Class _/,.2^ Book Lt Zl-^-. c^ z COn'KIGHT DEPOSIT. J The Old Church Tower at Jamestown, Va. OInlnntal OII|urrI|?a IN THE ORIGINAL COLONY OF VIRGINIA A Series of Sketches by Especially Qualified Writers • ®i|trtg-iFiup dIUuBtrattona SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND IMPROVED Tiei gratia Virginia condila richmond, va. Southern Churchman Company 1908 >f CONGRFSs! see 15 \dK)ti iil/U.V C^ .1 . i. > i Clasb C>^ ,VAc no cop-j A. Copyrifirht 1907 by SOUTHERN CHURCHMAN CO. Richmond, Va. Copyright 1908 by SOUTHERN CHURCHMAN CO. Richmonci, Va. PREFACE THIS 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 preserve 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 Porisessions 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 6 A Preliminary View of American Church History 7 The Church at Jamestown 15 ■^ The Church in Virginia in the Days of the Colony 26 V 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, Eliza1)eth River Parish, Norfolk, Va 68 The Old Jirick Church (St. Luke's), Isle of Wight County, Va 80 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 177 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 Palls Church, Fairfax County, Va 290 Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Va 295 The Pork Church, Hanover County, Va 302 St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster County, Va 308 St. Thomas' Church, Bath — St. Paul's Church, Bdenton, N. C 313 ILLUSTRATIONS AbingyJon Church, Gloucester County 177 Aquia Church, Stafford County 25G Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg 88 Blandford Church, Petersburg 168 Christ Church, Alexandria 28S Christ Church, Lancaster County 23,2 Christ Church, Middlesex County 248 Eastern Shore Chapel, Princess Anne County 144 Falls Church, Fairfax County 2'JO Fork Church, Hanover County 304 Glebe Cburch, 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, King 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 Vestryman 272 Westover Church, Charles City County 120 V'eocomico Church, Westmoreland County 224 A Preliminary View of American Church History BY THE REV. CORBIN BRAXTON BRYAN, D. D., OF PETERSBURG, VA. THE importance of the 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- 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 single 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., Lx)n- don had become the greatest mart of trade and commerce in the civil- ized world. The ships of English merchants were on every 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 Philip 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 w^as 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 lighting Spain for 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 difficulties which existed during the former reign, the 9 task of colonization had proved too great for even the 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 iLammers 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 tlieir opportunity not only to enlarge the realm of their king, and the bounds of the Kingdom of God, 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 tie New World. But the conception and purpose of those who planted and maintained the Col- ony w'as 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. Rut the mature determination and pur- pose of those who received the King's Letters Patent for tiiis 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 heii-s 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 English 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 the 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 whicii 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, * * * Jq 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, 1C09, 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 wiiich 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 diflSculties 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 have 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 Ihan 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 reward. 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 Yirginia condita. THE CHURCH AT JAMESTOWN. WHEN it shall please God to send you on to the coast of Vir- ginia, you shall do youi- 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, if 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 officers 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-sighted 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 (Bancroft) 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 Wingfleld" 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 speciall 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 in 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 ftxhoitations (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 wooks 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 some even "desired to bear up the helme and return to England than make further search." * * * "But God, the guide of all good actions, forcing 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 mr?t charming 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 iippropriateness of the Epistle for .the day, beginning with 1 Peter 2: 11, and warning them "as strangers and pilgrims," to practice self-dis- cipline, 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, /.pril 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 sufficiently 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, Hth, all hands were brought ashore and set to clearing ground for 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 satisfie 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- bounng 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; T^)ut the most part far much worse workmanship, that neither could well defend rfi'om] 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 huilding 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, 1G08, 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 yardc distant) with their armes, bedding, apparel and much private provi sion. Good Master Hunt, our preacher, lost all his library, and all that tie 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 ihe 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 hundreds 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, IGIO. 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 church, 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 Governour 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, 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 in 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. Bucke 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. 23 How long this little building, the third church, lasted and was used, we do not know, but in 1G39, 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 church 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 1770 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 churcli 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 .IAMBS CITY' PAKISII. 1. Robert Hunt, 1607-08. 2. Richard Bucke, 1610. [He was afterwards minister of the church at Kecoughtan in 1615.] 3. I^rd De la Warr's minister, probably William Mease, 1610. 4. David Sandys, E. D. Neill, Virginia Colonial Clergy, page 7, at Cai)tain 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 pareon at James City; Neill, p. 21, 1684. 11. James Sclater; Dashiell, 1688. 12. James Blair, Bishop Meade, Vol. I., p. 94, 1694-1710. 13. bolomon 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 REV. JOSEPH B. DUNN, OF SUFFOLK, VA. THE two principal sources of authority in regard to the Colonial Church of Virginia are Hening's Statutes and the old vestry books of the different parishes. During the period ot 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 fnds, 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> Church 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 the 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 exce\y 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 the first the Church of the people rnther than the Church of the clergy. The churches were built by the I.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 London 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 liaid. 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. Tfiis 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 character and efficiency of their appointee. The vestry raadp earnest 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. WhereV'3r 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 w'ords: "Provided, always, and be it further enacted, that if 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 the?} and from thenceforth such person or persons shall be discharged from all the penalties aforesaid, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding." (Hon., 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-shilt 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 the House 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 pnasis to the aristocratic nature of State and Church. When the Bap- tists 'jGinmenced 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 of thrse 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- sufferable, 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 of 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 hy 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 condition of affairs. A large element of the population that had for- merly taken but little interest in public affairs had, during the long years ot 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 iier 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-political parties were well organized ana very active, and the public men of Virginia found a strong instrument ready for use. ToliticaT power was still in the hands of the aristocracy, but a new party, zealous with religious en- thusiasm, was clamoring for recognition. The m.en 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 I ho 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. tms 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- ?essJons. 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 32 Church. Many of 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 iHe 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 of 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 preached 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 nohlesse 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 m Virginia. An Essay, Read Before the Alumni Association of the Theological Seminary in Virginia, June 20, 1907. VIRGINIA SEMINARY ALUMNI ADDRESS BY TliK Kiev. KDWAKD L. (;Ot)DWIN, HISTOKIOGRAPIIER OK TliE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA. / U p \HE 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 tlie 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 we 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 hearfl 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 Qualvers 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 creatihg 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 incapacity to pro- duce a native ministry sufficient and suitable for her needs. She 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 suflBcient 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, perhaps, 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 life, 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. They had no great Church life behind them or around them; no standard to live up to, no competition to rouse their energies. 'as 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 Churchman — think 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 decade 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. "Free 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 offlce. 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, v/as 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 Churcii 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, unanimously 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. Tfie same act exempted Dis- senters from the payment of parish levies for the support of ministers; and, lest such 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 Ph 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 offi- 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 ta their minds. Whether such a condition would be desirable or not was not at all the question at issue. To the minds of the very great ma- jority of the leading Chui'chmen 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 furure 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 for 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, influeniial, 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, ot 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 18th 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 iiad 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 which 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 Egypt 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 Prom that source the Church in the Virginias draws now an income of naif 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 name all previous acts in any way touching upon "the late protestant episcojial 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 had 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 tceir 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 decit:ion 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 tc 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, late^ly 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 & 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 Chuich 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, whicii 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 her 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 tlie very elect. But from the beginning the need of a ministry "native and to the manner born," and well trained and equipped for their w^ork, 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, under 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, undertook 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 Robinsoa 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 boolt begins, and continued his services till 1733. In 1727 Goochland and Powhatan were cut off from Henrii^o; 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 Stith 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 v/as 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, "holden 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 Poushee, 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 54 Diocese of Virginia was held in Richmond. The business sessions were probably held in the 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. Buchanan, 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 confirmations 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, 18 08. 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 Diocese, Rev. L. W. Burton, now Bishop of Lexington, succeeded Dr. Weddel! 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, lias 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, brotherly 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 remarkable 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: "Tliese 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. Burton, D. D., for much of the information contained therein. ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ELIZABETH CITY PARISH, HAMPTON. VIRGINIA BY THE REV. REVEBDY ESTILL, D. D., RECTOK. ^ ps^HE forefathers of our English Christianity came to this country April, 1G07, and landed flrst 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 vasiness 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 continued 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 ujion 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 5§ 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 1620, 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 66 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 ministers 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." Stockton 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 tliis time, 1623, 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 liis 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 di-vided 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 Goveraor, on January 18, 1636-7, lie read his new com- mission in the church at Elizabeth City. The town of Hampton, v.'here 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 ^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 tarm, 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 1667, 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 1S56. 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 acres 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 difference 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 of the town of Hampton. It is of record that at a "Court held Jan. 17, 1727 — Present James Walker, Joshua Curie, James Wallace, Wilson Gary, justices; Mr. Jacob Walker 62 and Mr. John Loiiry 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 thj rate of sixpence per load to burn bricks for the church." The bric'cs 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 few 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 Ghurch 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 ot 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 1830. 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. The 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 for 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 6*4 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 187G, 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 1893 to beeom? 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 archreologist 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 be 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 tlae 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 1889 and renewed by Dr. Bryan in 1904, and has continued with such success ever since that a chapel will soon be 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 Phoebus. In the year 1877 a very successful and unique work was started among the Indians at the Hampton Normal School by the Rev. J. J. Gravatt, and faithfully carried on by the successive rectors 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 161S; 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 tJie present time: William Mease, 1610-1620; George Keith, 1617-1625; Mr. Cisse; Francis Bolton, 1621-1623; Mr. Fenton, 1624; Jonas Stockton. 1627; William Wilkenson, 1644; Philip Mallory, 1661; Justinian Aylmet, 1665-1667; Jeremiah Taylor, 1667; William Harris, 1675; John Page, 1677-1C87; 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 C6 Symins, 1806; George Holson, 1810; Mark L. Cheevers, 1827-1843; John P. Bausman, 1843-1845; William K. Goode, 1845-1848; John C. McCabe, 1850-1856; Mr. Harlow, , William F. M. Jacobs, 1858- J 861; John McCarthy, 1869-1871; John J. Norwood, 1871-1872; William Jarrett, 1873-1875; J. W. Keeble, 1875-1876; 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 were with rare exceptions gentlemen, scholars, leaders of the people in righteousness, and living clean, upright lives them- selves. 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 cur 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, w'ho added to its endowment in 1634; it is now a part of the public school system of the country, while a handsome building 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 know-n vestrymen who served the parish from 1751 to 1855 will doubtless be of interest to a large number of their de- scendants. The records of those who served before have been long since irrevocably lost: Prom 1751 to 1771— Colonial Period.— Merritt Sweeny, Robert Armis- tead, John Allen, Anthony Tucker, Baldwin Shepherd. Thomas Latimer, John Westwood Armistead, John Moore. Jacob Walker, William Par- 67 sons, William Wager, John 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. From 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. Gurle, John Wray, William Armistead Bagley, Robert Bright. From November 27, 1806, to 1810. — Gharles Jennings, Robert Armis- tead, John Gooper, 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 Garey. 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-COADJUTOK OF SOUTHERN VIRGINIA. THE Exposition which 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 "McSewelTs 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 ejecting of a Church in the upper * * * of this County with 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 iuto ruine. 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 ffiana Mason, Mr. Hennie Sewell, McWm. Julian. "Whereas the Inhabitants of this Parishe beinge this day convented for the findinge of themselves an able minister to instructe them concerninge their souls health, mr. Thomas Harrison tharto hath ten- dered his srvice 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. Seweli'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 steiiinge yearly to the 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- Baid 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 paye the greatest pte of one hundred pounds wit is thaffore 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 aud the charges in the * * * Minister every other Sunday until the aforesaid pishe Church be equally levied upon every tithable pson and inhabi- 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 ceitain 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. "Who 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 men 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 1G37, but how long before we do not know. He died in 1640 and was succeeded by the Rev. James Harrison. 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 1680, but when he took charge is not knowii. Mr. Wern is the last minister of whom we have the record in the -sfc-venteenth century. In 1682 Captain Samuel Boush gave a chalice to iii„ church in Norfolk^ We know but little of the history of St. Fa,.;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 cJiurch 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 James Pasteur for the erection of a school-house. The present building is very 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, v;hen 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 fii'st 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 1770 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 witli the Fon- 73 taines; a man of pure life and earnest zeal. He died of yellow fever, October 11, 1788. From 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 diflBculty 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. His 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 epi- 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 official orders tell the story of the seizure and the restoration of the church: Headquarters Norfolk and Portsmoxtth, Oct. 29, 1863. To the Wardens of St. PaitVs Church, Norfolk: 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, George H. Johnston, Capt. and A. A. Gen. Special Order No. 46. Norfolk, Va., Nov, 1, 1865. 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, Jr., 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 Parnhara 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 1892, 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- Rev. 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 Ciiaib. 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, v/ho 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 F. 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. Vestrymen 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- ford, 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 P. Irvine, Treas- urer, B. Atkinson Marsden, Capt. Robert B. Pegram, Richard B. Tun- stall, Adam Tredwell, Dr. Herbert M. Nash. The Old 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 warehip "Liverpool." The ball which struck the church is reputed to have been fired by the "Liverpool." 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 tombs 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 Farrell who deceased the ISth 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. THE 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" (.eleven 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 H'obson, gentleman, Antho: 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, 1G19. 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. Eis 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 1G12; and (2), "Brownism Turned the Inside Outward. Being a Parallel between Proffe§sion and Practice of the Erownist 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 Christopher Lawne did not live long enough to make any decided im- pression on the Colony. He died in less than a year, probably, after Us arrival; for 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 saii 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 books of Lawne, and out of the Acts of that first General Assembly of Virginia in 161!^. 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- sons 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 Eusigne 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 Burwell 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 ofBce of this county. When these books were exhumed some of them were very damp. One of theso 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 E. 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 1G32 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, 1G42-3, 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 W^ater was made one parish, and wag 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 p.a,rish 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, 1887, and it dragged down a very large part of the eastern wall. It was restored in 1894, 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), 1680; 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. E. 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; Th03. 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 ±680); Joseph Bridger, 1746 to 1749; Colonel 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 buildicg 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 Lightfoot, John Monroe, Thomas Parker, Hardy Council, Henry Pitt, Richard Wilkinson, Henry Apple- whaite, Thomas Day, John Lawrence, Hugh Giles, Thomas and John 8.6 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 1S2G), 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 1C07 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. B. 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 tlie 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 8^ 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 offl- clal 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 Cliurch 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 anid outward march of English civilization, now rose to the dignity of the Duke of CUoucester 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 oflScial 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 Grovernment "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, Dinwiddie, 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 tlie oveihanging 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 time 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 the 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 Ijings — "We beseech Thee to hear us. Good Lord." The old Prayer Book, which bears the insciiption, "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 IIL, 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 1686, 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 coffin. Among the graves thus marked with marble slabs are those of Governor Francis Fauquier, Governor Edmund Jennings, and Dr. William Cooke, Secretary of State, and re- cently the body of the Hon. Judge Eamund 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. COMPILED IN PART FROM BISHOP MEADE'S "OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS AND FAMILIES IN VIRGINIA." / X p ^ HE 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 the Virginia Almanac as the minister of Accomac Parish. He was doubtless the last minister of 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, and 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 fi'om 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 1656. 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 95 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, Eastburn, 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 situatiOiU 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 Wallis 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, F. M. Burch, John McNabb, Henry L. Derby, Cary Gamble, John S. Meredith and W. Cosby Bell. Among its rectors, too, was the Rev. Benjamin Boswortli 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 Jor her past history, 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! o 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 Delonged 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 U. C. HOWARD. THE history of the Eastern Sho;-e of Virginia begins with Cap- tain John Smith's visit of exploration, recorded by himself. He says: "Leaving the Phoenix at Cai^e Henry, wee crossed the bay to the Eastern Shore, and fell in with the isles called Smith's Isles. First people 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 ships. 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 generavicns 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 Lome 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 Cherrystone! 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 tha "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 duties to be performed. In the same year (1629) one was built "neare the ffishinge 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 'rt'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, t 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 Cherrystone being a corruption. JBishop Meade, Vol. I, p. 85, says; "Such was the effect, both in Vir- ginia 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 clereyman coming to Virainia 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 1620 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 rundlet 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 1645. The second church, about ten miles from the first and lower down the peninsula, was built near the place aftei-- w^ards 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 as 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 1045 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) servis, between the first and second lesson, present herself before the minister, and say after him as followeth: '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 Huhgars 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- lQf2 dience Robins, Mr. Alex. Mountjoy, Mr. Wm. Burdett, Mr. Wm. An- drews, Mr. Wm. Stone, Mr. Wm. Beniman." At this meeting an order was made providing foi- 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," with 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 he 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 Mi\ 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 (hat 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 reraaine 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.f 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 Kicholson, Esq'r." Date of this gift must have been 1C90 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 fied 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 he 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. 10.4 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 Office: "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. cou. ' 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, nor 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, f 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 faifh." 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 iu the church, because said Stockley had said that the vesiry ■was 'illegal and unfair' because not chosen by a majority of the people." Mr. Teackle oflBciated 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 officiate, "so far as the laws 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 that he bee immedi- ately Inducted. William Berkeley. 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 Meajje 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 Charltop 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 propeity by will. * * * The 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, whicli 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. lOS The question was taken 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 hoth 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 1695 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. McCoslvey became rector, remaining until his death in 1803, 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 tiventy-two in 1821; and among them were Mr. James Upshur, Mr. Wyatt, Dr. Winder and Mi-. 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 Vv^ilmer, 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 osvife 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 their 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 baby's bottle! But there must be something I'' 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 ui;changed, 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 large 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 GofRgan, 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 Simkins, Fisher, Evans, Bell, Adams, Nicholson. MERCHANT'S HOPE CHURCH. MARTIN'S BRANDON PARISH, VIRGINIA. BY N. P. nUJJN, RICHMOND, VA. BOUT fourteen miles from Petersburg 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 gallery. 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 board, stood midway down the church, 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 tl)e plaster now. The church's jewel is an old Bible of great beauty 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 1G40." There seems no reason to doubt that it is John Westhrope's "great Bible," left to the parish in 1G58. The church yard, lying beside tlie 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 tbo 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 Merchanfs Hope was plying between England and Virginia in 1634. In 1635, under AVest, 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 Karvey 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. Barker must have sold his interest in the two places, leaving ■ 114 Quiney and Sadler joint owners. Quiuey, whose brother Thomas had married Judith Shakespeare 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 sole owner of a magnificent tract, which in part remains in the Harrison family to-day. Court w^as 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 Westhrope'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 ol 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" 1J5 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 chiefest 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 suffi- cient to maintain a minister, therefore I removed to Lawn's Creek. Surry, January 30, 1717." In the meanwhile Peter Fontaine had como 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 during this time, ably assisted by lay helpers. In 1828 Bishop Moore reports 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. F. Gardner and E. Valentine Jones. During a ministry of eleven years Mr. Jones saw hfs 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 RuSins, 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 MRS. MARY MORRIS TYLER, OF STURGEON POINT, VA. THERE is no parish in "Virginia more interesting, nor bearing more distinctly the mark 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 Weyanoke 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. West- over Hundred, Weyanoke (or Weyanoake) 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 Westover, 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. The 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 famil5^ 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 Aprilis 23rd A. D. 1671. Aetatus 41 Cujus Vidua Maestissima Anna Fillia 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. 1^20 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 foimded 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 1773, 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 12J2 families of Berkeley and Shirley, and again repaired just prior to the war, it was used by the Federal troops as a stable. "In 1SG7 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 1S50 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 (1833) 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." The earliest on record was Rev. Charles Andersoa, 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 1755. He was followed in 1758 by Rev. 123 "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, with other portraits, for protection, and burned there the day of evacuation. Mr. Chapin died at "Weyanoke," the residence of P. 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 — E. C. Harrison, registrar; J. M. Walker, senior warden; J. A. Ruffin, 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 parisli — 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 1664 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, 1676, 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 tha destinies of all the other counties. There were three disJnct 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 alreauy 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. RxChard 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 •ind the charges against Panton were ordered to be inquired into, and 12^ if innocent of them he was to be reinstated in his parishes of Yorke arid Hampton, which latter is described as being between Williamsburg and Yorke. (Neill's Virginia Carolorum.) "Parson Cluveriiis was rector of Yorke-Hampton in 1644." (Virginia Historical Magazine.) Bi-shop Meade states that an old tombstone in Yorke county reads, "Rev. 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 r. 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.-H.) 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 1688, 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. Tliomas Warrington is mentioned as rector. In 1756 he was called to Old Poquoson. The last name given was Rev. Joseph Davenport, who was stul rector when the register closed. The very last entry was by Rev. 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 bad only had six ministers. In our review of Yorke-Jtiampton 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 3i/^ 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 128 (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 Yorktown 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, j-ather 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 York 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 Yorke County, Virginia." The hall-mark shows it was made in 1649. The service has one flagon IO14 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 about z60 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 off, 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 2^/^ 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 price 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, Yorktown 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 of 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 Cornwallis surrendered and the Articles of Capitulation were signed at Temple Farm. In 1786 and for many years Rev. Samuel Shields represented both 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. t30 In 1825 the Rev. Mark Chevers, rector of Elizabeth City, reports: "At the request of a few families in Charles Parish, York county, I have for some 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 Rttended 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 revive the old churches on the coast. Tradition says that the bell was given by Queen Anne. When the church 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 ou the brow of a hill commanding the wide sweep of water, it was ?.n 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 with some other charge, are: Dr. Minnigerode, Rev. Thomas Ambler, Dr. L. B. Wharton, Rev. A. Y. Hnndley, 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 theii" 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 tamily 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 douDt 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 Meade 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 REV. JOSEPH B. DUNN, EECTOK OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, SUFFOLK:, 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 ther^i 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 character of this building is extant. The names of the parishes as South, East and West soon gave way to other names, for in 1680 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 mnid of the authorities, and active measures were taken to suppress them. Religion and politics were practically synonymou? in those days, and indapendence in religion spelled disloyalty in 133 politics. England was in the midst of the fierce struggle between King and Parliament, and Virginia was strongly loyalist. In 1648, a few 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 t(i 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 Catholics. 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 1-34 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 (1673-1728), 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 135 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 was 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 oiBce 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. Four 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 172.5 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 1S5 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 ot 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- O 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 salevating 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 13-8 unto Ca?esar the things that are Cassar's"; and his hearers pricked 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. "1 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. Virgi7iia 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 association 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 ope. Upon the whole, the public will plainly discover the principles this Reverend Gentleman entertains and in what light he views the general 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 Gregorie (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 Ifeft 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, ajid 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 14-0 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 office 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 for 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. Jbhn'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. BRYAN, D. D., PI-rTERSBURG, VA. HE Eastern Shore chapel, built In 1754, is the last of three brick Colonial churches, which 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 took 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 off from Elizabeth River Parish in 1643. 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 1G91. 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 Chesapeake 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 climbers. 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 man/ 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 Lynnliaven, 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 Sunnedayes 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 1645. 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, church 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 1648 the Reverend Robert Powis, 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 1649, 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 1650, 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 1649 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 anflinching discipline administered by the wardens and courts of the county, that when this minister of E'iza- 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 of 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 Sundayos 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 paire 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 drip- pinge pan one fire shovell, two paire of tonges, one chaffing dish 0200 14i) Itm Six pewter dishes, one pewter salt, one pewter Candlesticke one drinluuge Cupp, one dram cupp, one hatchett, one hammer all att 0070 I tm Six barrens of Corne 0480 J.tni one boate, fower oares, & two skulls 0600 Urn one pestle, one brasse kettle & five ould traye's 0080 10700 five bills amountinge to ye Some of 320 Received of Coll: Yeardley with Caske 600 920 Totall some is 11620 1 tob Leift Keelinge Henery Snayle Appj-aisers 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 minister 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 of tobacco for dieting ttie 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 evei*. 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 furthei', "a jury of Anciente and knowing women" was summoned tc 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 still 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 spectators." So she was taken out and again searched by more Anciente and knowing women, who brought in the condemning report that "she was not like them, 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 gerreral, 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 wab situated on the northern shores of the parish, which were the first to be settled. It was doubtless, at first, a wooden cliurch, 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 vestiT, 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 salai-y 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 difiiculty 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 awliward case, and as miglit be expected, the Rev- erend Thomas Baly was removed. In 1729 the Reverend Jolm 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 Biick church on the bay shore, an old wooden chapel, standing where the Eastern Shoie 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, but 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 the above effect, and the present writer heard it repeated and substantiated about 1879, 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 the Bishop wrote) wera 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 chuioJi- 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 church, from its being near a donation, of land given by a subse- quent rector, of whom we shall hear. It was ordered to be sixty-fiv.e 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 churcli 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 propeny 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 iiereby assign und 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; fvd ye pew on ye north side of ye Communion table is consigned to tno 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 10-2 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 ftlosely 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 oflBces 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 expect 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 Lynn- haven, Mr. Ezra Brook, clerk of the church, received 1,000 pounds lor 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 GOO pounds of tobacco a year, according to the age and condition of the child or person. Every foiir 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. Tlie tobacco with which these various expenses were defrayed 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, male oi' 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 i7o9 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. Th§ 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, 1€.4 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 built, 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, 175.3, 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 the connection be- tween the Churcn 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 lo'6 must be regarded as admirable faithTulness 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 moial 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 maiked 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 fi'om 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 was 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 In 1783 established Kempsville, in Princess Ajine 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 perforin 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 vestry, 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. Ax AccouxT or Property 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. Anthony Walke, John Ackiss, Edwd. Hack Moseley, James Henley, John Cornick, Joel Cornick, Francis Land. On May 6th, 1785, the Reverend James Simpson was inducted min- ister of the parish and appointed master of the Dickson Free 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 deminish, 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 o/ 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 Stare, 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 all 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 oflBce 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 pi'oven 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. 1-60 Four years later, while Mr. Walke was still minister of the parish, the following interesting declaration was made by one John McClennan, a Romanist, who desired to enter the Episcopal Church. DECLARATION OF JOHN M'CLENNAN, FROM IRELAND. "I John McClennan having been educated in the Principles of the Roman Church and having been convinced that, since the Rise of the Pope's temporal Power, the members of the 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 renounce all the superstitions of the Church of Rome and declare that I will be a member of the reformed Church, holding the Failh of a Protestant from this Day, being the 22 of July 1792." "This is to certify that the above Declaration was publickly, made by John McClennan at the Altar, in the Eastern Shore Chapel, of the Parish 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 Church property, or it may be by some heirs, relatives of Mr. Dickson. In December, 1800, the vestry took council of John Wickham, Esq., the distinguished lawyer of Rich- mond, who advised them that, in his opinion, the vestry could, with 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 the 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 heirs 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 Greoi'ge 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 vesti-y 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 John 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 AVithers, 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. Richard 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 Stringfellow, 1906. After the final declension of the old Donation church, which suffered much from the isolation of its position, that congregation built a cliurch 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. Tire 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 whicli 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 CHUKCHILL GIBSON CHAMBEKLAYNE, PH. D. ^ fN^ 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 followeth, 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. I., 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 s;uch 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 two 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- 1G4 ship, a church and a chapel. (See Perry's "Papers Relating to the His- tory of the Church in Virginia, A. D. 1650-177G," pp. 266-268. Queries of the Lord Bishop of London, answered by George 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 Parish. 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 off 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 conc^^rn 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 the 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 as 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 known as City Point has been already shown. There must have been ferries at City Point as far back as a hundred years before 17 31, 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 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 Richmond, 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 tue Vestry Book makes no further mention of the mother church, while references to the Ferry 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 church referred to in the Vestry Book of Bristol Parish. The site of the Chapel, or Ferry Chaple, as it is frequently called tn 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., Vok I., p. 439). But, as has been shown, the ferry at "the Point," that is at what is now Petersburg, was not established until 1731, while the Ferry 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 1720 afid 173 4 the number of tithables in Bristol Parish more than doubled. In the latter year there were returned 20 8 4. 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 1734 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 yeai. The creation of these new parishes very much reduced the area of Bris- 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 Shuttors 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 1733." 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 building the Church on Well's Hill till the Governors pleasure is further known." Evidently the Governor's prohibition was soon removed, for at the next vestry meeting, held at the Ferry Chapel September 15th, 1735, it was ordered "That the Church wardens pay the remaining part of the Parish Money in their hands to Colo Thomas Ravens- croft upon his giving bond to compleat the Church upon Well's Hill pursuant to agreemt made May 4th 173 5 Between himself and members of this Vestry appointed for that purpose." The agree- ment referred to in this order appears in the Vestry Book, pages 72 & 7 3, as follows: "Order'd that a Church be built of Brick on Wellses Hill to be 60 foot by 25 foot in the Clear and 15 foot to the spring of the Arch from the floor which is to be at least 18 Inches above the highest part of the ground 3 Bricks thick to the water table and 2i/^ after wards to the plate, the roof to be fram'd according to a Scheme now before us, the Isle to be 6 foot v/ide Lay'd with white Bristol Stone, galerey at the west end as long as the peer will admitt a window in the same as big as the pitch will admit. 7 windows in the body of the Church of Suitable dimensions glaz'd with sash glass the f.oors to be w-ell lay'd with good Inch & i^ plank the Pews to be fram'd the fronts rais'd pannil & ^ round with a decent pulpit and type a decent rail and Ballistor round the altar place and a table suitable thereto as usual, the roof to be first cover'd with plank and shingled on that with good Cypress Hart Shingles Cor- nice Eves large board eves and Suitable doors as usual the whole to be done strong and workmanlike in the best plain manner to be finished by the last of July 1737. Stone Steps to each door Suitable. Colo Thomas Ravenscroft has agreed to build the above Churcn for £485 Curr't Money to be paid at three Several payments." Col. Ravenscroft must have kept his agreement to the letter for it appears from the parish records that a meeting of the Vestry took place at the "Brick Church on Well's Hill" August 13th, 1737. This is the building locally known to-day as^Old Blandford Church. Upon the completion of the new church, the Ferry Chapel was abandoned. No further reference to it is to be found in the Vestry Book. The parish still had but two places of worship, the Brick Church on Well's Hill, and Sapponey Chapel. But the number of tith- 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 sufiiciently show. We 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 durein? ihe approbation of the Vestry he haveing agreed to 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 altlio entered in his pres- ence & with his approbation & now insisting on Twenty Pounds p Ann in lieu of a Glebe which he with son^.e 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 Woobank 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 t'ergusson, who remained minister of the parish until his death in 17 49. In the year 1742 Bristol Parish was divided (HeningB "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 four 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. Eleazer 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 tliree Bricks thick 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 dimeutions 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 Cornisb the Same as the present. Square Ceiling, 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 Ricnard 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-five 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. Stephen 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 aitd 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 of Bristol Parish proved incompetent to influence leg- islation in the matter of providing for the poor, they showed a very commendable and fairiy 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 Tho. 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 Oafs 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 tho year 1754: "By 3 fines for not going to Church 15/" As Thomas Whitmour's fine for Profaning the Sabbath Day was 5 shillings, 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 Doubtfull -.174 whether a Sufficient Sum Can be Collected from the people, for pay- ment of the Paiochial Debt, in Money. And by the Restrained Laid on Exports, By publick Consent, The Parishaners 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 ft'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 chiefly 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-'G5 — 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 Eleazar — 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 tombstones 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, l^amuel Gordon, James Murray, Hugh Miller, James Boisseau, Alexander Boiling, Anthony Walke, Thomas Williams, William Eaton, Roger Atkinson, George Nicholas, Sir William Skipwith, John Ruffin, John Bannister, Theoderick Bland, Jr., Nathaniel Raines, Nathaniel Hariison, 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 cultivateti 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. M'lLLIAM BYRD LEE, RECTOR. Qo ^^^l~r^ -^^ history of the Episcopal Church of Virginia has been, from the very beginning, a most interesting and eventful