the year 1706.
The architecture is rough, but very strong, and the materials must
have been of the best kind. Its figure is that of a cross, and situated
as it is, in a little recess from the main road, in the midst of some
aged trees and surrounded by a brick wall, now fast mouldering away,
it cannot fail to be an object of interest to one whose soul has any
sympathy for such scenes. The old church has suffered, as have many
others, in the stormy times of the nation's history. During the last
war with Great Britain, it was shamefully abused by the soldiers
who were quartered in it while watching the movements of the
British on the Potomac. The communion table was removed into the
yard, where it served as a butcher's block, and was entirely defaced.
Being of substantial materials, however, it admitted of a new face
and polish and is now restored to its former place, where it will an-
swer, we trust, for a long time to come, the holy purposes for which

225

it was originally designed. Nor was the baptismal font exempt from
profanation. It was taken some miles from the church and used as
a vessel in which to prepare the excitement,? of ungodly mirth. This,
however, was not long permitted, for in the absence of every member
of our communion, none being left to do it, a venerable man of the
Presbyterian connection, mortified at the dishonor done to religion,
took pains to regain it and restore to its proper place."

It is a large and beautiful font, and by its side the Bishop took his
station while he heard the renewal of baptismal vows from the lips
of those who were confirmed.

Bishop Meade also mentions the fact that the canvas on which the
Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and Creed were impressed,
was so torn by the soldiers that it was necessary to remove it, and
that some necessary repairs had been put upon the church by a worthy
gentleman of New York. It deserves mention that the good friend
who restored the font was Mr. Murphy, of Ayrfleld, and the other
worthy gentleman was Mr. W. L. Rogers^ of Princeton, New Jersey,
who, as a member of the 36th Regiment of United States Infantry,
was stationed with his company in the vicinity of the church, in the
spring of 1814.

Mr. Rogers states, in an interesting letter to Bishop Meade, that in
1820, being on a visit to Westmoreland, and the old church being still
in ruins, he proposed to Mr. Murphy to undertake its repair, with the
result that active measures were taken, and in connection with other
friends, the work of renovation was accomplished.

Other repairs and alterations have been made from time to time.
The original pews have been replaced by more modern ones, and the
old-fashioned pulpit, with sounding board, is gone. In its place are a
reading desk and pulpit of recent design.

The baptismal font and communion table alone remain of the
original furniture.

The old brick wall around the church and burying-ground, which,
in many places, was pushed by the growing trees from the original
foundation, was partially restored under the rectorship of the Rev.
A. R. Walker, and neat and substantial iron gates were hung at the
three entrances.

The old sun dial, which bears on its face 'the name of Philip Smith
and the date 1717, has been removed from its post before the church
and is now kept in the rectory. It? face has been but little marred

226

by exposure to the elements, and it will soon be restored to its former
place.

At the foot of the hill is a limpid spring, where thirsty worshippers
have been wont to refresh themselves by aid of an iron ladle placed
ihere many years ago by kind-hearted Presley Cox, whose initials are
impressed on the bowl.

In a recent history of the church, published by the committee having
the bicentennial exercises in charge, and from which much of this
article is prepared, is the following interesting statement:

"This quaint relic of Colonial Virginia has stood through two
centuries of changing scenes, and has experienced a variety of usages,
little contemplated by those whose pious hands laid its foundations.
For three quarters of a century, loyal subjects of his Britannic Majesty
were required to assemble here each Sunday, and attend divine ser-
vices, under penalty of the forfeiture of a goodly quantity of tobacco.

"With the rise of Republicanism, the sins of the fathers of the
Church were visited upon it, and it fell into neglect and decay. In
turn, it became a soldiers' barrack, a school house by day, the nightly
resting-place for the beasts of the field, the roosting-place of birds
of the air, and the habitat of all creeping things — its sun-warm bricks
the striped lizards' paradise. Later, it was the scene of the conflict
between rival sects that fought for the right of exclusive occupancy;
and during the Civil War it afforded shelter for the home guard."

The church, though very old, was not the earliest known as Yeo-
comico church.

This statement is made by the Rev. G. W. Beale, of Hague, Va.,
a gentleman well versed in its history. The earliest vestrymen of
the parish were Nicholas Jurnew, John Powell and Richard Holden,
who were chosen August 22, 1655. Mr. Beale gives a long list of names
of heads of families who were immigrants to Westmoreland and wor-
shipped at Yeocomico, between the years 1655 and 1706, among whom
are the following:

Col. Isaac Allerton, Dr. John Gerrard, Captain John Newton, Samuel
Rust, Col. George Eskridge, William Payne, William Wigginton, Sam-
uel Bonum, Richard Lee, Daniel McCarthy, Presley Cox, Daniel Tibbs;
and of later date, Dr. James Steptoe, Rev. David Currie, Gawin Corbin,
George Lee, Robert Carter and Nicholas Minor.

The old Parker home, "Springfield," was near the church, and here,
no doubt, worshipped General Alexander Parker, a soldier of the
Revolution, who also fought with "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the

227

Indian wars. In the churchyard is the grave of Daniel McCarthy, who
represented the county in the Assembly of Burgesses in 1715, and
was Speaker of the House. The Southern Churchman, in 1888, pub-
lished the following:

"Close to the base of the right and east gable is the rocky founda-
tion of a vault, in size 15x18 feet; it is now a grassy mound with
several cedar trees growing upon it. Near the center of this mound is
a gray stone tablet, much defaced by time, and it was only afte'
repeated efforts that I have finally succeeded in making out the m
scription, which is as follows: 'Here lyeth the body of Daniel McCarty,

who departed this life the fourth of 1724, in the forty-fifth year

of his age. He was endowed with many virtues and good qualifica-
tions, but the actions proceeding from them bespeak their praise. Here
also lyeth the body of Thaddeus McCarty, youngest son to Daniel
McCarthy, Esq., who died the 7 of February, 1731, in the 19 year of
his age.

"Near this place likewise is the body of Penelope, wife to Daniel
McCarty, second son of Daniel McCarty, Esq., and daughter to
Christine Higgens, Gent, who departed this life the 26 of March, 1732,
in the 19 year of her age, with one child."

In more modern times the list of honored names among the worship-
pers at Yeocomico are great, many being those of descendants of the
good and true of other years.

Special mention is to be made of Mr. John E. Crabbe, of the last
generation, who, after a successful career as a member of a Baltimore
firm, returned to Cople Parish. His son, Mr. Walter Randolph
Crabbe, has been for many years registrar of the parish.

Mr. James Arnest, Dr. Watt H. Tyler, father of the Diocesan Arch-
deacon, Col. Robert H. Mayo, Mr. E. C. Griffith, and others, figured
prominently in the later history and growth of the old church.

In reference to the rectors and vestries of Yeocomico, the early re-
cords have not been preserved, and it is impossible to give an accu-
rate list of the successive clergymen who had charge. From Bishop
Meade it is learned that the first minister of whom there is record was
the Rev. Charles Rose— 1754-'58. It is stated unauthoritatively that
the Rev. Mr. Bricken preceded Mr. Rose. The Rev. Thomas Smith
was minister 1773-'76. He was probably preceded by the Rev. Augus-
tine Smith. In 1779, the name of the Rev. James Elliot appears, and the
next minister of whom there is record was the Rev. Washington Nel-
son in 1835. In 1842, he was succeeded by the Rev. William N. Ward,

228

and he, in 1849, by the Rev. Theodore N. Rumney, afterwards rector
or St. Peter's church, Germantown, Philadelphia. The Rev. Edward
McGuire succeeded Mr. Rumney in 1850, and in 1852 and 1854, the rec-
tors were, successively, the Rev. William McGuire, the Rev. T. Grayson
Dashiell. During the Civil War, the Rev. Charles J. Rodeter was in
charge of the parish.

Within the present generation, the following clergymen have officiated
in the order named: Rev. John J. Lloyd, Rev. Pendleton Brooke, Rev.
Robert A. Castleman, Rev. David P. Ward, Rev. Austin B. Chinn, Rev.
Albert Rhett Walker, Rev. Frank Ridout and Rev. Charles H. Gross.

Besides the vestrymen elected in 1655, mentioned by Mr. Beale, there
is record of an election held in 1755, when the following were
chosen: John Bushrod, Daniel Tebbs, Richard Lee, Benedict Middle-
ton, George Lee, John Newton, Willowby Newton, Robert Middleton,
Samuel Oldham, Robert Carter, Fleet Cox, and James Steptoe.

At an election immediately following the Revolution, the following
vestry was chosen: Vincent Marmaduke, Jeremiah G. Bailey, John A.
Washington, Samuel Rust, John Crabb, Richard Lee, George Garner,
George Turberville, Patrick Sanford, John Rochester, and Samuel Tem-
pleman.

The exercises commemorative of the 200th anniversary, were deeply
Interesting. They began on Sunday, July 15, 1906, and were in charge of
the Bishop of the Diocese. The congregation was large, people coming
from far and near to attest their regard for the old church, surrounded
with so many associations sacred to them all.

CHRIST CHURCH, LANCASTER COUNTY.
VIRGINIA.

BY WILLIAM G. STANABD, COERESPONDINQ SECRETAEY OF THE VIRGINIA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE most perfect example of Colonial church architecture now
remaining in Virginia is Christ church, Lancaster county. It
is now, with the exception of some minor details, almost as it
came from the hands of its builders in 1732. Every other
church in the State has suffered more or less alteration. Even beauti-
ful old Bruton is just being restored, after a long interval, to what
Christ church is now and always has been.

While Christ church has never been out of the possession of those
of the faith of the founders of the parish, the congregation was for a
number of years so small that only occasional services were held in it.
During an era of bad taste, and a lack of intelligent interest in the
past, when more crowded churches .were altered, ruthlessly sometimes,
to meet the supposed needs of the worshippers, there was not only no
call for any alteration in this venerable building, but, owing to econo-
mic changes and the building of other churches in the county, it was
almost abandoned.

We know but little of the civil or religious history of the country at
the mouth of the Rappahannock before the formation of Lancaster
county in 1652. By an act of Assembly in 1641 the settlement of that
part of the Colony was authorized to begin during the following year,
and when the county records commence in 1652, there was evidently
a considerable population along the rivers and inlets thereabout.

A vestry book, beginning in 1654, was once in existence and was
seen by Bishop Meade, but it disappeared during his life, and now its
contents are only known through his brief extracts. Fortunately '.'ae
county records are entire from 1652, and if carefully examined for
the purpose, would no doubt afford much more information as regards
the Church history than the writer has had time to gather during
visits to Lancaster county.

Before a parish was formed there was doubtless a minister of the
Church of England in the community. Rev. Thos. Sax, "an unworthy
servant of God" (as he styles himself in his will), who died In 1654,

230

was doubtless this first minister. He was probably followed by John
Gorsuch, "Proffessor in Divinity." Mr. Gorsuch, who died before April
1, 1C57, was one of the many Cavaliers who fled to Virginia during the
civil wars in England. He had been rector of Walkholme, Hertford-
shire, and married a sister of Richard Lovelace, the poet. Through his
descendants, the Todds of Gloucester county, he has had many staunch
representatives in the Church.

At the formation of the county, in 1652, it included both sides of the
Rappahannock river for an indefinite distance to the west, and contain-
ed two parishes, known, from their location, as North Side and South
Side. The court records have an entry of the selection, on April 1,
1652, of William Clapham, Jr., as sidesman, and John Taylor and Ed-
mund Lum as wardens for North Side. In 1654 the county was again
divided into two parishes; but in a different manner. The Lower
parish contained the present Lancaster and Middlesex, and the Upper,
the present Essex and Richmond.

Meade states that about this time there were four parishes in the
county — Lancaster and Piankitank on the south side, and White
Chapel and Christ church on the north. The history of these little
parishes is vague, and no attempt need be made to go into it at
all thoroughly. The genesis of the large parish from several small
ones is a familiar feature of our early Church history.

The division of 1654 was made after the surrender of Virginia to
Parliament. By the terms of the surrender, dated March 12, 1651-2,
the use of the Prayer Book was permitted for one year longer, with
the consent of the major part of the parish, provided that the portions
relating to the King and the royal government should not be used
publicly. It is probable that the latter provision was observed, but
there is no evidence that, otherwise, the public use of the regular form
of worship of the Church of England was ever abandoned. The As-
sembly could not (without a conflict with the Parliamentary authori-
ties) uphold the King's religion; but the same end was reached by
leaving the parishes to manage their own affairs. This meant that the
old faith would be retained.

The order for the division of 1654 appears in the court records as
follows:

"At a court held at ye house of Mr. Da. Fox, Aug'st ye 7th 1654 for
ye countye of Lancaster

231
"Pres't: Major John Carter, Mr. Toby Smith, Mr. Ja. W'mson, Oapt
Hen Pleete, Mr. Rich. Lees, Mr. Ja. Bagnall

Memor'd. ye county of Lancaster is divided into two parishes,

ye inhabitants being sumoned to hereto giving their votes herein,
vizt: ye lower parish to begin on ye right'nd side of Moratican river
& to include ye westward side to ye head thereof, & soe into ye woods
E. by N. & on ye south side from ye lower marked end of ye land
of Rich. Bennett, Esq'r, now in the possession of Rice Jones, & thence
S. W. into ye woods, ye w'ch two places are to be the hounds between
ye two parishes, ye upp & ye lower."

The men associated with the making of these early parishes were
all adherents of the old Establishment, and have innumerable descend-
ants still well known to the Episcopal Church. David Pox, in his will,
dated and proved in 1669, gave 20 pounds sterling to the glazing and
other uses of St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster, and his son, Capt.
William Fox, in his will, dated 1717, directed that "My wife shall send
for the Lord's Prayer & Creed well drawn in gold letters & my name
under each of them, set in decent black frames," as a gift to St. Mary's
White Chapel, and also left to that church "the font that came In
this year." Capt. Fox's gifts still remain in old St. Mary's. A contem-
porary, George Spencer, of Lancaster, by his will dated March 3,
1691, gave to St. Mary's 10,000 pounds of tobacco, 20 pounds sterling
for the purchase of a piece of Communion plate, and also gave a "Cur-
plice." It may be noted here that Christ church and St. Mary's were
so often in the same parish, that though the history of the buildings
is, of course, different, their parish history may be considered as prac-
tically the same.

John Carter, whose name appears first among the members of the
court, was the immigrant ancestor of that distinguished "Virginia fami-
ly, and the leading man in the parish at this time, while James Wil-
liamson, through his descendants, the Balls, was ancestor of many
people well known in the Church.

Henry Fleet (a man of note in his day) had a grandson of the same
name, who left, in 1730, twenty pounds to the poor of Christ church, to
be distributed by the vestry, while a descendant bearing the family sur-
name, is, together with a son of the Bishop-Coadjutor of Southern Vir-
ginia, a Rhodes scholar from Virginia at Oxford.

On April 1, 1657, appears among the court records an agreement of
the people of Lancaster with Mr. Samuel Cole to serve as a minister.

232

they to pay him 10,000 pounds of tobacco and cask for the present
year. Mr. Cole died before September 28, 1659.

For a time the parishes of Lancaster seem to have had only occas-
ional services from the ministers of other parishes.

On October 27, 1658, tne county court ordered a payment to David
Linsey, minister, on account of his pains in the performance of his
duties. Mr. Lindsey, who is stated in his epitaph to have been a
doctor of divinity, was minister of a Northumberland parish.

About the same time the Lancaster parishes must have been visited
by Rev. William White, minister of York parish. Else how, in those
times of little traveling, could he have met Martha, widow of Thomas
Brice, gentleman, of Lancaster, whose will was dated April 24, 1657,
and proved on May 8th following — the very same day on which was
recorded a marriage contract between his widow and William White.
Mr. White died shortly afterwards, and there is some reason to believe
that he was a brother of Jeremiah White, Cromwell's famous chap-
lain.

On April 1, 1657 (April 1st seems to have been the regular date for
such elections), the county records show the choice of church wardens
for the North Side.

With the formation of the parishes in 1654 began the vestry book
referred to by Bishop Meade. It would appear that though there were
really but two parishes, the Upper and Lower, yet there were separate
wardens and vestries for the diHerent sides of the river.

In 1661 the difficulty of obtaining a regular ministerial supply (a dif-
ficulty doubtless aggravated by the political uncertainty of the preced-
ing ten years) stirred the county court to action.

On October 23, 1661, the following order was made:

"This court, taking into consideration the great want of the ministry
that hath been in this countie & conceiving it to arise from the small-
ness of ye p'ishes, not able to give such a competency as may invite
mynisters to officiate amongst us the Court has therefore ordered that
the Constables in each p'ishe sum'on the inhabitants unto the usuall
place of meeting in each p'ishe or where there is no usuall place of
meeting, unto such place as the Co'ission'rs [justices] in each p'ishe
shall think meete & there being met to subscribe their resolutions con-
cerning ye following queries:

"First whether they will consent until such tymes as they bee able
to maintaine themselves to unite & joyne with the rest of the p'ishes
of this countie as one p'ishe to maintayne a minister amongst us to

233

officiate at such times & places as shall be thought fit by a general
vestry chosen by them for that purpose.

"Secondlie. What three men each p'ishe choose to make up this
generall vestry to act in all things w'ich Concerns this generall p'ishe.

"It is further ordered that Coll. John Carter, Mr. Hen. Corbyn, Mr.
David Fox & Mr. William Leich doe take the subscriptions of ye
p'ishon'rs of each p'ishe & they are hereby impowered to issue out
warrants to the respective constables for the Conveening of the people
at such times & places as ye foure p'sons is ordered to issue out
warrants to the Constables for ye sum'oning of the Inhabitants before
Mr. Leich.

"Several Copies hereof ordered to be sent to the p'sons aforesaid."

The constant and earnest efforts of Virginia legislatures, courts and
vestries, throughout the Colonial period, to promote religion and
morals, should alone be a sufficient answer to the ignorant slanderers
who have tried to besmirch the character of our people at that time.

This concentration of the strength of the several weak parishes
doubtless resulted in the building of better churches as well as in a
more regular filling of the pulpit. There had previously been some
small churches in various parts of the county; but in 1670 the first
church on the present site of Christ church, of which we
have any knowledge, was completed. Bishop Meade says that
it was erected under the care of John Carter, first of that
name. By the same authority we are told that from the begin-
ning of the vestry book of 1654 the name of John Carter appeared first
in the lists, followed by the name of the minister, and that this was
also the case with his sons, John and Robert. The Bishop was writing
from recollection after an interval of almost twenty years, and it is
possible that his memory was at fault. During the numerous meet-
ings of vestry, when there was no minister present, John Carter's name
no doubt appeared first because he was a member of the Council; but
it does not seem likely that his name usually preceded that of the
minister. Governor Nicholson once assailed Robert Carter, charging
him with arrogance, &c., and if he could have had such an example
as Carter's taking precedence of the minister in his own vestry, he
would certainly have mentioned it.

Two tombs formerly in the old church retain their places in the
present. At the side of the chancel is that of Colonel John Carter.
Much discussion has arisen from the rather confused way in which
his wives and children are mentioned. The epitaph is as follows:

234

"Here lyeth buried ye body of John Carter, Esq., who died ye 10th of
June Anno Domini 1669, and also Jane, ye daughter of Mr. Morgan
Glynn, and George her son, and Eleanor Carter, and Ann ye daughter
of Mr. Cleave Carter, and Sarah ye daughter of Mr. Gabriel Ludlow,
and Sarah her daughter, which were all his wives successively and died
before him.

"Blessed are ye dead which die in the Lord, even soe, saith the
Spirit; for they rest from Their labors, and their works do follow
them."

Colonel Carter was actually married five times, one of his wives
surviving him.

In the centre of the church, at the intersection of the aisles, is a
tomb bearing the following inscription:

"Here lyeth the body of Mr. David Miles, who died the 29th of
December, 1674, in the 40th year of his age.

"Hodie mihi. eras tibi."

Rev. Benjamin Doggett, who seems to have come from Ipswich, Eng-
land, was probably the first minister of any considerable length of
service In the parish. He died in 1682, and in his will directed that
his books be collected, packed in a "great chest," and sent to England
for sale. He is believed to have been ancestor of the distinguished bishop
of the name in that daughter of the Church of England — the Methodist
Episcopal Church. The next clergyman who appears in the county
records is the Rev. John Bertrand, a Huguenot, but a minister of the
Established Church, who died in 1701. Among his descendants was
Judge Cyrus Griffin, last president of the Continental Congress, and
a lay delegate to Virginia Church Councils.

In a clergy list dated 1702 Rev. John Carnegie appears as incumbent
of St. Mary's, without any name following that of Christ Church.
Doubtless he had charge of both.

The next minister, who bore the historic name of Andrew Jackson,
and who may have been of the same stock as Old Hickory or Stonewall,
left, at his death in 1710, his books to Christ church parish for the use
of the incumbent, and gave £10 sterling to "the meeting-house in
Caple Sq\iare, Dublin."

Bishop Meade, again writing from memory, says that he made his
mark in the vestry book, but if so, it must have resulted from some
temporary injury, for it was certainly not the case when he signed
papers in regard to secular affairs. The Bishop adds: "He was not

235

episcopally ordained, and this lead to a correspondence between the
vestry and one of the Governors of Virginia, at a time when an order
came from England requiring all holding livings to he episcopally or-
dained should be enforced in Virginia. They plead that he had been
serving the parish faithfully for twenty-five years, that he was much
esteemed and beloved, and had brought up a large family of children,
and laid up something for them from his industrious culture of the
glebe (then and now a good farm near the church)." Mr. Jackson
remained minister of the parish until his death, though, as far as his
will shows, he left neither wife nor children. He appears to have been
an emigrant from Belfast, Ireland, and had, no doubt, been a Presby-
terian minister.

His successor was Rev. John Bell, who was incumbent until his death
In 1743. His Inventory shows that he owned land in Lancaster and
Prince William, forty-three slaves, &c.

The ministry of Rev. David Currie, who succeeded, was only termi-
nated by his death in 1792. He was a faithful and useful man. Meade
gives a pleasant letter from Charles Carter, of Shirley, to Mr. Currie,
In which he tells him that he had put in his will a bequest of 500
acres of land for life to Mrs. Currie. No doubt a most cheering epistle
for a minister In the dark days of 1790.

We have interesting mention of Christ church during Mr. Currie's
pre-Revolutionary ministry in the diary of Colonel James Gordon, of
Merry Point, Lancaster. Colonel Gordon was one of the leading men
of the county and of fervent piety; but he was of the old type of Scotch-
Irishman, and of what has been called "High-Church Presbyterianism."
As Mr. Currie sometimes preached against the Presbyterian Church, it
is not surprising that Colonel Gordon did not admire him. How-
ever, he and the members of his family frequently attended
"church," as he called it, in contradistinction to the "meet-
fng-house," as he names the place of worship of his own
faith. On August 26, 1758, he writes: "At home with my wife
and family, where I have much more comfort than going to church
to hear the ministers ridiculing the Dissenters." And on October 7th:
"Went with my wife to White Chapel church, where we heard Mr.
Currie — a very indifferent discourse — nothing scarce but external
modes; much against Presbyterians— so that I was much disappointed,
for it was misspending the Lord's Day." At the same time Colonel
Gordon was a member of the vestry.

236

There were two flourishing Presbyterian churches at that time In
Lancaster, and no doubt the contrast in preaching between good Par-
son Currie, who after the old fashion, probably read his sermons with
(from his nationality) a Scotch accent, and Davies, Whitfield and
Waddell (afterwards Wirt's famous blind orator), who officiated at the
"meeting-house," was very strong.

After Mr. Currie's death the parish was for many years irregularly
served. These were the dark days of the Church in Virginia. Be-
tween 1792 and 1832 appear the names of Leland, Page, McNaughton
and Low. Bishop Meade says the two latter were unworthy men.
There is some reason to believe, however, that poor Low suffered from
some mental infirmity. Born of very humble parents, he early showed
great talents, and before leaving Scotland was the author of at least
one song, "Mary's Dream," which was long popular in that kingdom.

In 1832 Rev. Ephraim Adams took charge of the parish and con-
tinued its minister for four years. He was followed in 1839 by Rev.
Francis McGuire, in 1844-1845 by Mr. Richmond, in 1850 and 1852 by
Mr. Nash, and in 1853 by Rev. Edmund Withers. He was followed in
succession by Revs. George May, H. L. Derby, E. B. Burwell, Mr. Micou
and L. R. Combes, the present rector.

In tracing the series of ministers of the parish, the event which
makes it pre-eminent among Virginia parishes — the erection of the
fine church, which still stands, unaltered — has been passed over.

The church built in 1670 became too small for the congregation, and
a larger one, with some change of location, was considered. Robert
Carter, of Corotoman, even then known as "King Carter," offered, if
the site was retained, to build one at his own expense. In his will,
dated August 26, 1728, he made the following bequest;

"It is my will and I do ordain that whenever the vestry of Christ
church parish shall undertake to build a brick church in the place
where the present church stands, that there be paid out of my estate
by my three elder sons & ex'ors the sum of £200 sterling money; one
half part of this money to be paid out of my son .lohn's estate, the other
half is to be equally paid by my son Robert and my son Charles out
of their part of my estate, this money to remain in my ex'or's hands
until one-half the work is completed, provided alwaies the Chancel be
preserved as a burial place for my family as the present chancel is,
and that there be preserved to my family a commodious pew in the
new chancel; & and it is my further will that the bricks that are now
made & burnt shall be appropriated to the building of the said Brick
church, or as many thereof as will perfect the building, and likewise

237

the bricks that shall be made & be there at my decease, and if my son
John shall have occasion to make use of any of the said bricks, then he
be obliged to make & burn as many more for the use aforesaid. I
give twenty pounds sterling to be laid out in a piece of plate for the
use of our church to be sent for and engraved according to the direc-
tion of my son John."

Colonel Carter not only made this bequest in his -will, but when the
work was undertaken in his lifetime gave largely in addition. The
vestry book quoted by Bishop Meade (an extract from which is pre-
served by one of the Carter descendants) shows that he bore the en-
tire cost of building, reserving one-fourth of the church for his ser-
vants and tenants, besides a very large pew near the chancel for his
immediate family. Tradition says that the congregation did not enter
on Sunday until the arrival of his coach, when they followed the
"King" into church. A map of the great Corotoman estate remains
in the clerk's office at Lancaster Courthouse. It contained 8,000 acres
and stretched along the bank of the Corotoman river and far out into
the country, extending beyond the present Kilmarnock, and Including
the present Irvington. A close set hedge of cedar trees, many of which
still remain, ran on both sides of a straight road, three miles from
Corotoman house, on the Rappahannock, to the church. Bishop
Meade's description of the church, as he saw it in 1838, is worth re-
peating:

"My next appointment was at Christ church, Lancaster, on the 23d
of June. This was the day appointed by the Convention to be observed
as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer on account of the languor
In the Church, and the sins and troubles In the nation. No temple of
religion, and no spot in the Diocese could have been selected more in
accordance with the solemn duty of that day than the old and vener-
able church in which three of God's ministers were assembled. I
preached a sermon adapted to the occasion, and then proposed that
those who were minded to spend the day as the Church recommended
should remain for some hours at that place in suitable religious exer-
cises. A goodly number complied with the invitation, and after an
interval of perhaps an hour, which was spent in surveying the building
and the tombs around this ancient house of God, another service was
performed, and a second appropriate discourse was preached by the
Rev. Mr. Nelson, the service having been performed by Mr. Francis
McGuire, the present minister of the parish. The past history and

present condition of this hallowed spot and temple deserve a more
particular notice. This notice Is derived from the memorials furnish-
ed by the house itself, the tombstones around and within, and the ves-
try book of the parish, kept from the year 1654 to 1770, to which I
had access."

The Bishop then describes the building of the earlier church, and
Robert Carter's offer to build a new one, and continues: "The offer was
cheerfully accepted, and the present house was completed about the
time of Mr. Carter's death — that is, about the year 1732 — and exhibits
to this day one of the most striking monuments of the fidelity of an-
cient architecture to be seen in the land. Very few, if any, repairs
have been put upon it; the original roof and shingles now cover the
house and have preserved in a state of perfection the beautiful arched
ceilings, except in two places, which have within a few years been a
little discolored by the rain, which found its way through the gutters
where the shingles have decayed. The walls of the house are three feet
thick, perfect and sound. The windows are large and strong, having
probably two-thirds of the original glass in them. The pews are of
the old fashion, high-backed and very firm. A very large one near the
altar, and opposite the pulpit, together with the whole north cross of
the building, was especially reserved by Mr. Carter for the use of his
family and dependents in all time to come.

"It deserves to be mentioned that, in addition to the high backs,
which always concealed the family and prevented any of them from
gazing around when sitting or kneeling, a railing of brass rods, with
damask curtains, was put around the top of the pew, except the part
opposite to the pulpit, in order, it is supposed, to prevent the indul-
gence of curiosity when standing. These remained until a few years
since, and parts of them may probably yet be found in the possession
of neighbors or relatives. In further evidence of the fidelity with
which the house was built, I would mention that the pavement of the
aisles, which is of large freestone, is yet solid and smooth, as though
it was the work of yesterday. The old walnut Communion table also
stands firm and unimpaired, and not a round from the railing of the
chancel is gone or even loosened. The old marble font, the largest and
most beautiful I ever saw, is still there; and, what will scarce be cred-
ited, the old cedar dial-post, with the name of John Carter, 1702, and
which was only removed a few years since from its station without the
door, where it was planted In the ground, is still to be seen in its place

239

of security under the pulpit. In suoli a house, surrounded by such me-
morials, it was delightful to read the Word of God and the prayers of
the Church from the old desk, to pronounce the commandments from
the altar near which the two tables of the law, the creed and the Lord's
Prayer are still to be seen, in large and legible characters, and then to
preach the words of eternal life from the high and lofty pulpit, which
seemed, as it were, to be hung in the air. Peculiarly delightful it was
to raise the voice in such utterances in a house whose sacred form and
beautiful arches seemed to give force and music to the feeblest tongue
beyond any other building in which I ever performed or heard the
hallowed services of the sanctuary. The situation of the church,
though low and surrounded on two of its sides by woodlands, with
thick undergrowths, is not without its peculiar interest. A few acres
of open land, with some very large trees, chiefly spreading walnuts,
furnish ample room for the horses and vehicles of those who attend it.
An old decayed wall with a number of graves and tombstones around
the house, add no little to the solemnity of the scene. Among these,
at the east end of the house, within a decent enclosure, recently put
up, are to be seen the tombs of Robert Carter, the builder of the house,
and his two wives. These are probably the largest and richest and
heaviest tombstones in our land. A long Latin inscription is seen on
that of Mr. Carter. While the tomb of the husband is entire, those of
the wives appear to have been riven by lightning and are separating
and falling to pieces." Writing of the church as it was in 1853, the
Bishop said: "When a few years since it was repaired, the only re-
pairs required were a new roof (and but for the failure in the gutters
that would have been unnecessary), the renewal of the cornices, sup-
plying the broken glass, and painting the pews, pulpit, &c. All the rest
were in the most perfect state of soundness. The shingles, except in
the old decayed gutters, were so good that they were sold to the neigh-
bors around, and will probably now last longer than many new ones
just gotten from the woods. * * * In taking off the roof of old
Christ church for the purpose of renewing it, the secret of the durability
of the plastering was discovered. Besides having mortar of the most te-
nacious kind and of the purest white, and laths much thicker and
stronger than those now in use, and old English wrought nails, the
mortar was not only pressed with a strong hand through the openings
of the laths, but clinched on the other side by a trowel in the hand of
one above, so as to be fast keyed and kept from falling.

240

"In all respects the hovise appears to have been built in the most du-
rable manner, but without any of the mere trinkets of architecture.
The form and proportion of the house are also most excellent, and
make a profound impression on the mind and eye of the beholder.
Though the walls are three feet thick, yet such is their height and such
the short distance between the windows and doors, and such the effect
of the ilgure of the cross, that there is no appearance of heaviness
about them. The roof or roofs are also steep and high and take the
place of tower or steeple."

Since Bishop Meade wrote, the Civil War and the poverty and dis-
tress which followed it have come. The venerable old church has suf-
fered further from vandalism, and on account of the weakened condi-
tion of the supports of the pulpit, services have been rarely held. This
noble example, as well of the skill and thoroughness of the mechanics
of the past, as to its pious liberality, has defied alike time and human
destructiveness, and stands to-day, needing only a few hundred dollars
to make it again a perfect example of the Eighteenth Century Colonial
church.

Though the roof had become leaky, portions of the gallery and pulpit
stair-railing carried off by relic-hunters, most of the windows broken
by passing vandals, the Creed and Commandments torn from their
frames, the tombs in the yard broken into fragments (it is stated in
the neighborhood that a large piece of the tomb of Robert Carter, con-
taining the coat-of-arms, was stolen and carried away not many years
ago by a party who were on the Rappahannock in a yacht belonging
to a well-known New York man), and even the baptismal font broken,
the main fabric of the church within and without remains as when
built. The high pulpit, with the sounding-board above it, and the
clerk's desk below; the great pews of black walnut, some of them ca-
pable of holding twenty people, and the rock-like plaster on the walls,
remain as they were, only needing comparatively slight repairs and
refreshing.

Mr. R. S. Mitchell, of Irvington, who has long been a vestryman of
the parish, and has been indefatigable in his efforts towards the resto-
ration of the old church, has furnished measurements of the building.
It is In the form of a Greek cross, the main body of the church and
the transepts measuring externally sixty-eight feet. As the walls are
three feet thick, the interior dimensions are sixty-two feet. The ceil-
ing, which forms a groined arch over the intersection of the aisles. Is

241

thirty-three feet from the floor, and the top of the roof is ten feet
higher. The flooring of the aisles, of slabs of freestone, is still solid
and smooth, while the raised plank flooring of the pews is, in most in-
stances, in fair condition.

There are three round windows in the gahles, and twelve others,
which are six by fourteen feet. The high pews, of solid black walnut,
with seats running around them, are still solid and strong, but ths
woodwork is dull from age. There are twenty-five pews, twenty-two
with a seating capacity of twelve each, and three which will contain
twenty persons each. These latter were for the Carter family and at-
tendants, and for the magistrates.

A few years ago the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities gave $500 toward the repair of this venerable church, and
with this and several hundred dollars raised in the parish and by other
friends, among whom should be especially noted Mrs. Rosa Wright
Smith, of Fort Hancock, N. Y., the roof was thoroughly restored, and
all the lights replaced in the windows, which are now guarded by wire
screens; a barbed wire fence was put around the churchyard, and a
person living nearby employed to watch the church. Therefore, there
is no further danger of the desecration from which the church has so
often suffered.

Only a few hundred dollars is now required to restore this most in-
teresting relic of our past to its original condition. The pews and thfi
great double doors, each separate door measuring five by twelve feet,
only need oiling and cleaning to be restored to their original color and
polish. One gate is missing from the chancel rail; most of the railing
to pulpit and gallery stairs is gone, as is also one foot of the old Com-
munion table, and, as has been stated, the Creed and Commandments
have been torn from the frames, which still, however, remain. The
rays on the sounding-board need regilding, and the font, which Bishop
Meade said was the largest and most beautiful he ever saw, requires
a skilled hand to place together the four pieces into which some sav-
ages (said to have been a party of drunken sailors) have broken it.
With these things done, we will have an unchanged example of a Co-
lonial church of the first class.

It is hoped that all who may feel an interest in this restoration,
whether from an antiquarian, religious or family point of view, will
aid the good work.

Such is Christ church, and such, imperfectly told, is the history. It

242

is the only Colonial church in Virginia erected by one man, and it is
the only one of that period which has come down to us unaltered. It
Is a monument to the pious generosity as well as to the great estate of
Robert Carter, and the spot was intimately associated with the Carter
family for four or five generations. The descendants of the founder
of the church, in his own and hundreds of other names, have spread
throughout the country, and many of them have prospered greatly in
worldly affairs. The majority of them still adhere to the faith of their
ancestor. What a fine work it would be if the descendants of this
founder would make the old church their own especial charge, make
the small repairs necessary and endow it so that there might always
be an assistant to the rector of the parish (now containing three other
churches), who would regularly officiate at Christ church. The country
surrounding it is now becoming one of the most prosperous sections
of rural Virginia, the opportunity for effective work is very great, and
the fine old church, no longer a mere antiquarian relic, would become
a potent factor for good in the Diocese and State. Could any man
have a nobler monument?

CHRIST CHURCH. MIDDLESEX, COUNTY.
VIRGINIA

BY THE EEV. JOHN MONCUKE, D. D.

^ p^HE county of Middlesex is a narrow peninsula, lying between
the Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers. Its eastern boun-
dary is washed by the waters of the historic Chesapeake Bay,
and It was therefore easily accessible to the earliest settlers
of the country.

Originally, Lancaster county embraced the territory on both sides
of the Rappahannock for many miles. From this Middlesex was form-
ed on the southern shore. Records in the Virginia Land Oifice in
Richmond show that this division occurred as early as 1669. The
original county-seat of Lancaster was located in what is now Mid-
dlesex.

The settlement of this section was probably as early, or even
earlier, as it is nearer the ocean, than the present county of Lancas-
ter. Many of the original settlers coming from Middlesex, in Eng-
land, transferred the name of the old home to the new, thus bringing
the mother land closer to them. The county is one on which nature
has smiled benignly. Rich soil, salubrious climate, beautiful scenery,
in which the water forms a very attractive feature, and every facility
known in Virginia for living comfortably. Some of the best people
in our land in early days established their homes in this county. And
some of the old-time mansions are still to be seen, retaining vestiges
of former grandeur and reminding the contemplative of the attrac-
tiveness of old-time Virginia life.

Until separation of the territory into two counties, one minister
served the whole, though there were two parishes on either side of the
river. Those on the south side were called Lancaster and Pianka-
tank, and in 1666 they became one again, under the name of Christ
church, Lancaster county.

Very fortunately the original Vestry Book has been preserved, and
from it much valuable information has been obtained in reference to
the early Church history of the county. This book Bishop Meade had
access to when preparing the article on the Parishes in Middlesex, in

244

his "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of A''irginia," and tor most
of the information in this article the writer is indebted to the matter
which he obtained therefrom.

In 1650 the churches in the district now covered -by the two coun-
ties were in charge of the Rev. Samuel Cole. In 1666 the name of
the Rev. Mr. Morris appears as minister. It was during his rector-
ship, or a short time thereafter, that some dissensions arose as to
the bounds of the two parishes, which led to their reunion.

The first entry in the old Vestry Book states that Mr. Henry Cor-
bin had been appointed to keep the register of the parish, according
to a late act of Assembly.

The vestry oath is an item of great interest. It is as follows:

"I, A. B., as I do acknowledge myself a true son of the Church ot
England, so dc I believe the Articles of Faith therein professed, and
oblige myself to be comformable to the doctrine and discipline therein
taught and established, and that as a vestryman of Christ church, I
will well and truly perform my duty therein, being directed by the
laws and customs of this country, and the Canons of the Church ot
England, so far as they will suit our present capacity; and this I shall
sincerely do, according to the best of my knowledge, skill and cunning,
without fear, favor, or partiality; and so help me God."

In 1666 the vestry resolved to build a mother church, after the model
of that at Williamsburg, the glass and iron to be im.ported from
England. This was done at a point midway between Brandon and
Rosegill, the seats of the Grymes and Wormley families, not far from
the Rappahannock. This was used until 1712, when a new one was
built in the same place.

On the 29th of January, 1666, it was resolved to continue the Rev.
Mr. Morris as minister, but that he be not inducted. On the next day
he was paid his salary and dismissed, probably because of a natural
objection to the terms of his call.

In the same year a glebe was purchased and the Rev. John Shephard
called as minister for six months. At the expiration of that time
he was called for twelve months, and then permanently. Mr. Shep-
hard was evidently a man of piety and ability, for at his death the
following minute was recorded in the Vestry Book:

"It is ordered by this present vestry, that whereas it has pleased
Almighty God to take out of this life Mr. John Shephard, our latt
Worthy minister, and this vestry and the whole parish desiring to
'lave his place supplied with a gentleman of good life and doctrine

245

and a true son of the Church of England; and they knowing of none
such at present in this country, but have benefices— it is therefore
unanimously agreed by the vestry that the Hon. Ralph Wormley, Esq.,
and Mr. Robert Smith be desired and empowered to write, in the name
of this vestry, to the Hon. the Lady Agatha Chichely, and Major
General Robert Smith — who, it is hoped, are now safe in London — to
request them, or either of them, that they will please to take the trou-
ble to procure a fit minister in England to come over and supply the
place of Mr. Shephard."

In this resolution the vestry pledged themselves not to employ any
one except temporarily until the clergyman came from England, whom
they agreed to accept as their minister, offering for his support the
use of the glebe lands, which contained four hundred acres, and an
annual allowance of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco and caske,
besides all perquisites and other profits.

During the vacancy the parish was supplied by the Rev. Superiors
Davis.

In November of that year Major General Robert Smith returned
from England with the new rector, the Rev. Deuell Read. Mr. Read
served the parish seven years, and proved a worthy successor to Mr.
Shephard. He arranged for a monthly administration of the Blessed
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the mother church. "And, more-
over, that this great solemn mystery might as well worthily as fre-
quently be observed, he did frankly and freely promise a sermon at
the said church monthly, that is to say, on the Saturday in the after-
noon, for the guiding the Communion — Not doubting that all parents
and masters of families, who ponder the everlasting welfare of souls
committed to their charge, would readily comply, and allow convenient
liberty to their children and servants to repair to church at such times,
there to be instructed and prepared for this religious duty."

This act was a very important step in religious growth, inasmuch
as by act of Assembly, which was a renewal of one of the Canons of
the Church of England, it was only required that the Sacrament be
administered twice a year, and in this case it was proposed to have
it in the mother church, which was but midway of a parish forty
miles in length. There were two other churches, at either end of the
county. At a later date, however, the communion was administered
in all of them.

After his resignation Mr. Read returned to England, and there is
an entry In the Vestry Book as follows:

246

"I, Deuell Read, late of Middlesex in Virginia, having lived In the
county for at least seven years past, and received divers kindnesses
from the parishioners thereof, and Almighty God in His great good-
ness, having preserved me through many dangers In my return to
England, and being most kindly received by my Right Honorable and
Right Rev. Henry, Lord Bishop of London, do. In point of gratitude
to Almighty God, and in honour for the Church of England, freely
give and bestow, for the use of my successors in the said parish, four
milch cows and calves, four breeding sows, a mare and colt, to be
delivered on the glebe of said parish to the next incumbent, he to
enjoy them and their increase for his own use, and leaving the like
number and quality on his death to his successors; humbly requesting
my aforesaid Right Rev. Diocesan to give charge to his Commissary
there to take care herein, and to settle it In such manner as to him
shall seem fit, according to the true intent hereof. Witness my hand
in London, this 12th day of November, in the second year of our
Sovereign Lord and Lady King William and Queen Mary, etc. Deuell
Read."

In Imitation of this act, another entry states that: "The following
gentlemen, Vestrymen of the parish, viz.: Henry Corbln, Richard
Perrott, Abraham Weeks, John Hastewood, Richard Cock, Robert
Chewning, agree, each of them, to mark one cow-calf with a crop In
the right ear, to be kept, as well as their own cattle, until they be
two years old, then given to the vestry as stock for the parish." In
1692 the Rev. Matthew Lldford was chosen minister, and died after a
rectorship of one year. He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Gray,
who In 1698, after serving the parish most unworthily, agreed to resign
on the payment to him of a certain amount of tobacco. His career
was a dark cloud In the history of the church.

It may be stated here, however, that the ministry of the Church In
these early days, as shown by the records of this parish, will compare
favorably with that of any period and of any religious body. Bad
men there were then, as there are now, among all Church bodies,
but they were the exception.

In 1669 the Rev. Robert Yates became rector, and continued so
until about 1704, when ill health compelled his return to England.
His record was evidently that of a good and true man, for his vestry
continued his salary for some time in hope of his return. The Rev.
Bartholomew Yates (supposed to be his son) succeeded him. He
served the parish as minister for eighteen years, when he was called

247

to York-Hampton Parish. His vestry increased his salary to two
thousand pounds of tobacco, in order to retain his services, and on
the Vestry Book is the copy of a petition to the General Assembly,
signed by John Robinson, to take measures to have him remain where
he was so highly esteemed. He continued in Middlesex, therefore,
until his death, which occurred in 1734, thus completing a rectorship
of thirty years.

Mr. Yates had sons in England at college, and the vestry decided
to wait two years until his son, Bartholomew, was ordained. In the
meantime the parish was served by the Rev. Messrs. John Reade and
Emmanuel Jones, from parishes nearby. Rev. Bartholomew Yates 2d
was rector for twenty-five years, serving the parish until 1767.

Nine years before this date, the Rev. William Yates and the Rev.
Robert Yates were ministers in the adjoining parishes of Petsworth
and Abingdon, in Gloucester county, and they were either grandsons
or great-grandsons of the Rev. Robert Yates, the family thus con-
tributing great strength to the Church in its early days in Virginia.

A large tombstone was placed over the grave of the Rev. Bartholo-
mew Yates in the churchyard. It is still in its place, and hears the
following inscription: "Here lie the remains of the Rev. Bartholomew
Yates, who departed this life the 26th day of July, 1734, in the fifty-
seventh year of his age. He was one of the visitors of William and
Mary College, as also Professor of Divinity in that Royal Founda-
tion. In the conscientious discharge of his duty, few ever equalled
him, none ever surpassed him. He explained the doctrine by his
practice, and taught and led the way to heaven. Cheerfulness, the
result of innocence, always sparkled in his face, and, by the sweet-
ness of his temper, he gained universal good will. His consort enjoyed
In him a tender husband, his children an indulgent father, his ser-
vants a gentle master, his acquaintances a faithful friend. He was
minister of this parish upwards of thirty years; and to perpetuate
his memory, this monument is erected at the charge of his friends
and parishioners."

The descendants of Mr. Yates are many and honored in different
parts of the State.

In 1767 the Rev. John Klug became rector, and, it is thought, con-
tinued so until his death, in 1795. His ministry was also marked by
deep piety and earnestness, and his works lived after him. He was
succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Heffernon, whose ministry was one of shame
and dishonor. He was rector for eighteen years, the Church suffering

248

from his presence. At the time of his death, in 1813, the condition
of the church was depressing in the extreme; indeed, as Bishop Meade
says, "Its prostration was complete." This was brought about largely
by political conditions, the Church generally having suffered greatly
at that period, but an unworthy minister is responsible for much of the
sin and carelessness among his people.

The respect of sorne of the people of Middlesex for the matters of
the higher life, in those old days, is illustrated in an extract of the
will of Mr. William Churchhill, in 1711, in which he bequeathed one
hundred pounds sterling to the vestry of Christ Church Parish, Middle-
sex, to be placed at interest, the proceeds to be given the minister,
provided he preached four quarterly sermons each year against the
four reigning vices, viz.: Atheism (meaning living without God in
the world) and irreligion; swearing and cursing; fornication and
adultery and drunkenness.

Twenty-five pounds were put at interest and the interest money was
to be given the clerk or sexton attending such sermon.

From 1813 to 1840 there is little record of Church work in Middlesex,
though the parish was represented in the Diocesan Council of 1821 by
Mr. James Chewning as lay delegate, and in 1840 the old mother
church was a ruin, the walls alone standing. At this date Bishop
Meade thus strikingly refers to its sad condition:

"And what has become of the mother church — the Great Church as
she is styled in her .iournal — standing in view of the wide Rappahan-
nock, midway between Rosegill and Brandon?

"More, perhaps, than fifty years ago it was deserted. Its roof de-
cayed and fell in. Everything within it returned to its native dust.
But nature abhors a vacuum. A sycamore tree sprung up within its
walls. All know the rapidity of that tree's growth. It filled the
void. Its boughs soon rose above and overspread the walls.

"In the year 1840, when it pleased God to put it into the hearts of
some in whom the spirit of Old Virginia Episcopalians still remained,
to seek the revival of the Church's dry bones in Middlesex, that huge
overspreading tree must first be removed piecemeal from the house,
and the rich mould of fifty years' accumulation, to the depth of two
feet, must be dug up before the chancel floor and the stone aisles
could be reached — faithful workmanship of other days. These were
uninjured, and may still remain, while generations of frail modern
structures pass away. The house is now one of our best country
churches. The graves of our ancestors are all around it. In scattered

249

fragments some of the tombstones lie; others too substantial to be
broken, too heavy to be borne away, now plainly tell whose remains
are protected by them.

These blessed improvements were wrought largely through the
energetic Interest of Mrs. Kemp (Barbara Minor) Gatewood, who
started the movement which resulted In the restoration of the old
church. Others assisting prominently in the work were Dr. Rowan, Dr.
Nicholson, Mr. Boswell Roy, of Rosegill; the Blackburns and Segars
and Mr. Gatewood.

In the original arrangement of the parish there were two churches
in addition to the parish church. These were situated m the upper
and lower ends of the county, respectively. The three were known
as the Upper, Lower and Middle churches. All were of brick, and
are now standing, but the Upper church is occupied by the Baptists,
who have named it "Hermitage," and the lower by the Methodists,
and is still known as the Lower church.

The Rev. Mr. Carraway, rector about 1845, writing to Bishop Meade,
thus speaks of them:

"The Upper and Lower churches or chapels are still standing. One
of them is about to be repaired by the Baptists. The Lower chapel
retains some appearance of antiquity, in spite of the effort to destroy
every vestige of Episcopal taste and usage. The high pulpit and
sounding-board have been removed, and the reading desk placed within
the chancel, before which is the roughly carved chest which formerly
held the plate and other articles for the decent celebration of the
Holy Communion.

"There were three sets of plate in the parish. A descendant of one
of the earliest families, now the wife of one of the Virginia clergy,
on removing from this county, took with her, in order to keep from
desecration, the service belonging to the Lower chapel. She lent it
to a rector of one of the churches in Richmond, with the under-
standing that, upon the revival of the parish, it must be restored.
Application was accordingly made in the year 1840, and the vestry
received the value of the plate in money, which was given at their
suggestion, they having a full service in their possession.

"The plate owned by Christ church was presented by the Hon. Ralph
Wormley. It numbered five pieces. But for the inscription, bearing
the name of the donor, it would have shared the fate of much that
was irreligiously and sacreligiously disposed of.

It was deposited in the bank in Fredericksburg, where it remained

25

tor more than thirty years. It was afterwards in regular use, but
was at one time almost destroyed by fire. Enough was rescued, how-
ever, for the use of church.

The set belonging to the Lower church was sold by the overseers
of the poor."

The old Glebe house, a large square brick building, is still standing
at the head of Urbanna Creek, which is near Christ church.

The Rev. W. Y. Rooker was in charge of the work in Mathews and
Middlesex a few years after 1840. He was succeeded by the Rev. G.
S. Carraway. As to the people who lived in Middlesex in the old
days, under the ministrations of the Church, much could be said. They
represented some of the most distinguished of the early citizenship
of the State, and their descendants have figured prominently in the
history of the country. Such names as the following were among
them: Corbin, Perrott, Chewning, Potter, Vause, Weeks, Willis, Cock,
Curtis, Smith, Dudley, Thacker, Skipwith, Beverley, Wormley, Jones,
Miller, Scarborough, Woodley, Whitaker, Robinson, Warwick, Gordon,
Chichester, Midge, Churchill, Burnham, Kemp, Cary, Daniel, Price,
Mann, Segar, Reid, Eliot, Miles, Montague and Nelson. The names of
Sir Henry Chicheley, Baronet and Knight (once Deputy Governor of
Virginia), and Sir William Skipwith, Baronet and Knight, appear
always at the head of the vestrymen, as written in the vestry books,
these titles giving them precedence. They appear to have been active
and liberal, giving land and plate to the churches. John Grymes and
Edmund Berkeley appear to have been church wardens for a longer
period than any others. The Thackers and Robinsons were also con-
stant attendants and church wardens for a long time. So also were
the Smiths, Churchills, Corbins, Curtises and Beverleys. Many of
these were members of the Council, and held other offices in the
Colonial government. The first Beverley on the list was the cele-
brated Robert Beverley, so noted in the early history of Virginia as
a martyr to the cause of liberty. He was clerk of the House of Bur-
gesses and father of Robert Beverley, the historian of Virginia, and
ancestor of the other Beverleys.

There were always three lay readers in each of the churches. The
names of Chewning, Baldwin and Stevens appear among these. They
were required not only to read homilies, but to catechise the chil-
dren, and see that everything about the church was orderly. By
express act of the vestry it was required that these lay readers be
sober and reputable men.

251

The office of vestryman was ttiat of an active worker for the uplift
of the people, those liolding it being guardians of the poor and desti-
tute, and at the same time supeiviaors in business matters of the
parish and county. There was one very important duty which vestries
had to perform and which occasioned differences between them and the
Governor of Virginia, namely: To maintain their rights as repre-
senting the people in the choice and settlement of ministers. In the
English Church the congregation have no part in the choice of their
ministers. Patrons appoint them and livings support them. In Vir-
ginia the salary being drawn immediately from the people by the
vestries, the latter sometimes claimed the right, not only to choose
the ministers, but to dismiss them at pleasure. In the absence of
Bishops and canons to try ministers, the temptation on the part of the
vestries to act arbitrarily is evident. The Governor, therefore, claimed
to be the Ordinary, to act as Bishop in reference to this point. Ap-
pealing to the English canon, he allowed the vestries the right to
call the ministers and present them for induction. Being inducted,
the minister could not he displaced by the vestry. He had a right
to the salary, and could enforce it by an appeal to law, unless, in-
deed, lor misconduct, he could be deprived by a process under the
dirpction of the Governor. Should a vestry not appoint a minister
afttr a vacancy of six months, the Governor might send one, and induct
him as the permanent minister, not to be removed by the vestry.

In the old churchyard rest the remains of many of the people who
have figured prominently in the affairs of Church and State. Three
of these inscriptions on the tombs are of particular interest. One is
the epitaph of Mr. John Grymes, and reads as follows:

"Here lies interred the body of the Honorable John Grymes, Esq.,
who for many years acted in the public affairs of this Dominion, with
honor, fortitude, fidelity to their majesties. King George I. and III. Of
the Council of State of the Royal Prerogative, of the liberty and prop-
erty of the subject, a zealous asserter. On the Seat of Judgment,
clear, sound, unbiassed. In the office, punctual, approved. Of the
College of William and Mary, an ornament, visitor, patron. Beneficent
to all, a pattern of true piety. Respected, loved, revered. Lamented
by his family, acquaintance, country. He departed this life the 2d day
of November, 1748, in the fifty-seventh year of his age."

Another epitaph reads:

"This monument is erected to the memory of Ralph Wormley, Esq.,
of Rosegill, who died on the 19th of January, 1806, in the sixty-second

252

year of his age. The rules of honor guided the actions of this great
man. He was the perfect gentleman and finished scholar, with many
virtues founded on Christianity."

Mr. Wormley was a member of a number of Episcopal Conven-
tions after the Revolution. After his death the descendants of Colonel
Edmund Berkeley appear to be almost all that remained of the
church.

This family preserved the Vestry Book from which all of the in-
formation gathered by Bishop Meade was obtained.

On the tomb of the wife of Mr. Wormley are these words:

"Beneath this marble lies interred the remains of Mrs. Eleanor
Wormley, widow of Ralph Wormley, Esq., of Rosegill, and sister of
Colonel John Tayloe, of Mount Airy, who died the 23d of February,
1815, in the sixtieth year of her age. Pew women were more emi-
nently distinguished for correctness of deportment, and for the prac-
tice of all the Christian virtues. As a wife she was conjugal, as a
widow exemplary, as a mother, fond and affectionate, as a neighbor
charitable and kind, as a friend, steady and sincere."

There are also tombs of Lucy Berkeley, who died in 1716, and Sir
Henry Chicheley, Knight and Deputy Governor of Virginia; the Rev.
John Shephard and the Hon. Lady Madame Catharine Wormley, wife
of the Honorable Ralph Wormley (the first Ralph Wormley), in the
year 1685.

Rosegill, the grand old house of the Wormleys, still stands. It was
bought about fifty years ago by Captain John Bailey, a man of great
heart, who did much good for the Church in modern years. The old
mansion was restored to much of its former grandeur under his owner-
ship.

After his death his widow lived there many years, and it was the
privilege of the writer to visit and enjoy her hospitality, and view the
house, one of the most interesting relics of a bygone age. Its situa-
tion is ideal, in full and beautiful view of the broad river, about two
miles from the town of Urbanna. Since Mrs. Bailey's death it has
been bought and beautified by a gentleman from Pennsylvania.

The modern history of Christ church is similar to that of most
Virginia Colonial churches. After being a long time asleep, it has
awakened to a new life, with hopes and aspirations which are well
founded. Though sometimes in a feeble condition, it has weathered
the storms of war and other trials. The ministers who have served
it since 1850 are the Rev. Joseph R. Jones, the Rev. John McGill, the

253

Rev. Claudius R. Haines, the Rev. J. Hervey Hundley, the Rev. John
Moncure (for a brief time), the Rev. Frank Stringfellow, the Rev. B.
B. Meredith, the Rev. H. J. Beagen and the Rev. R. C. Cowling, the
present incumbent. Special mention should be made of the Rev. J.
Hervey Hundley, through "whose energy and interest, largely, the
church in Middlesex was kept alive for many years. Dr. Hundley was
originally a Baptist minister in Lower Essex. He came over to the
Church, bringing his congregation with him. He served Christ church
as a rector for several times, being recalled time and again as the
church became vacant. He went to his reward about four years ago,
and, like all of the blessed dead, his works live after him.

Among the faithful laymen of modern days was Mr. Oliver J. Marston,
of Saluda. He, too, has gone to his rest, but his active, whole-souled
interest in the old church and its affairs will long remain in the
hearts of the people.

The parish is now in good condition. The old church building has
been improved by extensive repairs and adornments. It has been en-
riched by some fine memorial windows, and is now a place of beauty
as well as of sacredness. The present vestry is as follows: Mr. F. M.
Eastman, senior warden; Mr. J. C. Gray, junior warden; Mr. Gordon
Taylor, register, and Messrs. William Seagar, Marion Walters, William
T. Perkins. W. C. Walker and Benjamin Upton.

AQUIA CHURCH, OVERWHARTON PARISH.
STAFFORD COUNTY. VA.

BY THE EEV. JOHN MONCUEE, D. D.

TAFFORD is the northernmost county of the "Northern Neck,"

or that portion of Virginia lying between the Rappahannock

and Potomac rivers. It is a part of the very early settled land

in the new world, its organization being flfty-seven years after

the settlement at Jamestown.

Were all of its records at hand, they would doubtless prove of in-
terest to the lover of American history, second only to those which
relate to days when Englishmen realized for the first time that there
was, indeed, a home for them beyond the seas.

The county organization dates back at least as far as 1664. It was
originally a part of Westmoreland, and extended up the Potomac river
as far as what is now Georgetown, or West Washington, and to the
west as far as the Blue Ridge Mountains, including some of the most
fertile sections of the State. The counties of Prince William, Fairfax,
Fauquier and Loudoun were thus within its bounds. What afterwards
became the homes of Washington, Mason, Fairfax and others wer*
part of Stafford.

The first grants of land in Stafford, which were near the Rappa-
hannock River, at Fredericksburg, were awarded to Messrs. Gerald
Fowke, Richard Heaberd and Robert Alexander, on March 23d, 1664.
From the records in the Land OfBce at Richmond it would appear
that this section of country was rapidly settled.

From 1664 to 1680 the following names appear among the land-
owners in the county: Meese, Calclough, Wather, Beach, Hatloft,
Morris, Boris, Hunston, Howison, Gaylard, Anderson, Palmer, Waller,
Collingwood, Briggs, Bailey, Travers, Buchner, Hall, Walker, Watson,
Berry, Normansell.

As Virginia is the mother of States and statesmen, Stafford is a
mother of counties and distinguished men in Church and State. In
its original dimensions, it did not touch the Rappahannock River. In
June, 1666, the county, according to old records, was represented in
the House of Burgesses by Colonel Henry Meese. His salary was a

255

cask of tobacco a day, with one hundred and fifty pounds for traveling
expenses, and if traveling by water, one hundred and twenty pounds,
at the rate of four days each way for his attendance as a member of
the Assembly.

As to the history of the first settlers, nothing can be stated with
definiteness. Some of these may have come immediately from England
or Scotland, and from names of citizens, about twenty years later, it
would appear that many were from the last-named country originally.
The tide of emigration had then set in steadily towards the New World.
Others of the early inhabitants may have come from Lancaster, West-
moreland, Northumberland, and lower counties, nearer the coast, which
was naturally the first settled land. Among the people prominent in
the history of the county was Mr. George Brent, who came to Stafford
from Maryland in 1683. He acquired large estates, called Woodstock
and Brenton. The first of these still exists in the original name. It
is at the head of Aquia Creek. There was considerable contention for
this property by the Maryland authorities, the little colony then being
governed by Lord Baltimore. It was claimed that his possessions ex-
tended into what is now Virginia, up Aquia Creek, taking in the land
aforesaid. The claim was not allowed. Mr. Brent was a Roman Cath-
olic, and although the prejudice against that religion was great, his
worth was acknowledged, for on May 2, 1683, he was appointed by
the Governor and Council Receiver-General north of the Rappahannock
River, and on July 10, 1690, he was made Ranger-General of the
Northern Neck. The prejudice to his religion, however, was shown
in 1693, when George Brent and his brother, Robert, were inhibited
from practicing law, in view of their being Papists, the light of
religious liberty not having then shone upon the land, or what may
have been possible, the intolerance of dogma, on the part of those
who were thus punished, having made itself felt in secular affairs;
both conditions being alike lamentable. These conditions evidently
changed, even in that age, and the spirit of love became assertive;
for one of these gentlemen afterwards was associated in practice with
Mr. William Fitzhugh, and another was joint sponsor with the first
George Mason at the baptism of an Indian boy, whom they had taken
prisoner.

George Brent was twice married, his second wife being a daughter
of Colonel Henry Seawell, of Maryland, whose widow married Lord
Baltimore. Her tomb is still to be seen in Aquia graveyard, about

256

one mile from Woodstock. It bears this inscription: "She was the
daughter of Lady Baltimore, by Henry Seawall, Esq., Secretary of
Maryland; her age 35 years."

Another interesting item of history is the settlement of Huguenots
in Stafford in 1700. There is on record a paper, entitled "French
Men's Petition from Ettiene Reinbau, Jean Borchbleau, Jean Cabelle,
Lewis Direaubaum, Charles Peraut, Marie Reinmonde, Pere Rouseau,
Isaac Laflte, Abraham Michau, Piere Batie, Anderic Lehornie and
John Calvert, stating that they have come to Stafford as strangers,
reduced to extremity and poverty, and praying to be exempted from
county levies for what time the court shall think fit." This record
^s dated March, 1700. These people, it is thought, afterwards left the
country, and some joined the French colony at Mannakin Settlement,
in Henrico, now Powhatan county.

In the early county organization there are recorded, in 1680, such
names as George Mason, Matthew Thompson, John Alexander. Philip
Buckner, Rice Hooe, Richard Fossaker, John Washington, Robert Col-
ston, James Sumner, John Waugh, Thomas Gregg and Thomas Owsley
among the officers; and some years later, in the beginning of the
eighteenth century, are Henry Fitzhugh, Thomas Lunn, John Waugh,
James Jameson, Rawleigh Travers, and others, whose descendants are -
numerous at the present day, many having the same names.

Stafford Courthouse was first situated at Marlboro, on the Potomac.
The present building, about seven miles west of that site, was erected
In 1783, two acres of land having been deeded to the county for court-
house and prison by William Gerrard and William Fitzhugh.

Many of the places whose names link the past with the present still
exist. Among these are Arkendale, Chappawamsic, Clermont, Somerset,
Chelsea, Clifton, Dipple and Woodstock, in the upper end, and Boscobel,
Argyle, Chatham and Snowden, in the lower end of the county. The
old homes on some of these estates have passed away.

The history of the Church is naturally closely Interwoven with that
of the county organization. Some of the very early records of the
county, which were taken away during the Civil War, were found in
the New York State Library, and restored to their rightful place within
late years. From these the following interesting facts have been
obtained:

"September 7, 1664. Wm. Green, and Vincent Young, sworn wardens

3

2B7

of Potomac Parish." This was evidently the first Stafford Parish,
its boundaries being the same as those of the county.

"November 19, 1665. Mr. Hugh Dowding sworn Church Warden."

"November 28, 1666. Vestry chosen as follows: Captain Jno. Alex-
ander, Mr. Richard Fossaker, Mr. Richard Heabeard, Mr. Robert Os-
borne, Mr. John Heabeard, Mr. Wm. Heabeard, Mr. Robert Howson,
Mr. Vincent Young, Wm. Green, Jno. Withers, Thos. Humphrey, and
Thos. Gregg. Mr. Robert Osborne and Mr. John Withers Church
Wardens."

"April 3d, 1667. The Court doth order that the minister preacli
at three particular places in this county — viz.: At the southeast side
of Aquia and at the Court House, and Chotanck, at a house belonging
to Robert Townshend; to officiate every Sabbath Day In one of these
places, successively, until further Order."

"June 12th, 1667. Vestry as follows: Dodman, Meese, Mason, Alex-
ander, Rd. Heabeard, Mr. Wm. Townshend, Wm. Heabeard, Mr. Wm.
Greene, John Wiser, Vincent Young and David Anderson."

"Oct. 8, 1667. Whereas, There is no certain place in the upper pre-
cincts of this county for the reading of Divine Service, the Court
doth order that John Withers, Church Warden for these nrecincts,
agree for a house to read at the most convenient place."

It will be noted that no minister is named in connection with these
proceedings, but there possibly may have been one or more.

The evidences point to a God-fearing people, however, whose strength
of purpose in the trying days of early settlement was shown in their
determination to worship and serve the God of their fathers. ThB
proud heritage of such righteous example has been cherished by their
descendants, and assisted in the honorable citizenship of succeeding
generations.

If there were any church buildings they were probably of wood, the
traces of which have long since been lost.

The first minister of whom there is record was the Rev. John
Waugh. It is not improbable that he was the original rector of
Stafford county, though he is first brought to notice in 1680.

There were then two parishes in the county — Stafford and Chotanck.
Mr. Waugh seems to have been a man of great strength of character,
as well as of personal influence with his people. It is noted that on
March 11, 1692, there being difficulty in getting some to take charge
of the ferry over Potomac Creek, he contracted to do it himself. He

258

is said also to have been wise in temporal affairs, having patented
and purchased considerable land, and he died, leaving a large estate.
His descendants were prominent in county affairs in the early days,
but the name has passed from the county, other sections having
doubtless claimed those bearing it.

During his rectorship there was much fear of the aggression and
domination of Romanism, James JI. being upon the English throne,
and his views being pronounced in favor of breaking down the prin-
ciples of Protestantism. It is said that Mr. Waugh was very energetic
in keeping this danger before the people, and great excitement was
created, and from his addresses and methods of agitation employed
by others, a very serious state of affairs was threatened. Mr. Nicholas
Spencer, of Cople, Westmoreland, then Secretary of State in Virginia,
stated that a rebellion as great as that led by Bacon was imminent.
Happily, all of this was adjusted. William and Mary replacing James,
peace and Protestantism reigned once more.

In the year 1700, we find again two parishes in the county — Over-
wharton and St. Paul's; the former, like the county, taking its name
from the corresponding place in England. The Rev. John Frazler
was the rector of Overwharton.

The population of the county can be estimated from the fact that
in the first-named parish there were 318 titheables, and in the latter
346. These represented about one-fourth of the population.

In 1710 the same two parishes appear, with the Rev. Alexander
Scott as rector of St. Paul's. It would appear that these parishes
were generally served by one rector, the scarcity of clergy in Vir-
ginia being one of the regrettable conditions. This was evidently so
in the early histoiy of the Church, until the latter part of the 18th
century.

The Rev. Mr. Scott was rector nearly twenty-eight years, and died
April 1, 1738, aged 52 years. He must have been a useful man in the
Church, there being many evidences of his earnestness. During his
rectorship the old Potomac church, situated near the creek of that
name, was probably the parish church. Bishop Meade speaks of it as
"one of the largest in A''irginia." This venerable building, after dese-
cration by the soldisrs in the War of 1812, and by others who had
lost the sense of veneration, crumbled into ruins, and even these have
been obliterated. This church was situated six or seven miles from
Old Aquia.

259

From the report of Mr. Scott to the Bishop of London, noted by
Bishop Meade, it appears that in the parish there were "six hundred
and fifty families, eighty to one hundred communicants in attendance,
one church and several chapels; his glebe was so inconvenient that
he rented it out and bought one more convenient for himself. His
church and chapels as full as they couU hold."

Mr. Scott is buried at Dipple, his seat on the Potomac. The tomb
Is still to be seen, together with a number of others, representing
some of the first families of long ago It is a slab resting on four
pillars. The epitaph, surmounted by the Scott arms, is as follows:
"Here lies the body of the Rsv. Alexander Scott, A. M., and Presbyter
of the Church of England, who lived nearly twenty-eight years, Min-
ister of Overwharton Parish, a.id died in the fifty-third year of his age,
he being born the 20th day of July, A. D., 1686, and departed this
life the 1st day of April, 1738." Upon the coat of arms is inscribed
these words:

"Gaudia Nuncio Magna."

A beautiful memorial of Mr. Scott is the Communion service which
is in the possession of Old Aquia church, and in regular use.

It consists of three pieces — chalice, cup and paten of beaten silver,
and very massive. Each piece contains this inscription: "The gift of
the Rev. Mr. Alexander Scott, A. M., late minister of this Parish
Anno 1739." The service was evidently purchased with money be-
queathed for the purpose, as the date is the year after Mr. Scott's
death. It has passed through some of the country's most trying
days, and was buried in the earth for safety during the three great
wars — of the Revolution, of 1812, and that between the States. It
was during Mr. Scott's rectorship (in :i730) that some very important
changes were made in county and parish lines. The county of Prince
William was formed from the heads of King George and Stafford;
and Hamilton Parish was organized in the new county.

Mr. Scott was succeeded by the Rev. John Moncure. He was a native
of Scotland, but a descendant of the Huguenots, who fled from France
on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Mr. Moncure came to
America and settled in Northumberland county, Virginia, where, after
two years' private study, he went to England for holy orders, which
he received at the hands of the Bishop of London. Returning to
the New World, he became curate to Mr. Scott, and on the death of
the latter, his successor, as stated.

260

He was rector of the parish for twenty-six years. Like his prede-
cessor, he was a man to whose influence the growth of the early
Church owes much.

Mr. Moncure married Frances, the daughter of Doctor Gustavus
Brown, of Charles county, Maryland, aud her sister was the wife of
the Rev. James Scott, rector of the neighboring parish of Dettingen,
in Prince William. He evidently resided at the Glebe, near Old Po-
tomac church, but in the later years of his ministry, having by good
management accumulated money, he purchased an estate in the north-
ern section of the county, where he made his home. This place is
called "Clermont." The house is still standing, and is in excellent
preservation, being the true type of the old-time English home.

One daughter of Mr. Moncure was the wife of Governor Wood, of
Virginia. In a letter to a friend, she speaks of the location as "the
most beautiful eminence I have ever beheld." It overlooks the Potomac
River on one side and Chappawamsic Creek on the other. Mr. Moncure
had a large family, and among his descendants are the Daniels, Con-
ways, Robinsons, and many other families in Virginia and elsewhere.

This letter of Mrs. Wood and another from George Mason, of
Gunston, author of the Bill of Rights, a warm friend of Mr. Moncure
and kinsman of his wife, which was written to Mrs. Moncure just
after her husband's death, pays beautiful tributes to him as a man
and Christian.

Part of the parish register during Mr. Moncure's rectorship has been
preserved. It contains over twenty-five hundred names, many, if not
the greater number, of them being unknown in the county to-day.
This book was kept for many years by the Hon. R. C. L. Moncure, of
the Virginia Court of Appeals, and great-grandson of Mr. Moncure,
and is now in Stafford, and in good preservation

During Mr. Moncure's rectorship Aquia church was built. A build-
ing was erected in 1751, which was soon after destroyed by fire. On
Its site the present church stands, having been built in 1757. It
occupies a commanding eminence near the public road from Fred-
ericksburg, and is one of the most beautiful of Virginia's Colonial
churches. Like many of them, it is cruciform and of brick. Unlike
most of them, it has a bell and clock-tower, the hands of the latter
having been in existence until the last few years, marking the dead
past. Over the south door. In white letters on black ground, are these

261

words: "Built A. D. 1751. Destroyed by fire 1751, and Rebuilt A. D.
1757 by Mourning Richards, Undertaker. Wm. Copein, Mason."

The aisles of the church are of stone, the cross in the center being
of white marble. At the southeastern angle of the cross is the old
"three-decker" pulpit, with its great sounding-board. The chancel is
at the east end of the cross. It contains a handsome reredos, with
four panels, on which are the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed
and Lord's Prayer. Beneath the chancel rest the remains of Mr.
Moncure, and under the Communion table is a marble slab, with this
inscription:

"In memory of the Race of the House of Moncure."

The pews are of the old square kind.

The gallery faces the chancel from the west end of the cross, anf'
on a panel of it are the names of the Hrst minister and vestry, as
follows:

lohn Moncure, minister; Peter Hedgeman, lohn Mercer, lohn Lee,
Mott Doniphan, Henry Tyler, William Mountjoy, Benjamin Strother
Thomas Fitzhugh, Peter Daniel, Travers Cook, Church-wardens. lohn
Fitzhugh, lohn Peyton, Vestrymen. 1757. Mr. Moncure died in 1764.

In 1777 important changes were again made In both county and
parish lines. Up to that date, as stated, Stafford lay wholly on the
Potomac, extending from Westmoreland to Prince William, while King
George lay wholly on the Rappahannock, extending from Richmond
county to Fauquier. The Stafford parishes were Overwharton and
St. Paul and those in King George, Hanover and Brunswick. The
divide or watershed was practically the dividing line.

In 1777 the county lines were all changed to run across the Neck
instead of with the rivers. The parish lines between King George and
Westmoreland were adjusted to conform to the county lines, but this
was not done between King George and Stafford. Brunswick Parish
is supposed to be in King George, because Lamb's Creek, the only
church in the parish for many years, is in that county. As a fact, at
least five-sixths of the parish was in Stafford.

This arrangement has continued to the present day, though the
hand of time almost obliterated parish lines, and the trials which the
Church has gone through have made it impossible, in late years, to
have more than one minister to both parishes, wherever they might
be situated.

202

The Rev. John Moncure was succeeded in the rectorship by the Rev.
Clement Broolie, and in 1785, when the American Church was or-
ganized, the Rev. Robert Buchan was rector of Overwharton, and
the Rev. Thomas Thornton of Bruns-^'ick Parish. Tliese were thus
the last clergymen serving under tbe Mother Church.

The following entry in the records in the clerk's office at Stafford
Court-house relates to this period:

"At a vestrey held for the Parish of Overwharton, at the Glebe of
the same, 20th of August, 1785 — Robert Buchan, minister; Thomas
Mountjoy, John R. Peyton, Church Wardens; John Mountjoy, Wm,
Gerrard, Moses Phillips, Elijah Threlkheld, George Burroughs and
James Withers, Vestreymen.

"Pursuant to an Act of Assembly, we the minister and Vestrey of
Overwharton Parish, proceed to value the real and personal estate
of said parish, do find: 235 acres of land, worth £15 per annum; 100
ditto for the poor house; chalice and plate of Aquia Church, £5;
ditto, at Potomac Church, £6."

The lay delegates at the Convention in 1785 were Mr. Charles
Carter, representing Overwharton, and Mr. William Fitzhugh, Bruns-
wick Parish. In 1786 Mr. Fitzhugh again represented Brunswicl?
Parish.

In consequence of absence of records and decline of the Church
in the years succeeding the Revolution, there are but fitful glimpses
of parish history until within comparatively late years.

In 1819 the Rev. Thomas Allen had charge of the work at Aquia
and Dumfries, the seats of the old parishes of Overwharton and
Dettingen. The next minister of whom there is record is the Rev.
Mr. Prestman, and after him the Rev. Mr. Johnson. Both of these
clergymen labored as missionaries for the revival of the work.

The old church survived these troublous days, but was almost a
ruin in 1837. Bishop Meade thus graphically describes it as he
beheld it when on his regular visitation in later years: "It was a
melancholy sight to behold the vacant space around the house, which,
in other days, had been filled with horses and carriages and footmen,
now overgrown with trees and bushes, the limbs of the green cedars
not only casting their shadows, but resting their arms on the dingy
walls and thrusting them through the broken windows, thus giving
an air of penslveness and gloom to the whole scene. The very path-
way up the commanding eminence on which the church stands was

263

filled with, young trees, wtiile the arms of the older ones so embraced
each other over it that it was difficult to ascend."

The darkest hour, however, is before the dawn, as the Bishop's next
entry proves, though a number of years intei-vened between this and
the succeeding visit, the latter being in 1S56;

"Had I been suddenly dropped down upon it, I should not have
recognized the place and building. The trees, brushwood and rubbish
had been cleared away.

"The light of heaven had been let m upon the once gloomy sanc-
tuary. At the expense of eighteen hundred dollars (almost all of it
contributed by the descendants of Mr. Moncure), the house had been
repaired within, without and above. The dingy walls were painted
white, and looked new and fresh, and to me it appeared one of the
best and most imposing temples In our land. The congregation was
a good one. The descendants of Mr. Moncure, still bearing his name,
formed a large portion."

These improvements were made when the Rev. Henry Wall was
rector of the parish. He was succeeded in 1858 by the Rev. George L.
Mackenheimer.

Dark days came again to the old church in the troublous years of
the Civil War, out of which it emerged dilapidated and well-nigh
ruined. It had been a camping place for soldiers, and the desecra-
tion of the sacred precincts was lamentable. Again was its existence
threatened; the plastering fell or hung loosely to the walls, the
pillars to the gallery began to give way, the doors were open and
desolation reigned. When the storm passed, however, the remnant
of the Church people put forth their efforts to reclaim it. The de-
scendants of the good and holy men of long ago, at a distance, com-
bined their efforts with those of Church people in the county, and
again, after the lapse of years, the old church renewed its youth.
Among these friends of tne Church were the Scotts and Robinsons, the
former contributing to the immediate needs of the building, and the
latter, in 1877 and after, in the person of Mr. Moncure Robinson, who,
by an endowment, looked to its future eonditioTi. To this latter gen-
tlem.an, now gone to his reward, and his nephews, Messrs Philip and
Barton Haxall, his administrators in the matter, and who are also de-
scendants of the old rector, the church owes much.

The faithful efforts of those who lived near and worshipped in the
old church were equally great and effective in the work of restoration,

264

and what is best of all, the revival ot that which it represented. These
consisted largely of the descendants of the old rector and his faithful
supporters in long ago, and their influence has thus been perpetuated
to the glory of God.

After the war the Rev. J. M. Meredith became rector of the parish.
He found a communicant list of eight, which, by his faithful efforts
and the grace of God, was in a brief time increased to fifty or more.
By contributing of his personal means the building was reclaimed from
decay, repaired and beautified, and the parish greatly benefited. He
was succeeded by the Rev. Robert S. Barrett.

Among those who labored most earnestly and effectively for the
restoration of the old church in later years were Mr. and Mrs. Wil-
liam E. Moncure and Mr. and Mrs. George V. Moncure.

These sleep in the family graveyard at Somerset, near "Clermont."
Others now living are: Mr. R. C. L. Moncure, Mr. Hugh Adie, the fam-
ilies of Mr. Withers Waller and Mr. Travers Moncure, James Ashby
and Henry Moncure.

The Rev. Mr. Barrett was succeeded by the Rev. George H. Apple-
ton, and he by the Rev. George M. Funsten. Under the rectorship
of the latter, a new and commodious rectory was built. It was sub-
sequently destroyed by fire, but has been rebuilt after an improved
plan. The other rectors in succession are: Rev. T. Carter Page, the Rev.
J. H. Birkhead, the Rev. J. Howard Gibbons and the present faithful
and beloved rector, the Rev. E. B. Burwell.

The old church is in better condition than it has been for years.
Its beautiful and imposing appearance at once impresses the beholder
and quickens the admiration for the church architecture of Colonial
days.

The communicant list approximates one hundred. Sunday-schools
and other parish activities are doing much good, and the bright old
davs seem returning, freighted with the blessing of the God of our
fathers. The venerable and now venerated building thus abides in
her strength, supported by her children. Having come safely through
the wars, and having endured the storms of time, she stands in
majesty, typical of the Word, which has so often been proclaimed
from the old pulpit, promising strength to the cause of righteousness.

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. KING GEORGE COUNTY.

VIRGINIA

BY MISS NANNIE BYKD TURNER.

«r7N King George county, a few miles from the Potomac River and
I ten from the Rappahannock, stands old St. Paul's church, one of
ii the most venerable and interesting of the Colonial churches of
Virginia. Regarding its exact age there is doubt, as the written
statements concerning it vary, and there seems as yet no way of de-
termining which is right. We find the parish records, however, run-
ning back as far as the year 1716, with references to still earlier
records, and furnishing a sort of context to the history of the present
building.

This building was erected somewnere about the middle of the
eighteenth century, and is, consequently, now over a hundred and
fifty years old. It was built for the ministration of the Rev. William
Stuart, son of the first rector of the parish, the Rev. David Stuart.
The latter, a direct descendant of the royal house of Stuart, came to
this country from Scotland in 1715, and was soon after given charge
of St. Paul's Parish, though the church building at that time was some
miles distant from its present site. The two Stuarts, father and son,
for nearly eighty years fed the flock of Christ in the same field;
though it was not until the Rev. William Stuart took charge, about
1750, that the St. Paul's of to-day— the brick building now standing —
was erected. This saintly man left a name that shines almost with a
halo in the records that follow him. His goodness and eloquence
and lovable personality appear to have strengthened and beautified
the spirit of the parish, and led it into great religious prosperity.
His letter of resignation, when physical frailty at last compelled him
to give up the work, is touching in its mingled solicitude and sub-
mission:
"To the Vestry of St. Paul's Parish:

Gentlemen, — I have been curate of this parish upward of forty
years. My own conscience bears me witness, and I trust my parish-
ioners (though many of them have fallen asleep) will also witness.

266

that until age and infirmities disabled me, I always, so far as my
infirmities would allow, faithfully discharged my duties as a minister
of the Gospel. It has given me many hours of anxious concern that
the services of the Church should he so long discontinued on my ac-
count. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. I therefore
entreat the favor of you to provide me a successor as soon as you
can, that divine service may be discontinued no longer; and at the end
of the year the glebe shall be given up to him by your affectionate
servant, William Stuabt."

But with his passing, old St. Paul's fell on evil days. For some
reason, his successor weis never ordained to the priesthood, and here
we discern what was, perhaps, the first shadow of the darkness that
followed. A few years after he died we find the grand building in
ruins, and, as a vestryman of a later day wrote sadly, "The life of
the church almost gone out." Only the walls remained, of such won-
derful masonry as to defy all ravages — and these were desecrated.
The history of this period must be taken either as a record of un-
precedented poverty among the people, or else as a sharp commentary
on the coldness and laxity of the time — perhaps both. The chronicler
states that there was occasionally lay reading in the ruins; ana this
was all, except for "association meetings" at intervals. For the rest,
beasts of the field roamed through the church, or what was left of
it; soldiers camped there, and the decaying contents furnished plunder
for the "ruthless of the land." Bishop Meade's account of his visita-
tion in 1812 is a vivid pen picture of the desolation that had come
upon the once prosperous church. He says:

"St. Paul's was then in ruins The roof was ready to fall, and not
a window, door, pew or timber remained below. Nevertheless, notice
was given that we would preach there. A rude, temporary pulpit or
stand was raised in one angle of the cross, and from that we per-
formed service and addressed the people. On the night before the
meeting a heavy rain had fallen, and the water was in small pools
here and there where the floor once was, so that it was difficult to
find a dry spot on which the attendants might stand." * * *

Truly, things had come to a woeful pass for old St. Paul's. We can
almost see now the forlorn congregation huddled in one side of the
building, exposed to all the winds of heaven, with pools of water under-
foot and a precarious roof overhead. I fancy the old Bishop's face
was sad enough as he ascended his "rude temporary pulpit." He must

267

have felt like crying out with the distressed prophet of Israel, "Being
desolate, it mourneth unto me."

A few years later we find the Legislature turning the ruins over
to the citizens of the county, with permission to convert them into
a sort of academy. This decree was indirectly the means of restoring
to some extent the place of worship, for thereafter, for a while at
least, the building was used conjointly as a church and an institution
01 learning. Probably the back part, the upper half of the "cross,"
served for the school, while in the remaining three-quarters services
were resumed. This arrangement does not seem to have prospered,
though, for after a time the seminary was neglected and the house
"became inconvenient for purposes of worship." It was as though
the spirit of the church could not brook this sharing with the world,
as it were, precincts that had hitherto been trod by worshippers only.

Sometime after this the cloud begins to show a silver lining, for
the neighbors petitioned the Legislature to give the building back
to its rightful owners and its original purposes. This request was
complied with, and three-quarters of the edifice was forthwith set
aside to be used wholly as a church, while the one-fourth in the
rear, separated from the rest by thick walls, was made the abode of
the rector.

In 1816 the parish had been reorganized by a newly-made vestry
and between 1822 and 1850 we find various ministers taking the
oversight of the flock: The Rev. Joseph Clapham; the Rev. Edward
Peet, to whom belongs the honor of naving done most toward bring-
ing the church back to Its ancient prestige; the Rev. Mr. Goldsmith,
and others. We fancy that even In the forsaken years, even during
its time of utter destitution and desolation, there were some who loved
the old church still, and cared to linger within its walls. It is said
that an old colored woman who had spent her life near the place —
having belonged to a family of the congregation — used to go regularly
every Sunday and sit among the ruins. On being questioned, she
answered that it did her more good to sit there and "think over the
old prayers" than it would to go a-praying in any of the newer churches
of other denominations.

After the restoration there may have been times of discouragement,
of decreasing prosperity and dark outlooks for a while — no doubt they
came; and there was the blow of the Civil War and its attendant
demoralization; but the tide had turned, the old church — the physical

268

part — stood firm, and the spiritual part v/ent on from strength to
strength. Sunday after Sunday the people gathered in their reclaimed
temple to join in the prayers and praises of the service. There was
never any lapse into the old dread state; and the years dealt kindly,
on the whole, with that which had been recovered by the grace of
God from such a Slough of Despond.

St. Paul's stands to-day, as it stood a century and a half ago, un-
changed in form, unaltered in construction, with the self-same bricks
in its walls that the first builders put there. The shape is cruciform,
and, as of old, three parts of the cross make up the place of worship,
while the fourth is a spacious vestry-room, warm and high-pitched.
Three flights of stairs lead up to a gallery, which runs around three
whole sides of the building, and afford ? of itself room for a congrega-
tion. Two stories of windows; that is, windows in both gallery and
lower floor, let in abundant light and air; and an entrance to each
angle of the cross allows the congregation to enter by different aisles,
thus making their assembling well-nigh noiseless. An old lofty pulpit,
draped in deep crimson and approached by a stairway of no mean di-
mensions, occupies the background of the chancel. The Communion
rail makes an immense semi-circle, which accommodates a large num-
ber; while the entire building would seat five hundred people.

The plate still used for the service was donated a good deal over a
hundred years ago by a communicant, and bears the inscription:

"Given by Henry Fitzhugh, of Stafford county, St. Paul's Parish,
Gent., for the use of your church." There is a Prayer Book, also pre-
sented in 1830 by Miss Jane Parke, a descendant of the first rector;
and in the old pulpit is to be found a large Bible, the gift of the
well-beloved Rev, William Stuart, in 17C9, and inscribed with his name
and the date. This volume is a Cambridge edition, appointed by His
Majesty's special command to be read in churches "cum privilegiis,"
with the dedication: "To our most high and mighty Prince James,
by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, the translators of the Bible wish grace, mercy
and peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

St, Paul's holds many precious memories and associations for the
congregation of to-day. There is scarcely a member who cannot
claim, "My grandfather was vestryman — or warden — or rector here";
or, at least, "My ancestors worshipped in these very walls." It was

269

on the doorstep o£ this church that one of our Virginia Bishops was
won to Christ. A thoughtless unbeliever, , lingering outside at a
Sunday service, he overheard the sermon being delivered within, and,
like Saul of Tarsus, saw a great light. And doubtless, to many others
have come, beneath that roof, during these two hundred years, illu-
minations across a dark path, sudden moments of falling at the Divine
feet — revelations too deep for telling.

One of the treasures of the parish is the ancient church register,
DOW in the possession of a direct descendant of tne Rev. David Stuart,
lis first pages are torn out, and the earliest recorded date is 1716,
while the leases are thinned and blackened by time; but the staunch
coverings have resisted the wear of two centuries, and the contents
is remarkably well preserved. The small, cramped handwriting, ornate
with flourishes and long s's, microscopic, faded, is still legible, and
cne can trace there the record of a mighty gathering in of souls. A
remarkable feature is the long list of negro baptisms, hundreds on
hundreds, exceeding in number the baptisms of the whites. The
countless entries give the same names that are borne today in the
congregation: Ashton, Grymes, Fitzhugh, Stuart, Berry, Tayloe, Hooe,
Washington, with others no longer represented. Received into the
Church, united in matrimony, committed to the dust "in the hope of
a glorious resurrection" — generation after generation of gentle. God-
fearing folk— this the age-worn register stands for. The people touch
it with reverent hands, just as they sit reverently Sunday after Sunday
In the shadow of the walls tnat sheltered those very souls. In that
building one seems Indeea to be compassed about by a great cloud of
witnesses.

To-day old St. Paul's is a landmark, a proud possession. I would
call it more: A witness to the faith which endures, the religion that
time and adversity, and destruction itself, cannot overthrow.

WASHINGTON AS A VESTRYMAN

BY THE EEV. EDWAItD L. GOODWIN, HISTOKIOGRAPIIEE OF THE DIOCESE OF

VIRGINIA.

W^

' HEN in the year 1759 Colonel George Washington had re-
turned from the wars on the frontier, and had married
and adopted the life of a Virginia planter, he wrote to a
friend from Mount Vernon: "I am now, I believe, fixed
in this seat, with an agreeable partner for lile, and I hope to find more
happiness in retirement than I have experienced in the wide and bust-
ling world." He was at that time twenty-seven years of age, and was
already one of the most conspicuous figures in his native Virginia;
an extensive land-holder of ample means, an experienced man of af-
fairs, and possessed of the confidence and esteem of his community.
He would not expect, therefore, nor would his neighbors willingly
consent, that his retirement would be so complete as to preclude his
serving his people in the House of Burgesses of the Colony, the Jus-
tices Court of his county and the vestry of his parish, as his father
and brother had done before him.

That Washington, with a fine public spirit, filled all of these posi-
tions, and that of Road Overseer as well, before he was called upon
to assume those higher responsibilities under which his name became
immortal, is well known. That he was a vestryman is mentioned
by nearly all of his biographers. With an undue zeal, indeed, most
of them write him down a vestryman in two parishes. But this, with
a single anecdote and some notice of the churches he attended, ex-
hausts the information they have possessed. Bishop Meade records
the few details he was able to gather; and Dr. Slaughter, in three
pages of a pamphlet, completes what has been published on the sub-
ject. Some further account, therefore, of Washington's service on
his parish vestry, drawn from original sources, may be of interest
and value, and may also serve to illustrate the history of the Virginia
Church in pre-Revolutionary days.

Parishes in Virginia which are less than two hundred years old
can always trace their descent from an ancient and honorable ances-
try. Except a few of the very oldest on the lower Tidewater, the

271

early parishes, while bounded on the north, south and east, had no
nxed boundaries on the west, but extended in that direction to the
unknown heads of the rivers on which they" were situated, or to the
Blue Ridge, or to "the utmost limits of Virginia." So every foot of
land in the Colony was in some parish. As the population pushed
westward these parishes were divided and subdivided, the process con-
tinuing to this day, and always preserving a distinct family line.
Truro parish, in which Mount Vernon is situated, is in the line, and
is almost certainly the great-great-granddaughter of Washington par-
ish, Westmoreland county, in which George Washington was born,
and which was named for, as it was founded by, the first of the Wash-
ingtons in Virginia. The grandmother of Truro was Overwharton
parish, in Stafford county. From this was formed, in 1730, Hamilton
parish, embracing all the territory of the Northern Neck west of
Stafford. Prince William county, covering the same territory, was
formed the next year. TrUro parish was formed from Hamilton, No-
vember 1, 1732, and contained originally all that part thereof lying
above "The river Ockoquon and the Bull Run, and a course from thence
to the Indian Thoroughfare (Ashby's Gap), in the Blue Ridge of
Mountains." Just ten years later Fairfax county was formed, "con-
sisting of the Parish of Truro." These instances illustrate the in-
teresting fact that, as a rule, as the settlement of the country advanc-
ed westward, the parish organization preceded that of the county, and
the churches were far in advance of the court-houses.

When Truro was formed it already contained two churches and a
"chapell," the latter being above Goose creek, in what is now upper
Loudoun. The exact location of these churches, which were probably
of primitive construction, is unknown, but the distance between two
of them could not have been less than fifty miles as the crow flies.
Besides the original Pohick and Falls churches, a frame church was
afterwards built near Dranesville, the foundations of which were to
be seen until recently; another in Alexandria, and possibly another
at some unknown point, before the present brick churches were erected
in Washington's day. In 1749 Ti-uro was reduced to about one-fourth
of its original size by the formation of Cameron parish, and nine years
after Loudoun county was formed, the county again following the
parish and the lines being afterward made to coincide. So Truro
became again coterminous with Fairfax county, which included Alex-
andria, but extended on the west only to Difficult Run, and a line

272

from the head thereof to the mouth of Rocky Run, or about eight miles
short of its present upper line as established in 1798. The parish
(and county) was about twenty-two miles square, which was still
above the average size of parishes in the more thickly settled parts
of the Colony. It contained three framed churches, the old Pohick,
the old Falls, and an old church in Alexandria. This was the parish
when Washington first became a vestryman. Within a decade there-
after the above churches were all replaced by massive brick buildings,
which remain to this day; while a fourth, equally substantial but less
fortunate, was built in a hitherto destitute quarter — of which more
hereafter.

The minister of Truro from 1737 to 1765 was Charles Green, M. D.,
a gentleman of large landed estate in the county, who was recommend-
ed to the vestry by Augustine Washington, and by them recommended
to L,ord Fairfax for his letters of recommendation to the Lord Bishop
of London for orders. This was, perhaps, a recognition of the right
of Church patronage or presentation granted to the proprietors of the
Northern Neck by their Letters Patent. Dr. Green was absent for about
ten months In securing his ordination. He was the friend and pastor
of Washington and Mason, and for many years they and other good
men, including his successors, Lee Massey and Bryan Fairfax, sat
under his preaching, and no word of complaint is on record against
him. On one occasion Washington mentions in his Journal having
Mr. Green called in to visit Mrs. Washington, and he prescribed the
remedies needful for her relief. Upon his death the leading vestry-
men persuaded Mr. Lee Massey, a young lawyer of high ability and
character, and a justice of the county court, to become his successor
in Truro. The vestry requested not Lord Fairfax this time, but
Governor Fauquier, to recommend him to the Bishop of London for
ordination. He became minister in 1767, and served for about ten
years.

A vestry of that day, after its election by the freeholders of the par-
ish under order of the General Assembly, was a self-perpetuating body.
All vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, removal from the par-
ish, or "dissenting from the communion of the Church of England,"
were filled by the vestry itself; and a vestry could only be dissolved
and a new election ordered by a special act of the General Assembly.
Truro only had two vestries from 1732 to 1765. The first was dis-
solved by the Assembly in 1744. The reasons given In the preamble

Washington as a Vestryman.

273

of the act are that many of the vestrymen were illegally elected, and
that others were not able to read or write. Several caustic side-notes
in the old vestry book, written by the Rev. Dr. Green, would seem
to point to the jealousies of local politics for the true explanation.
Only one vestryman, and he a Church warden, used to sign his name
with a cross mark, and he was promptly re-elected when the new
vestry was chosen.

"At a Vestry held for Truro Parish October 25, 1762," so the old
vestry book states, it was "Ordered, that George Washington Bsqr.
be chosen and appointed one of the Vestrymen of this Parish, in the
room of William Peake, Gent, deceased." And the court records show
that "At a Court held for the County of Fairfax, 15th February, 1763

George Washington Esqr. took the oaths according to Law repeated

and subscribed the Test and subscribed to the Doctrine and Discipline
of the Church of England in order to qualify him to act as a Vestryman
of Truro Parish."

These numerous oaths and subscriptions, which the law was ex-
plicit in requiring of every vestryman, are not without interest in this
connection. The well-known test oath was in these words: "I do
declare that I do believe there is not any Transubstantiation in ths
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the elements of Bread and
Wine at or after the Consecration thereof by any person whatsoever."
For the subscription to the doctrine and discipline of the Church
of England there was no formula prescribed by law. The other oaths,
too long to be reproduced here, are to be found in the Statutes at
Large of England, First of George I., stat. 2, c. 13, and may also be
seen, with slight errors in transcription. In Bishop Meade's Old
Churches. &c., Vol. II., p. 4. The first is a simple oath of
allegiance. The second abjures "that damnable doctrine and
position that Princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope —
may be deposed or murthered by their subjects or any other
whatsoever," and denies the authority of any foreign Prince, Person,
Prelate, State or Potentate within this realm. The third is much
longer, and a more inclusive or stringent protestation and promise of
loyalty could hardly be devised or formulated in English words. It
acknowledges and professes, testifies and declares, before God and the
world, that King George is rightful King of this realm and all other
his Majesties dominions and countries hereunto belonging; abjures
the Pretender, pledges support to the succession of the crown in the

274

Princess Sophia and the heirs of her body, being Protestants, and
avows — "that I will bear faithful and true allegiance to his Majesty
King George, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against
all traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall bo
made against his person, crown or dignity; and I will do my utmost
to endeavour to disclose and make known to his Majesty and his suc-
cessors all treasonable and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know
to be against him, or any of them — and all other these things do I
plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, according to these ex-
press words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common-
sense understanding of the same words, without any equivocation,
mental evasion, or secret reservation whatsoever; and I do make this
recognition, acknowledgment, abjuration, renunciation, and promise
heartily, willingly and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian. So
help me God."

By the English statute these oaths were to be taken by all persons
bearing any office, civil or military, and "all ecclesiastical persons,"
including preachers. In Virginia they were required of burgesses,
judges and justices, attorneys, military officers, &c., as well as vestry-
men. It is a little startling at first blush to remember that these
oaths were taken, not once only, but again and again, by Washington,
Mason, Henry, Jefferson and the rest up to the very outbreak of the
Revolution. Yet the judgment of mankind has never held them guilty
of violation of troth; and this not because "If it succeeds it is not
treason," but because the oath implied a corresponding obligation on
the part of the King to bear himself kingly and to be true on his own
part. The Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence will be
read in a new light when it is remembered that they were written,
adopted and defended by honest men with these solemn avowals vividly
before their minds and consciences.

Having thus protested in due form his loyalty and his orthodoxy,
Washington took his )ilace as one of the "twelve most able and dis-
creet men of the Parish," whom the old statutes required to form the
vestn/. Both this and the succeeding vestry were composed of men
who were his political and social peers as well as his friends. A
number of them sat with him in the House of Burgesses or as Gentle-
men Justices on the County Bench. Several bore or had borne a mil-
itary commission. I.Iost of them were, like himself, large planters;
some being his near neighbors on the river and some having newer and

275

less pretentious seats in the upper parts of the county. The vestry
seems to have met statedly twice a year, and at other times as occa-
sion demanded. The meetings were usually held at one of the churches,
but occasionally at the house of one or another of the vestrymen; and
sometimes they lasted two or three days. Attendance upon these
meetings from Mount Vernon involved a ride, going and returning,
of from fourteen to forty miles. The vestry records attest, however,
the regularity with which Colonel Washington was present; and when
it is remembered how frequently his public duties and private inter-
ests took him out of the county one is readily convinced that he
brought to the discharge of the duties of this office the same consci-
entious purpose and fidelity which marked his career in more con-
spicuous stations. In his diary, though kept irregularly during this
period, there are frequent references to his attending vestry meetings,
such as the following:

1768. "July 16. Went by Muddy Hole and Doeg Run to the Vestry at
Pohick church stayed there till half after 3 oclock & only 4 members
coming returned by Captn. McCartys & dined there."

"Septr. 9. Proceeded (from Alexandria) to the meeting of our Vestry
at the new Church (Payne's) and lodged at Captn. Edwd. Payne's."
"Nov. 28. Went to the Vestry at Pohick Church."

1769. "Mar. 3. Went to the Vestry at Pohick Church and returned
abt 11 oclock at night."

"Sept. 21. Capt. Posey called here in the morning & we went to
a Vestry."

1772. "June 5. Met the Vestry at our new Church & came home in
the afternoon."

1774. "Feb. 15. I went to a Vestry at the new Church & returned
in ye afternoon."

It is pleasant to find George Mason, in writing to his neighbor and
friend at Mount Vernon on a matter regarding organized opposition
to the Stamp Act, adding a postscript to remind him that "next Friday
is appointed for a meeting of the Vestry."

The duties of the vestry were, first of all, in the fall of each year,
to estimate their probable expenses and to lay the parish levy of so
many pounds of tobacco upon eacli "tithable" of the parish (every
male white person and every colored person, male and female, above
sixteen years of age, with a few exceptions, being tithable) ; and to
appoint a collector, usually the county sheriff, and to take his bond.

276

The levy was to be collected before the following April, and was usu-
ally paid in warehouse notes or receipts for tobacco. Prom this all
parish charges were paid, and first the minister's salary of 1,600 pounds
of tobacco, with allowance for cask and shrinkage, which made over
1,000 pounds more. As compared with our country clergymen of to-
day, the Colonial parson was well paid when tobacco brought a fair
price. Even at the rate of two pence a pound, at which the salaries
were compounded for the scarce year of 1758, four years' salary would
build a large brick church. The vestry were required to provide a
glebe for the minister, with convenient housing thereon, which he had
to keep in repair. They had also to build sufficient churches and
chapels for the parish, to provide necessary books and ornaments,
and keep all in good condition. They employed lay readers, and chose
their own ministers, their right of "presentation" being assured by
law for one year after a vacancy occurred, but in practice being unlim-
ited. They also provided for the poor of the parish and when neces-
sary built a poor-house or work-house. They ordered out hands to
work the public roads, and once in four years appointed commissioners
to oversee the "processioning" of the bounds of lands in theii parish
and renewing the landmarks, and put their returns upon record.

The Church wardens were generally the executive and accounting
officers of the vestry, having oversight of the church buildings and
m-aking repairs, and being charged with the relief of the poor and
binding out orphans and indigent children as apprentices, making care-
ful provision for their moral training and a meagre education. They
had also to present to the court or grand jury persons guilty of Sab-
bath breaking, of not attending church, or disturbing public worship,
of drunkenness, profane swearing, and other more serious immoralities,
and to receive the fines imposed in certain cases for the use of the par
Ish. Church wardens were elected each year; and in Truro the more
prominent or more willing vestrymen seem to have served in some
sort of rotation. Washington held this office for three terms at least
within ten years. The vestries on which he served were active and
efficient bodies, doubtless unusually so, and the indications are that
he bore his full share of their work. Yet one may assume that those
long vestry meetings were not vi'holly given to discussion of parish
affairs. We can imagine Washington, newly returned from the As-
sembly of 1772, telling Parson Massey of the warm and lengthy de-
bate in the Burgesses on the expediency of an American Episcopate,

277

as he wrote of it to the Rev. Dr. Boucher, of Port Royal. He and the
far-seeing Mason would, perhaps, be already discussing the possibility
of disestablishment in case of a break with the Mother Country, the
latter advocating it, the former maintaining that religion must be sup-
ported by taxation, but willing that tithes paid by dissenters should
go to the support of their own churches. And in those stirring days,
when such men as George Mason, the radical, George Washington,
the conservative, and George William Fairfax, the staunch loyalist, came
together, we may be sure there were other matters which received
grave consideration beside the laying of parish levies and the building
of churches.

In the Library of Congress there is preserved, among the journals
and other manuscript papers of General Washington, a" single
halfsheet of foolscap written on both sides in his most formal
and precise hand and style. The paper gives the results of four
elections of vestrymen held in Fairfax county in the months of March
and July, 1765. Each page is divided into two columns. The first
column on the first page Is headed, "Vestry chosen for Truro Parish,
25th March 1765, with the number of votes to each." Below the names
of the twelve vestrymen elected is the sub-heading, "Candidates then
rejected," followed by sixteen more names. The second column has
the same heading and sub-heading, except that Fairfax (parish) Is
substituted for Truro, and the date is 28th March, 1765. On the sec-
ond page the two columns are respectively headed in precisely the
same manner except that the date over the first, for Truro, is 22d
July, 1765, and over the second, for Fairfax, is 25th July, 1765. The
four columns contain a total of eighty-nine names, and each name
is followed by the number of votes received except in the case of the
rejected candidates in the first election in Truro, and one in the first
in Fairfax. At the bottom of the second page the total number of
votes received in each parish in their July election is divided by twelve,
and the quotient is followed by the words, "Number of Votes." This
gives the key to the meaning of the paper. Incidentally it also shows
that on March 28th, Col. George Washington was chosen a vestryman
of Fairfax parish, being fifth on the list and receiving 274 votes, and
was not voted for at all in Truro; and that on July 22d of the same
year he was chosen for the same office in Truro parish, being third
on the list and receiving 259 votes, and was not voted for in Fairfax.
This Interesting sheet fell into the hands of Jared Sparks, the la-

278

borious but not always judicious first editor of Washington's writings,
who, not understanding its import, published the lists ot the two ves-
tries elected in which Washington's name appears and suppressed all
the rest; deducing therefrom the fact, "that he was chosen a vestry-
man in each of those parishes," but adding, "How long he continued
in that station I have no means of determining." (See his Life of
Washington, p. 518, and Writings of Washington, Vol. XII., p. 400.)
Following his lead, with an almost unvarying monotony later writers
who have touched upon the matter (and they are many), have asserted
that Washington was a vestryman in both Fairfax and Truro parishes.
Prof. James A. Harrison, in his recent work, is, however, an excep-
tion. Bishop Meade, evidently puzzled, copies from Sparks without
comment. (Old Churches, etc.. Vol. II., p. 270.) But even such wri-
ters as Dr. Slaughter and Dr. J. M. Tunor have fallen into the snare.
It will be interesting, then, to sift this matter out, and see how far it
Is true that Washington held this office in both parishes, whether at
the same or at different times.

For years prior to the final division of Truro in 1765, there had ex-
isted some dissatisfaction as to the conduct of parochial affairs, as is
shown by the fact that as early as 1761 petitions were presented to
the county court, and ordered certified to the General Assembly, pray-
ing that the vestry be dissolved, and also that the parish be divided.
This dissatisfaction may have arisen in the Southwestern section of
the country, where lived a number of influential gentlemen, who had
no church in their neighborhood and, apparently, no representation on
the vestry. At all events we find that in November, 1764, a petition
was presented in the House of Burgesses praying for a division of
Truro into two distinct parishes, and it was "Ordered, that a Bill be
brought in agreeable to the prayer of the said petitioners, and it is re-
ferred to Mr. George Johnston and Mr. John West to prepare and bring
in the same." Messrs. Johnston and West were the Burgesses from
Fairfax, and both lived in what was to be the new parish. It was but
natural that these distinguished gentlemen should wish their parish
to be strong, and certainly the Bill which they drew, and which was
passed within one week, gave to the new parish of Fairfax the lion's
share of the spoils. The division took effect February 1, 1765, by a
line running up Doeg creek to Mr. George Washington's mill and thence
northwesterly to the plantation of John Munroe and on to the, Loudoun
county line. This put Mount Vernon and several large adjoining plan-

279

tations into the new parish, separating them from Pohick, the only
church left In Truro, to which they naturally belonged, both from
proximity and association. The act is found in Hening, Vol. VIII., p.
43. Under it were held the elections of March 25th and 28th, when
Washington was chosen a vestryman of Fairfax parish, in which he
was a resident.

That this parish was ever organized, or that this vestry ever met or
even qualified there is not a line of record to show, and it is in a high
degree improbable. The next court, the first at which they would have
to take the oaths, met on the third Monday in April, but its records
are lost. But the manifestly unfair division was meeting with per-
sistent opposition. When the House of Burgesses met again on the
1st of May, petitions and counter-petitions, which must have taksn
some time to prepare, came pouring in from Truro praying for a new
division on lines therein proposed, and from Fairfax, suggesting still
other lines if a new division was to be had. On May 14th these w.ere
referred to the Committee on Propositions and Grievances with in-
structions to "examine into the allegations tliereof, and report the
same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House." Of this commit-
tee, Mr. Johnson, of Fairfax, and Mr. Washington, who at that time
represented Frederick county, were members. The committee on tire
next day reported two propositions, the first of which, based on the
petition from Truro, was rejected, and the committee were instructed
to bring in a Bill pursuant to the second, granting a new division, hut
on lines asked for by sundry inhabitants of the parish of Fairfax. The
Bill was presented, recommitted, reported again with amendments,
passed May 22d, agreed to by the council, and signed by the Governor
June 1st, so becoming a law on that date. (See the Journal of that
Session of the Burgesses, and, for the Act, Hening, Vol. VIII., p. 157.
But note that the running title at the head of the page in Hening Is
misleading as to the date.) The preamble recites that the former act
"made a very unequal division of the parish, by leaving nearly double
the number of tithables in the new parish of Fairfax that there are
in Truro parish," and proceeds to repeal that act in toto, and to pro-
vide for the formation of a new parish of Fairfax to date from June
7, 17G5; the line to run up Little Hunting creek to the Gum Spring
thereon, thence to the ford over Dogue Run, where the back road from
Colchester to Alexandria crosses, thence by a straight line to the forks
of Difficult, the Loudoun line. By this act, which is drawn with un-

280

usual minuteness of detail and seems to bear the marks of his own
hand, Washington and his neighbors seated on the neck between Doeg,
or Dogue creek, on the south, and Little Hunting creek, on the north,
were restored to Truro; and at the new elections held under its pro-
visions, July 22d and 25th, he was again chosen a vestryman for his
old parish of Truro, in which now he resided, as was also Captain
John Posey, who had been chosen with him in March for Fairfax
parish.

The purpose of the paper which Washington took such pains to pre-
pare, showing the results of the March, and afterwards of the July
elections of the vesti-y, may now be readily understood in the light of
the statement in the preamble of the above act that the first division
was "very unequal." The first page shows at a glance that there were
about 100 more voters in Fairfax than in Truro at the March elections.
As these voters were freeholders, and, with their employees and slaves,
were tithables, this meant a great deal. The second elections, however,
give a different showing, and the calculation made by himself indi-
cates a difference of only twenty-one voters in the two parishes. No
doubt he was gratified to find the new line of division so satisfactory
in this regard.

We find, then, that for two months and three days Washington was
a vestryman-elect of the first parish of Fairfax, the nominal life of
that parish being exactly four months; that the vestry could not
have qualified until about three weeks after their election, before
v/hich time numerous petitions must have been in circulation, making
it probable that a new parish would be formed and a new election or-
dered almost immediately, and that within ten days thereafter Wash-
ington was probably on his way to Williamsburg to take part in the
accomplishment of this. In the absence of any direct evidence it is
not probable that he ever qualified or acted as vestryman of that
parish.

That he was never a vestryman in the second, or present, Fairfax
parish the vestry book itself is a sufficient witness. The fact that
when means were lacking to finish Christ church in Alexandria, he
joined with certain gentlemen, who were vesti-ymen there, in subscrib-
ing for pews in the church, has been thought to indicate the contrary;
but in a letter of February 15, 1773, to Captain John Dalton, a vestry-
man of that church, he writes indignantly of a proposition he under-
stands was being considered by "your Vestry" to return these sub-

281

scriptions and reclaim the pews, and "as a parishioner" and "as a
subscriber, who meant to lay the foundation of a family pew in the
new church," he protests against it. He, however, attended this
church frequently before the Revolution and regularly after his re-
turn to Mount Vernon, Pohick being then closed.

The new vestiT of Truro found much to engage their attention. The
glebe and buildings and the church plate were to be appraised by cei--
tain appointed commissioners and their value apportioned between
the two parishes in proportion to their number of tithables, and also
fifty thousand pounds of tobacco, which had been collected for build-
ing churches. Eighteen months after the division they were still ac-
counting to the other parish for collections made for the rebuilding of
Falls church, which had been ordered just after Washington first be-
came a vestryman. As a Churchwarden at this time, he would have
his full share in this business. But the larger work to which they
devoted their immediate efforts was the erection of the "Upper
Church," or Payne's church, as it was long afterwards known from the
name of its builder, in the western section of the parish, which until
now had been without a church building. The site of this church is
two miles south of the present Fairfax Courthouse, immediately on
the road to Fairfax station, in what was then but a thinly settled part
of the country. It speaks well for Washington and his fellow-vestry-
men on the river that they should have taxed themselves heavily to
build so substantial and handsome a church in what must have been
almost the backwoods, deferring meanwhile the rebuilding of their
own Pohick church. The vestry records tell the story:

"At a Vestry held for Truro parish, the 28th, 29th and .30th days of
November, 1765. Present, Mr. Edw. Payne, Colo. Geo. Washington,
Capt. Posey, Capt. Daniel McCarty, Colo. Geo. William Fairfax, Mr.
William Gardner, Mr. Thos. Withers Coffer, Mr. William Linton, Mr.
Thomas Ford and Mr. Alex. Henderson. Ordered that the vestry meet
at Mr. William Gardner's on the first Monday In February next, in
order to agree with workmen to undertake the building of a brick
church, to contain 1,600 superficial feet. And that the church wardens
advertise the same in as publick a manner as may be."

"At a Vestry held for Truro Parish at Mr. William Gardner's on the
3d. and 4th. days of February, 1766. Present (as above except Capt.
Posey), who being there met to inquire the most convenient place to
erect a new church and to agree with the Workmen to Build the same —

282

Resolv'd that the new Church be built on the Middle Ridge near the
Ox Road, the ground to be laid off by Mr. Edward Payne, Mr. Wm.
Gardner, Mr. Thos. Withers Coffer and Mr. Thos. Ford, or any three
of them on the land supposed to be belonging to Mr. Thomazen Ellzey,
who, being present, consents to the same." (Mr. Ellzey was a vestry-
man-elect, but perhaps had not qualified. The remaining member was
Col. George Mason.)

"Agreeable to a Plan and Article annexed thereto Mr. Edward Payne
hath undertaken to build the said Church for the sum of Five hundred
and seventy-nine Pounds Virginia Currency."

"Ordered that Mr. Edward Payne pay to Mr. John Ayres forty shil-
lings for his plan and estimate."

"Ordered that Colo. Geo. Washington, Capt. Daniel McCarty, Colo.
Geo. Wm. Fairfax, Mr. Alex. Henderson, & Mr. The. Ford, or any three
of them, do view and examine the said building from time to time as
shall be required."

There follows the "Memorandum of Agreement" between Capt. Payne
and the vestry, which only lack of space forbids publishing in full as
a model. The building was to be 531/:. by 30 feet in the clear, the
walls 22 feet high; "to be built of good bricks, well burnt, of the ordi-
nary size, that is, nine inches long, four & an half inches broad & 3
inches thick, the outside bricks to be laid in mortar two-thirds lime
and % sand, the inside Bricks to be laid with mortar half lime & half
sand. The corners of the House, the Windows and the Doors to be of
rubied brick. The arches and Pediment heads of the Doors and Win-
dows to be of bricks rubbed, gauged and set in Putty. The Window
and Door frames to be made with double Archatraves. — -The lies to be
laid with Brick Tyle. — To have an Altar Piece sixteen feet high and
twelve feet wide, and done with wainscot after the Ionic order. — The
Pulpit, Canopy & reading Desks to be of black Walnut, wainscoted
with proper Cornish. The Gallery to be supported by Collumns turned
& fluted, to come out as far as the second window at the West end of
the Church, to have a wainscoted front, & to have four seats raised
one behind and above another." The flooring was to be IVa inches
thick. Pews to be wainscoted with pine plank IVo inches thick, "dou-
ble work on each side of the framing and raised pannel on one side."
Chancel rail and banisters of walnut. "The roof to be covered with
inch pine plank, cyp(h)ered & lapt one & an ha.lf inches, and to be
Shingled with good Cypress shingles twenty inches in length, & to

283

show six inches." The church could hardly be built at this day, if at
all, for less than ten thousand dollars. Capt. Payne was given two
years and eight months to complete it; and it was received by the
Vestry three weeks ahead of contract time. Before it was finished a
"Vestry House" was ordered to be built in the churchyard, to be of
brick, twenty by sixteen feet in the clear. Later the churchyard was
ordered inclosed with posts and rails.

The after history of Payne's church is the same sad story as that of
so many of its contemporaries. During the dark days which followed
the Revolution it was used probably very occasionally at first, and was
finally abandoned, for the lack, as we imagine, of a minister, rather
than of a congregation, for dissent does not appear to have been rife
in this parish. About the beginning of the last century it was occu-
pied by the Baptists, and upon the division in that denomination about
1840, the Jerusalem Baptist church (New School), was organized in
the building and continued to use it until 1862. A faded photograph,
taken in 1861, shows an attractive church in good preservation, with
high arched windows and massive hipped roof. In the winter of
1862-63 a Federal army was encamped in the vicinity, and by them
the church was torn down, brick by brick, and the material used to
build chimneys and hearths for their winter quarters. The old grave-
stones in the churchyard, which was a large and very old burying-
ground, probably shared the same fate, as only two or three remain.
A small frame Baptist church now covers part of the site. Of the old
Payne's church naught remains but a heap of rubbish, from which
may yet be taken pieces of brick, rough but exceedingly hard and "well
burnt," with the "mortar, two-thirds lime and one-third sand," still
clinging to them to attest, after an hundred and forty years, the hon-
est workmanship of Captain Edward Payne, Churchwarden and Church-
builder.

Unlike many of our Colonial churches which fell into other hands,
the interior of Payne's escaped alteration or so-called improvement.
Those who recall the building remember well the square pews, the
lofty pulpit with its "canopy" or sounding board against the south
wall, and the reading desk and (probably) Clark's desk below, and the
chancel and high "Altar-Piece" at the east end. The silver Communion
service belonging to this church was restored to the Rev. W. F. Lock-
wood about 1845 by an old lady living in the neighborhood, and was
presented by him to St. John's church, Centerville, where it is still in
use.

284

To return to the old Vestry: No sooner was Payne's church com-
pleted than the building of a new church at Pohick was undertaken;
the story of which, and of Washington's large part therein, will doubt-
less be told by a more capable pen in another paper. Until called to
the North in the service of his country, Washington continued in ac-
tive and untiring service as a vestryman, and nominally held the office
during the Revolutionary war.

But in a letter to his self-exiled friend, Colonel Fairfax, written from
New York July 10, 1783, he says: "I have been in the State (Vir-
ginia) but once since the 4th of May, 1775, and that was at the siege
of York. In going thither I spent one day at my own house, and in
returning took three or four days, but I attended to no business."

During the Revolution the vestry met irregularly and vacancies re-
mained unfilled. After the war an effort was made to revive it and fill
its ranks, and in this connection the vestry book states that on Feb-
ruary 23, 1784, "John Gibson, Gent, is elected a Vestryman for this
Parish in the room of his Excellency General Washington who has
signified his resignation in a letter to Danl. Mc. Carty Esq."

But the times were out of joint for the old vestries of the Estab-
lishment, and they were soon left without business, without income,
and worst of all, in most cases, without ministers; in which event the
revival of the Church seemed hopeless. The church in Alexandria
survived and gathered in many of the country families, but the old
Truro vestry held its last recorded meeting at Colchester January
27, 1785. The next entry in the vestry book is made by the Overseers
of the Poor, who continued to use it for their records until September,
1802, and for more than half a century old Truro remained dormant.

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA. VIRGINIA

BY MISS HELEN NOKBIS CUMMINGS.

MIDWAY between Washington and Mount Vernon there lies a
little city of Infinite value to lovers of cistory, and In quaint
old Alexandria one of the places that claim the greatest in-
terest is Christ church, being spoken of far and near as the
church of Washington. His was the first of a long Une of names of whom
the country is so justly proud, to be found in connection with this
church; his name and but one other are inscribed upon it. Two mural
tablets, one on either side of the chancel, are placed in memory of the
two sons of this ciiurch, whom Virginia most loves and honors — George
Washington and Robert Edward Lee, and two pews which they occupied
are marked by silver plates engraved with their respective names, a fac-
simile of their own handwriting. Both lived on the Potomac, one a few
miles north, the other a few miles south, of Alexandria, and although
their lives were separated by many years, yet this church was a mother
to them both.

In 1765 prosperous Alexandria determined to erect for herself a
handsome church in place of the little chapel that by this time had
heen outgrown. On February 1st of that year the parish of Fairfax
was created out of Truro, and March 2Sth Col. George Washington,
then thirty-three years old, was elected one of the twelve vestrymen.
In Colonial days the Government of Virginia was largely controlled by
the vestry of the parish, holding as it did, in a generous measure, the
power of civil authority. This close connection between Church and
State extended the power of the vestry to a variety of duties, and made
the position no sinecure; for. besides attending to the temporal wants
of the church and overseeing the needs of the poor, giving the deserv-
ing ones food and clothing as well as medical attention, it had tha
right to Impose fines for the non-observance of secular laws, and with
It rested the responsibility of administering justice.

In order to build the church, the vestry was obliged to impose upon
the parish a tax of 31,185 pounds of tobacco. From the funds raised
two churches were to be erected, one at Falls Church and the other
at Alexandria. The 'fite chosen for the Alexandria church was at the

286

head of Cameron street. It was a thick wood then, but the ground,
shaded by the forest tres, seemed an ideal spot to set aside as God's
Acre.

in 1767 the contract was given to James Parsons for £600 sterling,
a large sum or money at that time; but it was to be a handsome build-
ing, though simple in treatment, as were all Colonial churches. Built
of brick and roofed with shingles of juniper, since replaced by slate,
the church now stands in the heart of the city, surrounded by its beau-
tiful yard and overshadowing trees, and to this day is a delight to all
visitors who, on their pilgrimage to Mount Vernon, take a little time
to see this sacred building, the pride of Alexandria.

The severity of the interior is extreme; "the arches and pediments
are of the Tuscan order, the altar piece, pulpit and canopy of Ionic
style;" there are three windows in the chancel, and on either side of
them are two panels, one containing the Lord's Prayer with the Creed;
the other has the Ten Commandments, both done in black lettering
on a gilt background. The sounding-board or canopy and high pul-
pit, with its winding stairway, is in the center of the chancel. Di-
rectly against the window, below that, is the "altar piece," all of
Ionic style, and immediately in front, by the chancel rail, is the tiny
font.

The architect selected was James Wren, a descendant, so the story
goes, of the great Sir Christopher Wren, who, as architect of the
wonderful Cathedral of St. Paul's, In London, has shed glory not only
on himself, but on his posterity. In 1772 the work of building camp
to a standstill, and Colonel John Carlyle agreed to complete James
Parson's unfinished contract for an additional sum of £220. One year
later, February 27, 1773, the church was placed in the hands of the
vestry, who regarded it as finished "in a workmanlike manner." The
same day Colonel Washington purchased for £36 10s.. the pew then
known as Number 5.

The choice Oronoko tobacco played a prominent part as a commer-
cial factor of Alexandria, since the church was built with it, the
clergyman's salary was paid in the same way, and the flret rector.
Rev. Townsend Dade, ordained by the Bishop of London, received his
salary in the shape of 17,280 pounds of tobacco, and for want of a
glebe, 2,500 pounds were added to this sum. In 1770 the church was
able to purchase five hundred acres of land, and three years later was
wealthy enough to erect on it a glebe house, or parsonage, with dairy.

287

meat house, barn, stable and corn house, at a cost ot £653. The next
year, to complete the convenience of the rector's family, a hen house
was added. Thus steadily the flnancial condition of the church in-
creased.

That women stood high in the estimation of the vestry is proved
by the fact that in the selection of a sexton the choice was given to
Susannah Edwards, who preceded the members of the congregation
up the aisle, locating each family in their respective pews, according
«.o dignity. She eviaentiy filled the office well, for she was succeeded
by anothei dame. Mistress Cook, who was most "peculiar in dress
and physiognomy; had a stately manner of ushering persons into
their pews and locking the door upon them, and with an almost mil-
itary air she patrolled the aisles, alert to protect and prompt to sup-
press any violation of order."

To the church-goers the great family coach of the Washingtons was
a familiar sight. Made in England, It was both substantial and ele-
gant, if somewhat heavy. Four horses were necessary to draw it, but
wnen the Virginia roads were very bad six were used; and to eacn
span of horses there were the liveried postilion riders. After service,
one Sunday morning In the summer of 1774, surrounded by the con-
gregation, every one or whom he well knew, Washington advocated
withdrawing al'egian'-e from King George, and stated that h? would
fight to uphold the independence of the Colonies. No more solemn
time or occasion could have been chosen. With calmness, in a spirit
of prayerful deliberation, he announced his momentous decision under
tne very shadow of the church. Nine years after, when that inde-
pendence nad been successfully established and the long contested
dght so bravely won, having reslgnea his commission at Annapolis, he
was free to turn his face towards home. His arrival at Mount Vernon
was on Christmas Eve. The next day found him once more in his
accustomed seat in tne church at Alexandria to hea; the tender mes-
sage of peace and good-will that was proclaimed like liberty through-
out the land, and no one bowed in deeper gratitude than the great
general, who came as humbly as a little child to this, his Father's
House. In addition to the Christmas service, the rector, the Rev. Da-
vid Griffith, who served as chaplain of the Third Virginia Regiment

In the year 1767 it was determined to build a new church at Pohick,
in the Revolutionary War, read the exultant song of Moses and the
Children of Israel: "I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed
gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea"; and

288

the sermon he preached was from the 12Sth Psalm: "Yea, thou shalt
see thy children's children and peace upon Israel.' The children's
children ot some of those men who composed the congregation in
Washington's day are still to be found Sunday after Sunday in the old
church; some in the same old family pews. He greeted after service
the Wests, the Muirs, the Flemings, the Carlyles, the Custises, the
Ramsays, the Daltons, the Alexanders, the Adamses, the Wrens, the
Herberts, the Paynes, the Dulings, the Sanfords, the Frenches, the
Shaws, the Broadwaters, the Blackburns, the Darnes, the Gunnels, the
Chicliesters, the Tripletts, the Coxes, the Browns, the Gilpins and the
Hooes; and the heritage of friendship has passed on to their descend-
ants.

In the Colonial period, having no Bishops, there was no confirmation
in the Colonies. The first record of confirmation at Christ church was
in 1814, by Bishop Moore; probably his first oflScial act as Bishop of
Viiginia. Dr. David Griffith, the chaplain of Revolutionary days, was
the first Bishop-elect of this Diocese, but owing to lack of funds, Vir-
ginia could not undertake the expense of his journey to London for
ordination.

At the time the church at Alexandria was built it was known as the
twin church of Pohick, but changes crept on, and they grew apart in
appearance. The galleries at Christ church were added and the high
square pews cut down and divided; the Washington pew is the only
square pew left. In 1808 interments ceased in the churchyard, though
spacious and by no means filled with graves; the vestry considered It
best to purchase a cemetery on the outskirts of the city, and long
stretches of velvety grass, broken only by the flickering sunlight
through the trees, forms an exquisite setting to the old Colonial
church. In 1810 an organ was introduced, and in 1812 the chimneys
were built, no longer foot-stoves were necessary. With the change of
appearance came the change of name. From 17G5 to 1813 It had al-
ways been spoken of as the Episcopal church; now to future genera-
tions it was to be known as Christ church, and on June 9th of that
year it was consecrated by Bishop Claggett, of Maryland. By degrees
the bell was purchased, the steeple erected, the vestry-room under the
tower was built, and the porch at the southwest corner constructed.
Always with adequate means at command, no expense was spared to
enlarge or beautify, and as the years went on each new improvement
was easily and happily welcomed.

289

In 1815, at the Diocesan Convention of Virginia, it was decided to
establish a Theological Seminary, A few years later a class was
formed at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, which, in 1S23,
•was transferred to Alexandria, and the first building erected in 1827;
and from that time until 1855, on every alternating year, the ordina-
tion services were held at Christ church. The Bishops who officiated
were Griswold, Moore, Meade and Bedell, and the men who consecra-
ted their lives to the dark continent of Africa were Savage and Minor,
Payne and Henning, and Colden Hoffman, while Cleveland Keith de-
voted his life to China. The rest of the candidates for Orders found
tiieir work nearer at hand, but for all these men the memory of Christ
church was very dear.

During the boyhood of Robert E. Lee his winter home was in Alex-
andria. Many a Christmas, with the other boys of the neighborhood,
he brought the evergreen and helped to decorate the church; and in
the summer of 1853, when he had reached the rank of Colonel, he was
confirmed here by Bishop Johns, who said to him, after service, that
if he should make as good a Christian as he had a soldier, the Church
would be proud of him. The mural tablet is evidence that the hope
or the Bishop was fulfilled. Here, too, in the churchyard, in ISGl,
counting the agonizing cost to his State, he agreed to take command
of the Virginia forces, seeing only too clearly the first inevitable per-
sonal sacrifice, the loss of his Arlington home. During the war the
Federal authorities forcibly held the church, but it was finally restored
to the vestry in 1866.

Of the ministers of God who have served at her altar there is a long
list of men who, inspired by her, have done noble work. Two have
become Bishops. The first minister was Townsend Dade; then fol-
lowed Mr. West, David Griffith, Bryan Fairfax, Thomas Davis, Mr.
Gibson, Mr. Barclay, William Meade, Oliver Norris, Beuel Keith, Geo.
Griswold, John P. McGuire, Charles Mann, Charles B. Dana, Cornelius
Walker, A. M. Randolph, Randolph H. McKim, Henderson Suter, Ber-
ryman Green, and the present rector, William Jackson Morton.

The church to-day is in a state of perfect preservation. Time has
laid his finger on her, but to soften and to beautify. She still stands
with open arms and a gracious welcome. She reproves, she warns,
she cheers and loves. For generations she has been to her sons and
daughters a source of consolation and of joy, and she still extends the
promise of a protecting mother love that will cause the children of
the future to rise up and call her blessed.

THE OLD FALLS CHURCH, FAIRFAX COUNTY.

VIRGINIA

BY THE REV. GEORGE S. SOMEBVELU;, RECTOR.

HE Falls Church, so called after one of the falls of the Po-
tomac, was built about 1734, enlarged in 1750, and rebuilt as
now in 17G7-'69. The musty archives at Fairfax Court House
contain the deed to the church grounds recorded in 1745, many
years after the original church building had been erected thereon.
V/ith this yard of about one and a half acres, containing magnificent
old trees and ancient graves, consecrated by burial rites and tears
and by the tread of worshipping feet for near 200 years, this time-
hallowed sanctuary stands as a venerable, indeed, and most inspiring
memorial of our far-back Colonial days.

Truro Parish originally included both the Falls church and Pohick
church, both being served by the same rector and the same vestry,
the latter meeting sometimes at one church and sometimes at another.
In 1764 Truro Parish was divided and a new parish, called Fairfax
Parish, was formed out of it. The Falls church and Christ church,
Alexandria, were then joined together to compose this second parish,
both these churches having one rector and one vestry in common.

It was after this division the Falls church was rebuilt of brick as
now. The contract was given out for this church and for Christ
church at the same time, the Falls church, however, being completed
first by some years. Both churches were to cost 600 pounds each.
Mr. James Parsons was to build the Falls church. "A most particu-
lar contract was made for them," writes Bishop Meade. "The mortar
is to have two-thirds of lime and one of sand," the very reverse of the
proportion at this day, and which accounts for the greater durability
of ancient walls. The shingles were to be of best cypress or juniper
and three-quarters of an inch thick, and good authorities pronounce
them in perfect condition to-day, and predict they will last hundreds
of years to come. The brick is of a very hard kind and peculiar shape,
and some think were brought from England.

As is well known. General George Washington was a member of the
one vestry that served both the Falls church and Christ church, Alex-

291

andria. Mr. John Lynch, now an old man, who once served the
Falls church as sexton for over forty years, told the writer that in
his younger days he learned from a number of aged persons that it
was Washington's custom, while giving his regular attendance to
Christ church, also to visit and worship at the Palls church at least
four times a year; this being part of his parish. The particular pew
and place in church he usually occupied were said to have been mark-
ed and kept for him. This location is still pointed out, though the
original floor and pews have been destroyed.

Several residents also of this village now living, whose mother,
Mrs. Sarah Maria Sewell, died many years since at the age of 97, still
delight to repeat her descriptions of the great hero, whom in her child-
hood she had seen worshipping in this church. She remembered, also,
his dining occasionally at her home near the church, and his taking
her up in his arms and playfully caressing her. Her father, Mr. John
West, was then a member of the House of Burgesses, and his name
appears on the Church Vestry.

The following entry in the old Truro Parish Vestry Book is a sam-
ple of its records:

"March 28, 1763."
"At a Vestry of Truro Parish held at the Falls Church, March 28,
1763; present: Henry Gunnell. Wm. Payne, Jr., Ch. Wardens; John
West, Wm. Payne, Chas. Broadwater, Thos. Wrenn, Abra. Barnes,
Dan'l McCarty, Robt. Boggers, and George Washington; who being
there met to examine into the state of the said church, greatly in de-
cay and want of repair, and likewise whether the same shall be re-
paired or a new one built and whether at the same place or removed
to a more convenient one. * * *

"Resolved: it is the opinion of this Vestry that the Old Church is
rotten and unfit for repair but that a new church he built at the same
place."

George Mason was also a member of this vestry, and at a vestry
meeting held the following year to complete plans for the rebuilding
of the Falls church, his name is recorded as present. In Washington's
diary for 1764 is entered a copy of an advertisement for "undertakers
to build Falls Church," showing him to have been on its original
building committee.

Running back through its Truro days the Falls Church parish has
carried on its vestry rolls the names of Capt. Augustine Washington,

292

his son, George Washington, George Mason, George Wm. Fairfax,
Capt. Henry Fairfax and many others. In its yard a portion of Brad-
doclv's ill-starred army is said to have once encamped, and the present
building also to have been used in the Revolutionary War as a com-
pany recruiting headquarters of Col. Charles Broadwater, one of Fair-
fax county's first patriots.

From its precincts, too, marched Capt. Henry Fairfax, the scholarly
West Pointer, with his Fairfax volunteers to the Mexican War, his
loiy destined to be borne back and laid to rest by these sacred walls
he loved so well, and which he himself, at his own expense, had munifi-
cently restored as an offering to his Lord.

The experience of the Falls church in the Civil War is well known.
It stood throughout in the very forefront of that dreadful strife, In
the constant pathway of the armies, while about it ebbed and flowed
the awful tide of blood. Many a suffering, dying soldier found mer-
ciful shelter and nursing within its holy walls as a hospital. Later
it was used, also, by the Federal troops as a stable. One thousand
three hundred dollars was expended by the U. S. Government in 1865
on its repairs. Lastly, it was associated with the late Spanish-Amer-
ican War, a large portion of our American army being encamped and
trained nearby and many attended its services.

About 1787 the Falls Church was deserted as a house of worship
by Episcopalians. This was the time of popular hatred and general
decadence of the Church because of its Imagined association with
England and English tyranny. "Since then," wrote Bishop Meade,
"it has been used by any who were disposed to occupy it as a place
of worship; and the doors and windows being opened, itself stand-
ing on the common highway, it has been entered at pleasure by travel-
ers on the road and animals of every kind.

Some years since the attention of the professors of our Seminary
and some of the students was drawn toward it, and occasional ser-
vices performed there. This led to its partial repair (chiefly at the
expense of Captain Henry Fairfax, grandson of the Rev. Bryan
Fairfax, a former rector of this church). The most successful effort
in its behalf was made by one of those devoted youths who has given
himself to Africa. Young Mr. Minor, of Fredericksburg, then a stu-
dent at the Seminary, undertook the task of lay-reader, and
by his untiring zeal and most affectionate manners soon collected a
large Sunday-school, aided by some fellow-students of kindred spirit.

293

In losing Mr. Minor when he went to Africa the children and parents
thought they had lost their all, but Providence raised up others, and
doubtless will continue to raise up as many as are needed. Our Sem-
inary will surely furnish the supply that is called for.

"The house of which we are speaking has recently been more thor-
oughly repaired and is now as to outward appearance, strength and
comfort one of our most desirable temples of religion, bidding fair
to survive successive generations of those unworthy structures wnich
are continually rising up and falling down throughout our land. On
Saturday and Sunday, assisted by several of our ministers, I perform-
ed pastoral and Episcopal duties in this church. On the latter day,
in the midst of an overflowing congregation, I confirmed six persons
and administered Holy Communion." Thus wrote Bishop Meade in
1827.

But as rich a storehouse of momentous historic names, events, and
principles as is this ancient sanctuary, it is equally valuable for the
religious records it preserves. Virginia's progeny of iUtistrious
Churchmen has been as noble and as numerous as her statesmen. And
imbedded in the grounds and walls of this venerable shrine is the
name and image of many a spiritual prince and hero. Hear but a
partial roll-call of its rectors:

Rev. Chas. Green, in 1736, after being nominated to the vestry by
Capt. Augustine Washington and sent to England to receive ordina-
tion from the Bishop of London, as recorded in the old parish Vestry
Book; Rev. David Griffith, elected the first Bishop of Virginia, but
prevented by circumstances from being sent to England for consecra-
tion; Rev. Bryan Fairfax, Washington's much-revered pastor and
friend; Rev. Drs. E. C. Lippitt, James May, Joseph Packard, professor
in the Virginia Theological Seminary; Bishop Horatio Southgate, pre-
viously Missionary Bishop in Constantinople; Bishop Richard Wilmer,
Rev. Launcelot Byrd Minor, who died a missionary in Africa; Rev
W. H. Kinckle, also Rev. Drs. Churchill J. Gibson, Joshua Peterkin,
George W. Shinn, and others, who regularly officiated here when stu-
dents at the Theological Seminary, five miles distant; Bishop MadisoU:
Virginia's first Bishop, visited this church to preach and administer
confirmation; Bishop Meade officiated in and wrote most feelingly
and admiringly of it in his well known history; Bishop Kinsolving,
our Missionary Bishop in Brazil, there received confirmation; Rev.
Dr. John McGill was twice its let^tor; before him Rev. Templeman

294

Brown, and more lately Revs. Frank Page, J. Cleveland Hall, and R.
A. Castleman were rectors. Many other noble, sainted names also
adorn and enrich its history.

Oh, what a perpetual standing sermon is this hallowed fane! What
glorious truths it ceaselessly proclaims! Long before the Colonial
Church of England changed its American local title to "Protestant
Episcopal," this building was known only as the Anglican Church.
A living, visible, tangible, speaking witness indeed it stands in the
identity of our American branch of the Church with the Church of
England, and through it to our oneness with the one Holy Historic
Body of all ages and of all lands. Who can sit beneath its roof with
out profounder, more thrilling convictions that our worship is Apos-
tolic; our faith is Catholic; our Priesthood is Divine! Who can tread
its grounds without feeling the throb and beat and impulse of our fore-
fathers' unfaltering faith and their effectual, fervent prayers? Who
can even in passing behold it without hearing mighty voices calling
and seeing brave hands beckoning to higher, grander, more enduring
things than earth's brief, fitful dreams?

But alas! this precious storied monument that brings down to us
great messages from the past and is carrying on added tidings from
ourselves to centuries of posterity to come, is now the prey of decay,
dilapidation and ruin. For two years the present rector has labored
strenuously for its restoration. The task and the expense have prov-
ed far greater than was anticipated. From roof to yard and enclosure
all has to be renewed or reclaimed. Prom $8,000 to $10,000 is re-
quired to put building and grounds in thoroughly worthy ana working
condition. Of this (including a few hundreds contributed to helii
pay off its parish debt) about $4,000 has been raised and expended on
the church. The work has had to stop until further funds are secured.
Our Bishop has lately seen and been greatly pleased with what has so
far been done. The church's prospects for ruture Christian service is
simply boundless, if fitted therefor. My only possible hope to com-
plete the work is with outside help.

Christians, patriots. Churchmen, remember your sacred landmark!
Honor its holy memories. Make it rejoice with renewed strength
and beauty for the great .Tubilee Year of 190'':

POHICK CHURCH, TRURO PARISH, FAIRFAX
COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BY THE KEV. SAMUEL A. WAiLIS, RECTOK FROM 1881 TO 1891.

Qq /f^\\ ^^ POHICK CHURCH," as it Is familiarly and affectionate-
\V ]) ^^ called by the people of the vicinity, stands out as one
^0=^ of the historical landmarks not only of Virginia, but also
of the nation. It is pre-eminently the parish church of
Mount Vernon, and shares the honor with Old Christ church, Alexan-
Iria, of being intimately associated with the religious life and worship
of "Washington. It was also the parish church of another notable and
noble figure of the Revolution, the celebrated George Mason, of Gun-
Eton Hall, the author of the Bill of Rights of Virginia. The associa-
tion of two such immortal names with the history of "Old Pohick"
justly entitles it to a foremost place among the ecclesiastical edifices
of this land.

The present church, a commodious and solid structure, built of brick
with stone dressings In the style of the Georgian period, so common
In the churches erected during the last half of the eighteenth century,
is the second church built in the lower part of Truro Parish. Its
predecessor was a simple frame edifice, situated two miles nearer Gun-
ston Hall, on the south side of Pohick Run, from which the church
derives its name.

Fortunately for the history of the parish, the late venerable Rev. Dr.
Philip Slaughter, historiographer of the Diocese of Virginia, recovered
the old vestry book from some one in the North for the sum of twenty
dollars, about twenty years ago. The vestry of Pohick gladly paid this
amount to Dr. Slaughter, and counts this old volume, now deposited
at Mount Vernon for safe-keeping, as amongst its most valued posses-
sions. Before the book was acquired by the vestry Dr. Slaughter added
to his valuable parish histories, already written, the history of Truro
parish, of course taking this invaluable record of fifty-three years as
the basis of his work. This is still in manuscript, in the hands of the
writer of the present article, who confidently hopes that the rapidly
reviving interest in the antiquities of Virginia may soon give him the
long-desired opportunity of publishing this important contribution to
the history of the Diocese and State.

296

The first record in the vestry book goes back to May, 1732, when the
parish of Truro was, by Act of Assembly, formed from Hamilton Par-
ish, which was coterminous with what was then Prince William coun-
ty, "extending from Chappawamsick Creek and Deep Run along the
Potomac to the great mountains." Truro Parish took off the part
bounded by Occoquan River, Bull Run, a branch thereof (so well
known during the Civil War), and thence by a line extending to the
Indian Thoroughfare (Ashby's Gap), thence along the Blue Ridge to
the Potomac river, and down that river to the mouth of Occoquan.
This territory now comprises Truro, Upper Truro, Cameron, Fairfax
and Shelburne parishes. There was a church building already at Oc-
coquan, in Hamilton Parish, where the earliest meetings of the Truro
vestry were held until the first Pohick church, the frame building al-
ready mentioned, was built within the limits of Truro Parish, about
four miles from the town of Occoquan, and four miles from Gunston
Hall, on the ridge of land between Occoquan River and Pohick Run.

The first minister of the parish was the Rev. Lawrence de Butts,
who, however, did not remain long in charge. He was engaged for
only one year, to preach three times a month at Occoquan church,
then in Hamilton Parish, at the new church (or Mr. Gunwell's), by
which, I think, was meant Payne's church, near the present town of
Fairfax, and at the "chapelle" above Goose Creek, at the sum of 8,000
pounds of tobacco, clear of the warehouse charges and abatements,
with the proviso that if he were prevented by the weather, or other-
wise fails to preach at any of the times or places aforesaid, tobacco
shall only be levied for him in proportion to his services. It Is inter-
esting to note that the first lay reader in the parish, elected at a ves-
try meeting held on the 12th of October, 1733, was Joseph Johnson,
who was to receive 1,300 pounds of tobacco, provided he did his duty
in his oflice.

On November 18, 1735, Augustine Washington was elected vestry-
man. He nominated, at a vestry meeting held in 1736, Mr. Charles
Green, "as a person qualified to ofiiciate in this church as soon as he
shall receive orders from His Grace the Bishop of London." The
vestry then commended Mr. Green to the Right Honorable Lord Fair-
fax, for his letter of recommendation and presentation to the Bishop
of London, to qualify him as aforesaid. Mr. Green then proceeded to
England for orders, and on his return to Virginia, in 1737, It is re-
corded "that the Rev Charles Green, M. D., by a letter from the

297

Hon'ble Wm. Gooch, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, as by tlie letter
of the Honourable James Blair, Commisary, is legally and regularly
ordained, and it is therefore ordered by the vestry that the said Green
be received and entertained as minister of this parish, and be pro-
vided for as the law directs."

Prom all we know of the first regularly instituted rector, he was a
man of high character, faithful to his duties, enjoying the friendship
and esteem of George Mason, George Washington and other prominent
members of the vestry and community. He remained in charge of the
parish until his death, in 1765.

In the year 1741 Fairfax county was taken from Prince William, and
the boundaries of this county and Truro Parish became coterminous.
In February, 1749-50, it is recorded that George Mason was appointed
church warden in place of Jeremiah Bronaugh, deceased. This is the
first appearance of the name of the illustrious patriot of Gunston Hall
on the vestry book. He continued as an active member of the vestry
until after the Revolution, when all vestries, under the laws of the
State, were dissolved; but he no doubt remained connected with Po-
hick church until his death, in 1792.

The next incident worthy of note is the division of Truro Parish by
Act of Assembly in 1748, by a line running from the mouth of Difficult
Run to the head thereof, and thence running across the country to the
head of Pope's Head Run, and down this run to the mouth thereof,
and all that part of the parish below this line to retain the name of
Truro, and that above to be called Cameron Parish.

On the 4th of June, 1753, it was ordered by the vestry of Truro
Parish, on the petition of Captain John West, that the Rev. Charles
Green do preach on every third Sunday in the town of Alexandria.
This is the first mention of that town in the vestry book, and gives
us the probable date of the first Church service there, being ten years
earlier than is generally supposed. In 1755 it is ordered that the
church wardens have seats made for the church in Alexandria.

Then appears a most important entry. On the 25th of October, 1762,
George Washington were appointed church wardens for the ensuing
Peake, deceased, and In October, 1763, George William Fairfax and
George Washington were appointed churchwardens for the ensuing
year.

By an act of the General Assembly, passed October, 1764, the last di-
vision of Truro Parish during Colonial times was made, to become ef-

29S

fective after February 1, 1765. The line commenced at the mouth of
Dceg Creek and ran to Mr. George Washington's mill, the ruins ol:
which can be seen to this day; thence by a straight line to the plan-
tation or John Munroe, and the same continued to the line that di-
vides Fairfax and Loudoun; and all southward or that line to the
River Occoquan to retain the name of Truro, and all to the northward
to be called Fairfax Parish, with the old Christ church, Alexandria,
as the chief church of the latter parish. George Washington, as the
vestry book states, became vestryman in both parishes by the vote of
the freeholders and householders in each.

In this same year, as already noted, the Rev. Charles Green died,
and shortly after the Rev. Lee Massey, a lawyer and an inhabitant of
the parish, was recommended for Holy Orders to the Bishop of Lon-
don, and on his return from England, in 1767, was accepted as the
minister of the parish. He was also held in high esteem, and there
still linger traditions of his wit and bon homie among the older resi-
dents of Pohlck. Bishop Meade writes "that his sermons evince talent
and are sound in doctrine, but like most of that day, want evangelical
life and spirit, and would never rouse lost sinners to a sense of their
condition." He lived to his eighty-sixth year, dying in 1814, and lies
buried at "Bradley," his old plantation, on the slope of a hill over-
looking the beautiful waters of Occoquan River.

It has sometimes been doubted whether the surplice was worn la the
Colonial Church in Virginia, but this doubt is set at rest so far as one
instance is concerned, by an order of the vestry, in 1766, to Hector
Rose to pay George William Fairfax, of Belvoir, also a vestryman, the
sum of £16 17s Od., agreeably to the account lodged for surplices and
booKs imported by him for the use of the parish.

In the year 1769 the plans of the church were drawn up, it is said,
as the vestry book states the old building was out of repair. Though
no record appears on that book verifying the accepted tradition of the
manner in which Washington determined the central position of the
present site of tne church, and carried his point at a vestry meeting,
we agree with Bishop Meade as to the evidences of its truth. The
method adopted is singularly like Washington's practical habits of
business. When it was proposed to build on a new site, much oppo-
sition was aroused, especially by "old Mr. Mason," who spoke of the
spot then occupied as hallowed in the eyes of the people, and conse-
crated by the graves of their dead. Washington at once made a sur-

299

vey of this part of the parish, drew up a map, and marked the resi-
dences of the parishioners, and presented it at the next vestry meeting.
This argument was conclusive, and the site on which the church stands
to-day is an evidence of his careful survey.

by Washington. The building committee as appointed by the vestry,
consisted of George Washington, George William Fairfax, George Ma-
son, Daniel McCarty and Edward Payne. The undertaker, or con-
tractor was Daniei French, Gentleman, who contracted to build the
church according to the articles of agreement for the sum o^ £877.
We wish that we had space to transcribe these articles in the columni
of the Southern Churchman, but their best witness Is the solidity of
the walls of the old building to-day. The Interior remained practically
intact up to the time of the Civil War, when, to quote Bishop Johns,
"the church was shamefully damaged by its military invaders, who
left it to crumble under the wasting influences of the weather, and to
be carried off at pleasure by any one who fancied its material for pri-
vate use." All that remained of the Interior woodwork after this des-
olation was the cornice around the ceiling. Bishop Meade, as all read-
ers of his "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia," will re-
member, records a visit made by himself to Pohlck church in 1837. He
speaks of its neglected appearance and the dilapidation of the roof at
that time. Through his suggestion a new roof was put on the churcii,
which protected the interior for many years.

But to return to the closing days of its Colonial and its post-Revolu-
tionary history. "His Excellency" General Washington resigned from
the vestry in 1782, and shortly afterwards the Rev. Lee Massey ceased
to conduct the services there, owing, it is said, to physical disability.
The fortunes of the church appeared to wane, as little is heard of it for
many years, with the exception of the time that Rev. Mason Locke
Weems, the author of the famous "Life of Washingio " was said to ba
Its rector. Services must have been infrequent until about the year 1837,
when the Rev. Mr. Johnsjn, who also acted as tutor to the children
of the last Mrs. Mason, who resided at Gunston Hall, discharged the
duties of rector for a few years.

Under the direction of Bishop Meade and the fostering care of Dr.
Packard, of the Theological Seminary, students were sent to keep
the church open ana revive the decadent Episcopal Interest. As was
so frequently the case during that period, the church was occupied
on alternate Sundays by Methodist ministers. The late Rev. Richard

300

R. Mason related that as a young man he attended a debating society
held on week days in the church.

This state of things continued until the year 1S60 when, as the
Rev. E. L. Goodwin, the present accurate historiographer of the Dio-
cese of Virginia, has kindly reminded us, the Rev. R. T. Brown, of
Zion church, Fairfax Court House, the representative of old Payne's
church, took charge of old Pohlck, "with fair prospects of success."
But the storm of Civil War, already alluded to, swept over the country
and desolated the churches and homes of Virginia and the rest of
the Southland. So this fair beginning was nipped in the bud, and this
old historic House of Prayer was left to its latter desolations until
In the year 1874, a gentleman from New York became deeply interested
in its rehabilitation. He collected about ?2,400 from prominent men
in New York and Philadelphia and had the building put in good con-
dition. Unfortunately no true restoration was attempted. Ordinary
pews were placed in the body of the church, a great platform ran
across the whole eastern end, and a vestry room was partitioned off
on the north end of this platform. The furnishings of the chancel
were of modem Gothic type, given by a church in the Diocese of New
York. But the thanks of the community and congregation are due to
this kind friend in a time of need, for creating a general interest in
this venerable edifice, and rendering it fit for use. The renovated
building was consecrated on the first Sunday in October, 1875, by Bishop
Johns, who also preached the sermon, the morning service being read
by Drs. Packard and Mcllhenny, of the Seminary. Students of the
Seminary again served the church, under Dr. Kinloch Nelson, until
in September, 1881, the writer of this article took charge, as a deacon,
by the appointment of Bishop Whittle, and remained there thirteen
years.

On the suggestion of some members of the vestry, shortly before this
time, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association began to take an active
interest in the church, and have for many years rented a pew and at-
tended service there, on the Sunday falling during the week of their
Annual Council held at Mount Vernon in the month of May.

The Rev, Henry F. Kloman became the next minister, and after an
Incumbency of two years was succeeded by the Rev. Everard Meade,
who is still the earnest and energetic rector of the parish. During his
rectorship the restoration of the church has been taken in hand and
Is now in progress. In this most worthy undertaking he has been
ably seconded by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, and Mr. H. H.

301

IDodge, the superintendent of Mount Vernon, and a vestryman of Po-
nick, together with the other vestrymen and friends of the church.
Various patriotic bodies and societies for preserving the antiquities
of the country have undertalten certain portions of the restoration.
The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association will restore the Washington
pew, and other pews will be restored by the descendants of the original
pewholders, or by persons who now own some of the old estates around
Pohick. It is hoped that the restoration will be practically completed
this fall.

The present property of the church other than the church edifice
consists of a rectory, a fine parish hall, mainly built through a gener-
ous contribution from Mrs. Hearst, of California, and forty-three acres
of land around the church and rectory. Bishop Meade exclaimed in
a pathetic apostrophe, when he visited the church in 1SS7: "Is this
the house of God which was built by the Washingtons, the Masons, the
McCartys, the Grahams, the Lewises, the Fairfaxes? — the house in
which they used to worship the God of our fathers according to the
venerable forms of the Episcopal Church — and some of whose names
are yet to be seen on the doors of those now deserted pews? Is this
also designed to moulder piecemeal away, or, when some signal is
given, to become the prey of spoilers, and to be carried hither and
thither, and applied to every purpose under heaven? Surely patriot-
Ism or reverence for the greatest of patriots, if not religion, might
De effectually appealed to in behalf of this one temple of God."

How would his heart been gladdened If he could have lived to see
what has been done there now! Notwithstanding the fact that the
old church did become "the prey of spoilers," as he almost propheti-
cally intimated, it will soon be clothed in the full similitude of its
our ancient liturgy have been wafted heavenwards, and the Word of
God has been continuously preached to attentive congregations; while
the silent lessons of its history, made illustrious by those immortal
names of patriots who bowed in humble adoration at its altars, still
teach the reverent worshippers, both young and old, to love their
country and their God. May this venerable temple, replete with such
holy and noble associations, continue to be a House of Prayer, and a
living center for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ "as this Church
has received the same," through the years and centuries that are to
come!

THE FORK CHURCH. HANOVER COUNTY.
VIRGINIA

BY EOSEWELL PAGE.

^ piiHERE is a record in tlie county of Louisa, Virginia, according to
a letter in my possession, a copy of a petition sent by certain
taxpayers of that newly-formed county to the house of Bur-
gesses in 1740, praying to have refunded to them a certain to-
bacco tax that had been levied on them to build a large, new and
convenient church in St. Martin's Parish, Hanover county.

That this church was The Fork church, or "The Old Fork Church,"
as it is generally known, is asserted by two eminent Virginians who
formerly lived in the respective counties of Louisa and Hanover.

This petition bears date two years before the cutting off of Louisa
from Hanover, and of Fredericksville Parish from St. Martin's Parish,
which appear from Henning's Statutes (Vol. V., pp. 21 and 208) to have
been so separated in the year 1742.

It may add to the value of this paper to state that the boundary be-
tween the two parishes was a line drawn from the mouth of Gladys
creek, on the south side of the North Anna river, a course south 20
degrees west, till it Intersects the Goochland line. And when Fred-
ericksville Parish was divided, that part which adjoined St. Martin's
was called Trinity (Hen. Sts., Vol. VII., p. 428).

St. Paul's Parish in Hanover was divided in 1726, six years after the
county of Hanover was cut off from New Kent, and to the parish was
given the name St. Martin's, after St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.
For it was in that very year that that London church was built by
Gibbs (See Brit. Enc, Title "London").

The church was no doubt called St. Martin's, but was soon known as
"The Fork Church," from its position with reference to the two forks of
the Pamunkey, as the North Anna and South Anna were called in many
of the legal documents of that time. In the last twenty-five years the
name has been applied to the neat little church at Doswell, five miles
away from the mother church. Two other churches in the western end of
the parish, Allen's Creek and Hollowing Creek, in the memory of the
oldest inhabitant of the parish, have passed away, and no trace of their

9 no

existence survives. In the place of these, two other churches have
been built m the parish, but The Old Forli church survives as a noble
monument to the Colonial Churchmen.

Built of the glazed end brick, so familiar in Colonial buildings its
birthday is fixed at 1735, two years after that of the courthouse some
twelve miles to the east, which sheltered the throng assembled there
m 1763 to hear Patrick Henry in the "Parsons' Cause." It is a matter
of great satisfaction to all lovers of the history of the community
to know that both of these noble buildings are in an excellent state
of preservation. Tradition says that these buildings were built of
brick brought from England, as it says of many other of our Colonial
buildings; but, thankless as the task is to destroy such a tradition,
I am compelled to state that neither these, nor the brick for any other
of our churches, were brought from England. 1 am confirmed in this
statement by the answer of the learned Dr. Philip Slaughter, to whom
some years ago I propounded the question.

The Fork church is a solid structure, whose length, 75 feet, is about
three times its breadth, with a door at the southern end, and another
on the side, near the northeastern corner. Over each door there is
a portico on brick columns, whose proportion and entasis are the
admiration of lovers of architecture.

Although the records of Hanover county and of St. Martin's Parish
have been lost or destroyed, the history of the old church is safe in
the tradition and life of the people.

In 1886 the Rev. Dr. Philip Slaughter published in the Southei-ii
Churchman an account of his recovery of what he called "The Rec-
tory Book" of St. Paul's Parish, without which, he says, even Bishop
Meade had been unable to give a full history of that parish. Among
the names he mentioned as figuring in the vestries in St. Paul's Parish,
which as we have seen embraced St. Martin's, Trinity and Fredericks-
ville Parishes until 1726, were the Crawfords, Merewethers, Winstons,
Henrys, Grymeses, Bickertons, Jones, Andersons, Rylands, Garlands,
Merediths, Pages, Pendletons, Timberlakes, Lipscombs, Goodalls, Ab-
botts, Macons, Skeltons, Pierces, Taylors, Darracotts, Chapmans,
Streets, Crosses and Pollards.

An entry of some interest is the following: "September, 1708, Mr.
Thomas Sharpe having offered to be our minister, it is agreed that he
preach in both churches till the last day of December come twelve
months, and if at the end of that time he likes us and we like him,
to continue. Otherwise each party to provide for themselves." It

304

is a satisfaction to know that preacher and people liked each other,
for he continued to "be hired" from year to year until 1720, when St.
Martin's was cut off as we have seen.

The Fork church is rich in historic associations. Hither came
Patrick Henry in his early infancy, and in later life while living at
"Scotch Town," the interesting old hipped roofed structure some five
miles away, through whose wide hall, in spite of the stone steps,
Tarleton and his raiders rode. For Patrick Henry, with all of his
zeal and enthusiasm for the liberty of his country, and with all of his
feeling In behalf of the people which burst forth in their defense
against the Parsons when they demanded more than was thought
their due, always revered the Episcopal Church in which he was
baptized and in which his father, John Henry, had been vestryman,
and his uncle, the Rev. Patrick Henry, for whom he was named, was
a parish minister for forty years. (Records of St. Paul's Parish ante.)
To the Fork church from "Scotch Town" came Henry's cousin,
Dorothea, better known as Dolly, little dreaming, perhaps, as she sat
in the high-backed pew over which she could hardly see when stand-
ing on tiptoe on a cushion, that she was one day to be the wife of
James Madison, President of the United States.

There preached in this parish, and at a church called The Fork,
near "Ground Squirrel Bridge," Samuel Davies, the great Presbyterian
preacher and president of Princeton College, as well as founder of the
Hanover Presbytery, that virile body, whose staunch stand against
the Establishment has been well described by Cooke, the Virginia
historian.

St. Martin's Parish still owns the beautiful communion service,
the paten and chalice inscribed with the following legend: "For the
use of the churches in St. Martin's Parish, in Hanover and Louisa
counties, Virginia, 1759."

The history of this service is lost. There are two traditions about
it. One that it was presented by St. Martin's church, London, and the
other that it was presented by William Nelson, president of the Coun-
cil, and brought over by his son Thomas (afterwards Governor Nelson)
upon his return from England that year, upon the completion of his
education.

The following incidents are also related of this old service. In each
of which Mrs. Berkeley, of "Airwell," is the heroine: 1st, that she
defied General Tarleton and his raiders when they demanded the ser-
vice; and 2d, that she defied the overseers of the poor who demanded

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305

it after the glebe lands were taken from the church. Bishop Meade
is authority for the last statement. (Vol. II., Old Churches, p. 26.)
It is of interest to note that this same service is now kept at the same
place by the descendants of that redoubtable Churchwoman.

Near the Fork church were grants of land made by the crown to
Thomas Nelson, grandfather of General Nelson, upon a part of which
his descendants now reside. The Marquis de Chastellux, who served
in America as Major-General under Rochambeau, describes his visit
to the "Offley," the home of General Nelson, a few miles above the
Fork church. (Howe's Miscellanies, p. 295.) It was at Mont Air, the
home of his son Francis, who so long represented the parish in the
councils of the Church, that General Nelson died; and it was within
a few miles of the old church at "Springfield" that his widow lived,
having survived him nearly forty years. Beneath the shadow of the
old church her remains lie buried along with those of a great number
of her descendants. It may be safely asserted that from this sainted
lady the Church has had as many adherents both clerical and lay,
as have ever sprung from one stock in the same length of time. With
the aid of one of her granddaughters, I have counted up twenty-four
clergymen of the Episcopal Church among her descendants. When
during the war the vestrymen were unable to raise the minister's sal-
ary, a daughter of hers sent them word that she would guarantee
it personally.

Among those ministers furnished by this parish. Bishop Meade
mentions the Rev. W. N. Pendleton, Washington Nelson, Robert
Nelson and Farley Berkeley. To these may be added the names of
the Rev. G. W. Nelson, late rector at Warrenton, and the Rev. Frank
Page, of Brooklyn.

It was to this parish, and to the home of Dr. Carter Berkeley that
Bishop Meade came to choose his second wife, Thomasia Nelson, step-
daughter of Dr. Berkeley. She, too, is buried at the Old Pork church.

To the neighborhood of this old church came Lewis Minor Coleman,
with his Hanover Academy and his influence for good hardly second
to that of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, which school and influence were
well maintained by his successor. Colonel Hilary P. Jones, who had,
however, to yield to the inevitable, and this great school is now but
a memory.

The picture of this old church will recall many recollections to the
former students at Hanover Academy, many of whose names n.»f now
be found on the backs or seats of the solid heart-pine pews,

306

In the early part of the last century that demon of architecture,
which Mr. Jefferson said had spread its maledictions over the land,
broke loose, and the high-backed pews were taken out, and the pulpit
which had been at the side of the church, was put at the end.

An old Bible in the parish, that of the Fontaines, shows that in 1787
the Rev. Robert Barrett was in charge. It was he of whom Bishop
fileade (Vol, II., p. 43) says he received 320 pounds of tobacco for each
sermon preached in Louisa county, where he preached twenty-four
times a year during days of labor.

The list of clergy who have ministered in the parish since Jlr.
Barrett includes the Rev. Messrs. Peter Nelson, who became a Baptist;
Boggs. Phillips, Wydown, Cooke, Bowers, Stringfellow, Isaac Gibson,
Wm. A. Alrich (whose first wife, a lovely woman, the sister of James
M. Love, Esq., of Fairfax county, lies buried at the Fork church),
R. Douglas Roller, Edward S. Gregory, R. Roane Claiborne, Curtis
Grubb, Anselem Buchanan, S. S. Hepburn and Alexander Gait. To all
these godly men the parish and this church are greatly indebted. Per-
haps to Mrs. Hepburn more than any other person is due the present
excellent condition of the Fork church, and the grounds surrounding it.
The present wardens of the church are Nathaniel Burwell Cooke
and Joseph F, Grubb.

Within the last few years two funds of |3,000 and $200, respectively,
have been established for the benefit of the church, the larger fund
sub,ject only to the maintenance of the Nelson-Page burying ground.
Bishop Meade gives the list of the true friends of religion and of the
Episcopal Church in the parish as Fontaines, Nelsons, Morrises,
Wickhams, Taylors, Winstons, Pollards, Robinsons, Pages, Prices,
Shepherds, having already mentioned the Berkelej' family, and made
note of Dr. Carter Berkeley, "whose name may be so often seen on
the Convention journals of the last and present century."

Among the names on the vestry since Bishop Meade's time, in ad-
dition to those mentioned by him, many of whom are related to those
so mentioned, are Minor, Noland, Fleming, Hunter, Jones, Cooke, Dos-
well, Terrell, Thompson, Grubb and Duke. There are many other
families about the church whose love and affection for it are exhibited
in the fact that though members of other churches, their attendance
is regular, their aid efficient and their pride in the old church as
marked as if they were members of the Episcopal Church. Thither
they bi'ing their dead to be buried, and often their young people to
enter this old church of their forefathers.

307

The only monument inside the church is a beautiful tablet to three
of its faithful sons:

"The Rev. Robert Nelson, Missionary to China during thirty years—
of whom it is alleged, 'He followed the Holy doctrine which he taught,
comforting many.' "

"William Nelson, late Colonel of Artillery C. S. A., who in this
parish served God and helped his fellowmen for over sixty years."

"John Page, late Major C. S. A. who in this parish through a long
and honorable life did his duty to God and his neighbor."

On the outside of the church lie buried many of those already
mentioned and not mentioned. Among the latter may be named
Captain and Mrs. Charles William Dabney, whose names are
honorably associated with the history of the county and parish, and
over whose remains a handsome monument has been erected by their
children.

A strong iron fence surrounds the church grounds, and this noble old
church, with its massive walls and slate roof, bids fair to stand for
generations as a lasting monument to the zeal and good taste of its
builders. That its history should be lost is a great misfortune. It
is, indeed, one of the pathetic things about our Church's past, no less
than about many of the cherished possessions of our State, that any
adequate history thereof is entirely lacking. Nineveh and Karnac
are hardly less known.

ST. MARY'S WHITE CHAPEL. LANCASTER
COUNTY, VIRGINIA

nY MRS. ELIZABKTII LEWIS NEALE.

THE earliest records of Lancaster County Parish, when Lancaster
and Middlesex were one, go hack to 1650. In that year the court
appointed Rev. Samuel Cole the minister of the whole county,
on both sides of the Rappahannock river. This minister's name
appears on a Vestry Book of Middlesex county, Va., in 1664. The court
also appointed church wardens and sidemen, as In the English Church,
for each side of the river; they were John Taylor, William Chapman,
John Merryman, Edmund Lurin, George Kibble and William Leech.
Other names on the record are Thomas and Cuthbert Powell, Edward
Digges, William Berkeley, Robert Chowning, Henry Corbin, David Fox
and John Washington, of Westmoreland county.

In the year 1661 a general vestry was formed, and John Carter,
Henry Corbin, David Fox and William Leech were appointed, from
both sides of the river, to take up subscriptions for the support of
a minister. Many of our county records and the Vestry Book of St.
Mary's and Christ churches were destroyed during the war "between
the States," and we find no one who can tell us just the year old St.
Mary's White Chapel was built; but of this we are sure, that it was
sometime in the middle of the sixteenth century. This is assured by
dates on the Communion plate, still in the church, and on tombstones
to be found in a good state of preservation in the churchyard. Bishop
Meade, from whom notes are herein taken, states in his book of "Old
Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia," that "the first church
wag torn down and the present one built in 1740." One might infer from
this that the whole church "was torn down," which was not the case
at all. It was first built, like her contemporary. Old Christ church,
in the lower part of the county (or rather Old Christ was built like
St. Mary's, for we are assured that St. Mary's is the older) in the form
of a cross, with three galleries, one owned by Major James Ball and
Mr. .Joseph Ball; one by the Downmans, of Belle Isle, and one was for
the slaves of the Churchmen.

In 1739 the old church was in great need of a new roof and other

309

repairs, and the congregation being at that time unable or unwilling
to raise the large sum of money required, determined to take down
two arms of the church and restore the rest. This was done in 1740,
the contract being awarded Mr. James Jones. The structure was then
made into an oblong square, 60 feet long, 30 feet broad, walls 24 feet
to roof, which has an oval ceiling. The pulpit is in one end of the
long aisle, facing the south door, over which is the one remaining
gallery. In the center of the long aisle is a broader one leading to
the double doors facing the west, towards the county road, which is
the main entrance. These doors are fastened now, as in olden time,
by an iron thumb latch.

The high pews and the pulpit, which had a stairway leading up to
it, with a banister rail, were allowed to stand until prior to the Civil
War, in the middle of the eighteenth century, when the pews were cut
down, the high pulpit not being removed until 18S2. In that year the
old tablets were brought down from the gallery, where they had been
laid in the dust, and restored at a cost of one hundred dollars. Rev.
H. L. Derby, then rector of the parish, was very active in having
this done. They are four in number. Two contain the Ten Command-
ments and were the gift of David Pox in 1702. The other two were
given by his son, William Fox, and contain the Apostles' Creed and
the Lord's Prayer. There is no date inscribed on these, but they were
given in 1717, as shown by the will of Captain William Fox, dated
1717, and in which he directed: "My wife shall send for the Lord's
Prayer and Creed, well drawn in gold letters, and my name under
each of them, set in decent black frames, as a gift to St. Mary's
White Chapel"; and he also left by his will to that church "the
font that came in that year." That the wife carried out the will to the
letter is proven by the tablets and font in the church, in splendid
preservation to this day. The tablets are of solid walnut wood and the
letters are hand-carved, cut in, and heavily gilded in gold gilt. They
are oval at the top, with the square base, in keeping with the deep-
seated windows and oval ceiling. The font, of unpolished marble,
stands on a square base, which is exceedingly heavy, from which a
round marble pedestal supports on its top the very large, round marble
basin, all of which stands four feet six inches. The chalice is a
solid silver goblet inscribed: "The gift of David Fox, 1669."

George Spencer, by his will, dated March 23, 1691, gave twenty
pounds sterling for a piece of communion plate for St. Mary's White
Chapel, and also a "Curpice." The only other piece of silver in pos-

310

session of the church is a small silver salver, which is used with the
goblet. It is much worn by age and has no inscription or date, but
we suppose that it is "that piece of plate."

The old Bible was given by Rawleigh Downman, of Belle Isle, in
1S3S. The beautiful circular Communion railing remains as in olden
days, but the brick aisles have been planked and carpeted, as has the
chancel, and fitted up with modern furniture. The old Communion
table is still in the vestry room. It once stood in the chancel,
and was covered with a green velvet cover with a gilt fringe,
and in the center was the Ball coat-of-arms in bas-relief and done m
gilt. This was sold years ago to one of the Downmans, whose mater-
nal ancestor was a Ball.

In the churchyard are a number of old tombs of massive marble,
bearing dates in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Nearly all
of the oldest are inscribed with the name of Ball. The first is David
Ball, seventh son of William Ball, born 1686; some of the others are
Mildred Ball, Juduthum Ball, Mary Ann Ball, daughter of Rev. John
Bertrand, Jesse Ball, Mary Ball, daughter of Edwin Conway, and James
Ball, her husband; Fanny, daughter of Rawleigh Downman, of Lettuce,
third wife of James Ball and daughter of Richard Lee, of Ditchley.

These names show that this church counted among her numbers
names of the old Virginia aristocrats of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Among the Churchmen of the eighteenth century we will
mention Chinn, Downman, Carter, Ball, Mitchell, Lee, Lewis, Ewell,
McCarty, Towles, Chowning, Sneade, Pierce, Robinson and Chilton.
The ministers were Rev. Samuel Cole, died 1659; Revs. William White
and Benjamin Doggett, died 16S2; John Bertrand, died 1701 (he was a
Huguenot, is buried at Belle Isle, and counted among his descendants
Judge Cyrus Griffith, last president of the Continental Congress);
Andrew Jackson, died 1710; John Bell, died, 1743; David Currie, died
1792; David Ball, died 1791. Then followed Leland, Page, McNorton,
Low, 1832; Ephraim Adams, 1838; Francis McGuire, 1839; Rev. Bryant,
1844; Rev. Richmond, 18.50; Rev. Nash, 1853; Rev. Edmund Withers.
These were followed by Revs. George May, H. L. Derby, E. B. Burwell,
Mr. Micou and the present rector. Rev. L. R. Combs.

In the corner of the churchyard is an old slab, flat on the ground
and much broken, inscribed: "To Rev. Jno. Stritchley, born 1669."
Then follows a long illegible inscription. We have no record of his
having served the church. Col. William Ball, who came to this county
from England in 1650, settled at the mouth of the Corrotoman River,

311

bringing his family. He died In 1669, leaving two sons and one
daughter, Hannah, who married Daniel Fox. William left eight sons.
Joseph left no male issue, but General George Washington is his
grandson by his youngest daughter, Mary. Mary Ball, grandmother
of Washington, lies buried at "Epping Forest," five miles from the
church, and a handsome oil picture of her adorns the walls of the
court-room at Lancaster, the county seat. None of Col. William Ball's
children are buried at the church, but his grandchildren and their de-
scendants. Joseph Ball married a Miss Ravenscroft, of England, and
settled in London. He was brother of Mary Ball, who was the mother
of Washington. His only daughter, Fannie, married Raleigh Down-
man in 1750. Her children were Joseph Ball Downman, of Morattico;
Fannie, who married Col. James Ball, of Beaudley, and Mr. Raleigh
Downman, of Belle Isle.

Mr. Joseph Ball wrote to his nephew, George Washington, after
Braddock's defeat, the following letter:

"Stratford, 5th of Sept., 1755.

"It is a sensible pleasure to me to hear that you have behaved with
such a martial spirit, in all your engagements with the French, nigh
Ohio. Go on as you have begun, and God prosper you. We have heard
of Gen. Braddock's defeat. Everybody blames his rash conduct. Every-
body commends the courage of the Virginians and Carolina men, which
is very agreeable to me. I desire you, as you may have opportunity,
to give me a short account how you proceed. I am your mother's
brother. I hope you will not deny my request. I heartily wish you
good success, and am

"Your loving uncle,

"Joseph Ball.

"To Major George Washington, at the Falls of Rappahannock, or
elsewhere in Virginia.
"Please direct me at Stratford-by-Bow, nigh London."
Unlike most Colonial churches, St. Mary's did not suffer by the depre-
dation of troops during the war 1861-5. The Federal gunboats came
up the Rappahanock river, near where the church is located, and threw
bomb shells over and around, cutting off the tree tops, but did not hit
the church. A company of the Ninth Virginia Calvary, C. S. A., were
stationed at the church for a few months in 1861, and had tents all
around the church. Col. Merriwether Lewis was then captain, with
Mr. Robert Tunstall Pierce as first lieutenant, and James K. Ball, of

312

Beaudley, as second lieutenant. The three are to-day "sleeping" near
each other in the churchyard, resting "on the old camp ground," and
each has a monument to show the reverence and love the living bear to
the honored dead.

In 1880 the church ladies organized a society called "The Bee Hive,"
and since that time have raised nearly a thousand dollars, which has
been spent on the church. To-day both the interior and exterior pre-
sent a neat and comfortable appearance, and to "the faithful few" who
worship within her walls she seems

"A spot of earth supremely blest.
Dearer, more sacred than all the rest."

ST. THOMAS' CHURCH. BATH— ST. PAUL'S
CHURCH, EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA

BY THE REV. ROBEKT BKENT DRA.NE, D. D., KECTOR OF ST. PAXIL'S CHURCH,

EDENTON, N. C.

nN this article effort will be made to keep to the church buildings
and their material associations.
St. Thomas' was begun in 1734; St. Paul's in 1736. Both were
substantially built of brick, and the main construction of both re-
mains unchanged and gives promise of endurance. In both buildings
the ravages of time have wrought, and human care, reverent and re-
spectful, if not always so intelligent as that of our day, has restored.
Tantalizing it is that so insufficient records repay our search.

When St Tliomas' v,'as first used does not appear, but the first oc-
cupation of St. Paul's, as noted in the Minutes of the Vestry, was in
1760. Both these parishes were organized with vestries in 1701. St.
Paul's is the oldest organization — the oldest corporation of continuous
life in North Carolina; and its first church building, begun in 1701
aiid finished the next year, was the first church huilt in the Province.
But of the now existing buildings, St. Thomas', Bath, has always been
accounted the older.

The following measurements will help out our comparison, all being
outside dimensions:

ST. THOMAS'S.

Nave length, 51 feet; nave width, 31 feet; nave height, sides, 14 feet;
thickness of bricks, 3 by 4% by 9 inches; clay tiles in floor, 2 by 8 by
8 inches.

ST. PAUL'S. '

Nave length, 60 feet; nave width, 40 feet 3 inches; nave height, sides,
20 feet; dimensions of bricks, 2% by 4 by 8% inches.

St. Paul's was formerly tiled, and "intramural" burials were allowed.
The floor is now of wood.

The Minutes of St. Thomas' vestry have disappeared. St. Paul's
are continuous from 1701 to 1776, when there is a break of some years.

The beginning of St. Paul's first church was by voluntary subscrip-
tion; so also of the building now standing.

314

Until about a generation ago, St. Thomas' had a wooden belfry,
standing apart from the church, in which hung a small bell, said to
have been given by Queen Anne of England. Within the memory of per-
sons now living the incongruous belfry was removed and the old bell
was given in part payment for a new and larger bell.

In aptitude for parting with something purporting to have been
given by that good "nursing mother of the Church," St. Paul's vestry
has kept pace with St. Thomas'; (or, about the year 1850 they gave
away to Holy Trinity church, Hertford, North Carolina, the small old
marble "Queen Anne font," to have a larger one, now in the church,
the gift of Mr. John Thompson, a parishioner. Tradition has it that
a consideration favoring the change was that the new font should be
large enough for the Rubric for the Immersion of Infants. History
does not record a test of that capacity. There is no mention in our
Minutes of the Queen Anne font, in its coming or going.

In a long and dismal letter written to the English Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in 1713-14, St. Paul's vestry represent that
they have "but one sorry church, on the North shore of the Sound;
never finished, no ornaments belonging to a church, nor wherewith to
buy any."

Queen Anne died August 1st, 1714. She may, ere that, have been
moved to give the font and other help to these, her "poor country
folks," whose letter bears date March ye 2d of the same year. The
absence of all recognition of any such gift is remarkable.

In those days this settlement was called "Queen Anne's Town," but
not in the vestry book. It is "Chowan Precinct," or, more particularly,
the "North Shore"; and in the minutes of 1722-23, Edenton is first men-
tioned. It was just then that the authorities imposed the name in
memory of Charles Eden, the lately deceased royal Governor of the
Province.

The parish or precinct was too large to be served by one church
building, and that "25 feet long!" Therefore chapels were built, of
which there are in all six mentioned, in the Colonial period; namely:
Constant's, otherwise spelled Costans and Costen's, Farlees, Sarum,
Knotty Pine, Indian Town, and on the Southwest Shore. Descriptive
of them may be read this order of the vestry made In 1741: "to build
two chappells in Chowan parish, viz., at James Costans or theirabouts
as they shall think fltt, and the other at James Braddey's or near their-
abouts, and the Domentions as here mentioned vizt.: Thirty -five foot
long and Twenty-two foot and a half wide. Eleven foot in the pitch be-

■-■^j^
•'<*

315

tween Sill and Plate, and a Roof; workmanlike, near a squear, and to be
a good fraim Gott out of Good Timber and covered with Good Sipress
shingles and good Sleepers and flowers of Good plank and seated with
Good plank, with three Windows suitable, with a pulpit and all things
suitable."

These chapels probably hindered the building of the church at Eden-
ton. Year after year the vestry was composed of men who lived re-
mote from Edenton, in the upper part of the precinct. There is not in
the minutes any reference to sectional feeling nor to any rural and
urban rivalry; but the long unfurnished church building at Edenton and
the absence of Edentonians from the vestry have seemed significant.

Surely, if Edward Moseley had remained here after 1736, when the
church was begun, public spirited and energetic as he was, the digni-
fied building could not have so dragged its slow length along!

The first monies for its erection, as, is true also of the building of the
1701 church, came from private subscription, the names and amounts
being very interesting, and the secretary or clerk being anonymous, his
entry being "My own subscription 100 £" — equal to the largest, only two
on the list being for so much. This information is from a separate
sheet, not the Vestry Book, which is evidently a current account of
receipts and expenditures for the present St. Paul's building, and its
first date of a payment is "May 10th, 1736 — To money for clearing lots
12£."

The vestry on May 10, 1736, "Ordered that to contribute towards de-
fraying expenses of building a church at Edenton, * * * and other
contingent charges * * * a tax or levy * * * be * * * on
each Tythable * * * for the ensuing year."

At a General Assembly of the Province of North Carolina, held at
Edenton in 1740, an act was passed whose preamble notes that several
well disposed persons have voluntarily subscribed * * * to build
and erect a church in Edenton; that some of the commissioners appoint-
ed to have the work done had died, and that the vestry refused to assist
therein. It provided for the prosecution of the work, and "that when
the said church shall be fit to celebrate Divine Service in, all meetings
of Vestries * * * should be held at the said church and that no
other place in the said Parish."

The vestry's meeting in the church at Edenton in 1760 gives us that
year for its completion.

Now as to public sentiment toward taxation for church building, it
has been pointed out as creditable to the people of Edenton that they

316

protested against selling the pews in St. Paul's and petitioned the As-
sembly to finish it by a tax upon the people, so that all, paying equally,
might have equal rights in their house of worship.

There is occasional notice of the vestry's granting the rights to
build a pew in a chapel.

Some reference now to the church plate, still in use;

In the minute of 1703 acknowledgment is made of the gift of Ten
Pounds to the Parish from Governor Francis Nicholson, of Virginia,
wherewith, it was ordered, that a chalice be purchased at Boston, to
be suitably inscribed.

In 1714 Col. Edward Moseley writes Governor Nicholson that his
purpose had not yet been fulfilled, and appeals to him to take steps to
accomplish it.

In 1714, in the above quoted dismal letter the vestry write the S. P.
G. that Governor Nicholson's gift had not "yet been expended for want
of an additiion according to the Intention of the Donor."

In 1727-28 it is written: "Coll. Edward Moseley made a present to the
Parish of a Silver Jhalice and Plate with his own name Engraven
thereon," and to-day that inscription may be read, the same on both
vessels:

"The Gift of Colonell Edward Mosely, for ye use of ye Church in
Edenton, in the year 1725."

There is also a larger chalice of silver with this inscription:

D. D. Johannes Garzia, Ecclesiae Anglicanae Presbyter."

The only reference to this priest is a minute of the payment to him
of £5 in 1736. He was an itinerant evangelist for this part of the
Colony, with his home at Bath. It was probably during his incum-
bency of St. Thomas', Bath, that that parish acquired its glebe of three
hundred acres, and its glebe house, the only one ever owned by any
parish in North Carolina, as Bishop Cheshire states.

An interesting association of these old parishes is in connection with
church books and public libraries. St. Paul's Vestry, March ye 2d,
1713-14, to the Soc. Prop. Gospel say: "The first Library of great value
sent us by the direction of the Reverend Dr. Bray, through an unhappy
Inscription on the Back of the Books or the title page, viz.. Belonging
to the Parish of St. Thomas', of Paniplico, in the then rising but now
miserable county of Bath, falsely supposed to be the seat of Govern-
ment, was lodged there and by that means rendered useless to the
clergy for whose service it was chiefly intended, and in what condition
we know not, but we fear the worst by reason of the late war."

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317

One book from that library has come down to us, and it was the
happiness of a rector of St. Paul's, Bdenton, to secure it as a gift to
the Diocese of East Carolina, the present owner of it. It is a copy of
Gabriel Towerson's Application of the Church Catechism, London, 1685,
bound in leather, handsomely stamped on the back, in gold: "Be-
longing to ye Library of St. Thomas' Parish in Pamlico."

About the year 1720 Edward Moseley sent bill of exchange to London
to purchase a library for St. Paul's, Edenton, but there is no record of
its coming. It is thus mentioned: "Catalogue of Books humbly present-
ed by Edward Mosely, Esq., to the Honb'le and Most August Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, towards a Pro-
vincial Library to be kept in Edenton, the Metropolis of North Caroli-
na." There are seventy-four volumes.

Before leaving this old church, taking a last look toward its altar,
one may recall the inscription at the base of the chancel window, the
only stained glass in the building, modestly hidden by the English
oaken furniture:

"In honour of God, to the memory of

Josiah Collins,

by whose efforts mainly this church

when in

ruins was restored. Died May 19th, 1819."

QI1|0 mh (Eljurrlj.

What an image of peace and rest

Is this little church among its graves!
All is so quiet; the troubled breast,
The wounded spirit, the heart oppressed,
Here may find the repose it craves.

See how the ivy climbs and expands

Over this humble hermitage.
And seems to caress with its little hands
The rough, gray stones as a child that stands

Caressing the wrinkled cheeks of age.

Here would I stay and let the world

With its distant thunder roar and roll;
Storms do not rend the sail that is furled.
Nor like a dead leaf, tossed and whirled
In an eddy of wind, is the anchored soul.
— H. W. LongfeUow.

'll'li'.,

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