A history of Bristol Parish, Va. : with genealogies of families connected therewith, and historical illustrations, Part 1

Author: Slaughter, Philip, 1808-1890
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Richmond : J.W. Randolph & English
Number of Pages: 532

USA > Virginia > A history of Bristol Parish, Va. : with genealogies of families connected therewith, and historical illustrations > Part 1

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY L 3 1833 02341 265 0

BLANDFORD CHURCH.

A HISTORY

Bristol Parish, Va. --

WITH

GENEALOGIES OF FAMILIES CONNECTED THEREWITH.

AND

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

BY REV. PHILIP SLAUGHTER, D. D.,

Author of the Histories of St. George's and of St. Mary's Perishes, and Corresponding Member of Historical Societies of Virginia and Wisconsin, &c.

SECOND EDITION.

J. W. RANDOLPH & ENGLISH, 1302 & 4 MAIN ST., RICHMOND. 1879.

1537414

I NDEX.

Appomattox, Queen of, - Amelia County and Raleigh Parish, -

Atkinson, Bishop Thomas, -

139

Atwell, Rev. J. S., -

Bristol Parish, early Churches of, .

xvii

Vestries, - -

121

127

Mother Church, -

Historical Places in, - .

106

brock, R. A., -

- 6, 120, 213

Blandford, Town of-Its rise and fall; centre of con- merce, of society, of religion; Scotch merchants and tobacco trade with Glasgow; lines to, . 80

Blandford Church, built, -

Its History, -

Its Literature, .

Cemetery in Spring, -

Tyrone Power's impressions, .

Lines by --

"A Stranger," - 95 . .

Col. F. H. Archer, - .

102

Rev. J. C. McCabe, D. D., -

103

Wm. Skinner Simpson, Sen'r, -

104

Bartlett, Kcv. Hobart, .

Bermuda Hundreds. -

Ball, Rev. John, - -

Bolling, Ro. B., of Centre Hill, his liberality, -

55,57

Byrd, Wm., · -

Bonsur, Undertaker, .

A ---------

Rev. Philip Slaughter, D. D.,

INDEX.

Bland, Miss Fanny, ·

148, 154 2,94

Campbell, Charles, historian, -

Counties or Shires of Colony laid off,

Casey's Care, - -

. Charles City County, birth of,

Chapel on Saponey Creek, On Nottoway River, ·

On Hatcher's Run,

Cary, Jr., Wilson Miles, .

218

Cawson's, -

22, 103 28

Cameron, Rev. Dr. John, .

137

Church and State, Union of dissolved,

Churches built, New, in 1790, -

In ISO6, -

In IS39, - -

In IS51, - .

In IS55, -

In IS57, -

In 1865, -

Cobbs, Rev. Nicholas II., -

Cosby, Rev. John, -

C.5hs, Seat of Bolling Family,

Chy Point, .

115

Conjuror's Neck,

Cooke, Rev. Giles B., .

Dale Parish,

Dale, Sir Thomas,

Deaf Mute Asylum, first in America,

110

Draper, I.L. D., Hon. Lyman C. -

Epitaphs, value of, -

xiv

Early Ministers in the Colony -- Whittaker, Stockham, Wickham, . .

For: Henry, - .

Farming Dale, . .

112

Fergusson, Rev. Mr., .

I ree Schools, Parish, . .

Grace Church built, .

Chamberlayne, Capt. John Hampden,

INDEX.

Gibson, Rev. Churchill Jones, Green, LL. D., William, .

115

Genealogies :

Atkinson, - .

137

Bolling, -

140

Bland, -

147

Claiborne, .

164

Eppes, -

172

Feild, -

173

Gilliam, -

174

Grammer,

177

Haxall, -

1.78

Kennon, -

182

May, -

137

Munford, -

194

Murray, -

199

Peterson, ·

205

Pegram, -

206

Poythress,

173

Ramsay, -

210

Randolph, -

212

Robertson,

22.2

Skipwith, -

225

Walker, -

232

Withers, .- .

234

Worsham, .

2.37

Henricopolis, - -

Henrico Parish, Vestry Book of,

Hundreds - Upper, Nether, West's, Shirley, Digges, Rochdale, - -

Hartwell, Rev. Richard,

Harrison, Rev. Wm., -

Ilains, D. D., Rev. Claudius R., -

Hope-in-Faith and Coxendale, -

Introduction, -

xiii

Jamestown, date of first landing at,

Jefferson Church, -

Jefferson, Thomas,

INDEX.

Jones, Capt. Peter, -

Kippax, or Farming Dale, seat of Bolling family, -

112

Lay, Bishop Henry C.,

. 192

Lea, J. Henry, - -

Lee, Gen. Robert E. -

157

Locke, Rev. Thomas E.,

62 84

Lands, Processioning of,

Lands divided into precincts for cultivation of Tobacco, Meade, Bishop Wm.,

Matonx, -

113

Mayne, The, -

Monk's Neck, -

Martin's-Brandon Parish,

Masons, Blandford Lodge of, -

82 £4

Moore, Bishop Richard Channing, .

Merchants of Blandford, early, .

S.1.

Mrnford, Col. George Wythe, -

196 ix

I'reface, -

To Genealogies, -

119

Parish Registers, importance of, -

Parish Regulations in Colony of Virginia, - XV

Petersburg, Town of, laid off, Enlarged, .

Prince George County, topographical description of,

l'latt, Rev. Wm. H., -

Pianters, lordly domains of early, .

106

Pocahontas, .

113

Processioning of Lands, .

xviii

Robinson, Wm. Murray, poet and antiquary, - IV, 89

Robertson, Rev. George, -

Robertson, Rev. Eleazar, -

Ritchie, Father Thomas, - -

Randolph of Roanoke, John, birthplace of, Tombs of parents, - 114 -

- IOS

Registers, Baptismal, Colonial legislation regarding, 127

Lawyers of Blandford, . -

xviii xviii

Medicine, old practitioners of, .

Religion, state of in the Colony, -

INDEX.

vii

Simpson, Sen'r, WVm. Skinner, antiquary, -

Smith, Captain John, .

Spencer, Rev. Thomas, -

Stith, Rev. Wm., -

Syme, Rev. Andrew, .

35,42

Slaughter, D. D., Rev. Philip, .

Stringfellow, Rev. Horace, -

St. Paul's Church,

St. John's

St. Stephen's “ .

Stockham, Rev. Mr. ·

Stuart, Hon. Alex. H. H. -

137

Tennant, David B., his generosity,

69 .

Tobacco, regulations for improving quality,

As a currency, - . -

10, 14

Trade with Great Britain from Blandford, Old merchants and factors of Blandford,

Tucker, LL. D., .Ion. John Randolph, -

163

Varina, town laid off, -

Vestries, duties of,

xii, 11

Vestrymen of Bristol Parish, successive, -

121

Weddell, D. D., Rev. Alex. W., .

Werocomico, - -

x, I

Wood's Church, - .

Wilkinson, Rev. Thos., -

Whitfield, Rev. George, visit to colony, Criticism of, - - -

Wingfield, D. D., Rev. John H. D., . His diary, - .

Whittaker, Kev. Alex'r, -

Whittle, Bishop F. M., -

204

Wickham, Rev. Mr.

Wilmer, Bishop J. P. B.,

228

Wood, Major Abram, -

Yeardley, Sir Thos., -

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

The first edition of this history was published in 1846, when the author was Rector of the Parish. It was the first historical tract upon the basis of the old church registers of Virginia. However such humble contributions to history may be regarded, when their pages are yet wet from the press, their value increases with each passing year, and they command a price many hundred per cent. more than the original cost. This little book has become so rare, that when the author received propositions from several publishers to print a new edition, he could not find a copy, but in the public libraries. In response to an advertisement for one, Mr. William Skinner Simpson, of Peters- burg, sent him one, which had been preserved by his father, Mr. William Skinner Simpson, Sen., who had interleaved it, and written upon many of the blank leaves, appropriate selections, in prose and verse, from the British Classics; and illustrated it with exquisite drawings, in water colours, of the old church at Bland- ford, and of tombs and other scenery of the cemetery. This gentleman was a ripe scholar and rare amateur ar-

PREFACE.

tist. Like our Virginian Old Mortality, Charles Camp- bell, he was an intense antiquary; and would rather hold converse with old books, and old epitaphs and old ruins, than with the living, who had not like tastes. The old church had an inexpressible charm for them both, and they loved to meditate among its tombs. Simpson was more of a recluse than Campbell. Blandford, especially after some of his dearest ones were buried there, was the Mecca of his thoughts and of his walks. But Campbell would often sally forth, not like his Scotch prototype upon an ambling white poney, but with his staff in his hand, to Cawson's, af- ter mouldering manuscripts ; or to Werowocomcco, to find traces of Powhattan and Pochahontas. Campbell realized his life-long dream in his History of Virginia. Simpson and Wm. Murray Robinson, only left traces of what they might have achieved in the field of paint- ing and of poetry. This brief tribute to a triumvirate of Petersburg authors, whom we knew so well, and who have passed away, needs no apology.

The first edition of this book was dedicated to our beloved parishoners. But the watchful wardens and venerable vestrymen, as Bragg, and May, and Gholson, and Spooner, and Lunsford, and Martin, and Egerton, and Pannill, and Butts, and Patterson, and Watkins, and the gracious matrons, whom we dare not name in print, are no more. A few only of those, with whom

PREFACE.

we took sweet counsel, yet linger in the horizon, like the setting sun.

" Gone are the heads of the silvery hair, And the young, that were, have a brow of care."

We dedicate this new edition to the children, and

. children's children of the generations, who are sleep- ing in the cemetery, at whose gates the old church stands,-a sad and silent sentinel.

Ye, who sometimes in your rambles, Pause by some neglected grave-yard, For awhile to muse and ponder On a half-effaced inscription, Written with small skill of song-craft, Homely phrases, but each letter Full of hope and yet of heart-break, Full of all the tender pathos Of the Here and the Hereafter, Stay, and read this simple History, Read this Bristol Parish Story.

INTRODUCTION.

If any one should heed the admonition of the writer of the lines on the opposite page

"Stay and read this simple history, Read this Bristol parish story,"

the author craves the privilege of saluting him at the threshold, and putting in his hand a clue, which may help him to thread with more ease and intelligence the labyrinth of facts and figures, which lies before him. Some persons have a holy horror of statistics, while thoughtful minds brood over them, until they become instinct with life and meaning ; and the barren chaos emerges into fruitful order. Names and dates, in themselves and by themselves, have as little interest and significance as the links of a dissevered chain, or the units of arithmetic. But when the single links are welded into a continuous chain, they all become lumi- nous; and the units of arithmetic are capable of com- binations, which make them effective factors in practice and in speculation. It has been well said, that "names are things;" and we add, that dates are often data, from which philosophers and historians draw important

INTRODUCTION.

conclusions. Epitaphs have been given in evidence in courts of justice; and dates of births, baptisms and marriages have uncovered fraud, decided titles to es- Wdes and dignities, and righted many wrongs. Often what is called local is national, and even world-wide in its relations and effects. If one would study history thoroughly he must not despise small things, but con- Ascend to the minutest details. In the words of that it master, Dr. Arnold, "He who would learn wis- 1 from the complex experience of history, must

טף 1 closely all its phenomena, noting that which is less ovious, as well as that, which is more palpable." It is an instructive as well as an invigorating exercise of the mind to look with a microscopic eye at the seeds of things, watch their first germinations, observe their gradual growth, and witness their flowering and

If one wants to get at "the bottom-facts" (to use a somewhat inelegant, but expressive phrase) of the his- tory of Virginia, we are persuaded, that there is no ! !!!! way to do so, than by means of the old church resters. the records of the county courts and the Statutes.at-Large. It was the policy of the British government, that wherever the people went, the State and the Church should keep them company. A court- house, a church, a prison, pillory, stocks and sonic- times a ducking-stool were the earliest institutions in

INTRODUCTION.

our new settlements; though happily the last three soon fell into disuse. The ministers and vestries were nearest to the people; coming into contact with them at every step, from birth to burial. There having been, for the first century or more, no other church organi- zation in Virginia, all the people of a parish were un- der the care of its pastor; and they were all required by the civil law, to have their children baptized, and the dates of their births and baptisms recorded in the register, and reported to the secretary's office; and so of the marriages and burials.

Thus we have (when the record has not been lost) the names of all the children, the names of their fath- ers and mothers, and sometimes of their god-fathers and god-mothers, the names of those joined in mar- riage and of the buried dead.

Another office of the vestries was to take care of the poor, for there were no poor-houses in those days. The poor, the halt and the blind, and those unable from age or infirmity to work, were freed from levies, and distributed among the planters, who fed and clothed them, and furnished them with medicines and medical attendance at the expense of the parish.

Another of their functions was to take care of or- phans, illegitimate children and children neglected by their parents, and bind them to some respectable per- son. Vagrants and all people, who had no visible

xvi

INTRODUCTION.

means of support, were also the subjects of their care and discipline. The church wardens too played the part of censors-of the public morals, and were required to impose fines upon blasphemers, Sabbath-breakers and other gross and open transgressors of human and divine laws. These things fill much space in the ves- try-books, and give us a census, as it were, of all these varied classes of the people with their names, charac- ters and conditions.

It was also the duty of vestries to build and furnish churches and chapels, and provide them with minis- ters, clerks (lay readers) and sextons, and all things necessary to the decency of public worship.

Let us sce how these things shed light upon the his- tory, geography, &c., of the country within the field of their labour. Before the institution of Bristol parish (1642) the settlers of the south-side of James river, were subject to Charles City county and Henrico parish. We have but little knowledge of their history between that date and the date of the extant vestry- book (1720). In the meantime, people had settled on either side of the Appomatox to the falls. The new parish embraces these, in terms, although settlers had in fact passed these limits, and diffused themselves on the tributaries of the Nottoway.

The incumbent of the parish in 1724 reported to the Bishop of London, that his cure was 40 miles long and

xvii

INTRODUCTION.

25 miles wide. As the limits of the parish north of the Appomatox never surpassed Powell's creek, and as there were 430 families in it, according to the same authority, we may conceive nearly the extent of its territory. The congregations now exceeded the ca- pacity of the church and the chapel, and Messrs. Bol- ling, Munford, &c., were ordered in 1729, to contract for the building of a church on John Stith's land, on Sapponey creek, with Parrott for lay-reader, and one near the mouth of Namozinc Creek, of which Thomas Bott and Mr. Spain should be clerks. The congrega- tions soon overflowed these new churches, and addi- tions of 20 feet were made to each. Then followed a chapel between Smak's and Nibb's creeks, and one on Flat creek. Next was the Brick church (Blandford) in 1737, on Well's (not Will's) hill, for which Richard Bland was contractor, and in 1739, Messrs. Bolling, Poythress and Eppes were ordered to have a church built on Jones' Hole creek, in the south part of the parish. In these proceedings, we have the progress of population, the sites of churches, the names of con- tractors, supervisors, architects and clerks, the mate- . rials, in minutest detail, of which they were made, their dimensions and style of architecture, and other facts, which are instructive and suggestive to the historian.

Now the parish itself is too large, and the places of worship too many, to be cared for by one minister and

xviii

INTRODUCTION.

his staff of clerks. Hence the process of division and sub-division began in 1734. That part of Bristol north of the Appomatox was cut off, and Dale parish was established, and the parish of Raleigh in the new county of Amelia ; and in 1742, the parish of Bath was also cut off from Bristol. To clear the subject of perplexities, it must be borne in mind, that as each new parish came into being, it disappears from the Bristol books and becomes a new centre of radiation, and has its own records, in which its after history must be sought.

It was also the duty of the vestries to distribute these parishes into precincts; and depute two honest freeholders to count and report the number of tobacco plants in his district : examples of this proceeding will be found in the text. It was likewise their duty to di- vide their parishes into other precincts, bounded by roads and streams, and other natural and artificial landmarks, and appoint two respectable planters in each precinct to procession, that is to go around every man's land, every four years, and renew the marks upon the line trees, in the presence of the owner and his neighbors. Hence the term of procession. Instances of this proceeding will be found in the text.

These materials enable one to construct in his mind a niap of the country between the Nottoway and Appo-

xix

INTRODUCTION.

mattox rivers, and their tributaries ; and also the strip of land on the north side of the latter, which was apart of the original Bristol parish. It would not be merely a general geographical outline, but would give the spe- cial topographical features and lineaments in the face of nature, such as the roads, runs and rivers; the sites of plantations and their boundaries and such like nat- ural and artificial landmarks. It would be more than a map, for maps are material and only concern places. It would be peopled, and the scene would be changing with every revolving year, like the shifting scenes and persons of a drama, or the varying phenomena of a kaleidoscope. Could the same light be shed on all the early parishes, we should have a panoramic view of the Old Dominion that we could not get from any other standpoint. And we should look with awe at the Anglo-Saxon wave, wending its westward way with a tide as unebbing as that of time.

Forever moving on and on, In silence more sublime, Than if the thunders of the spheres Pealed forth its march to mortal ears.

If we run our eyes over the names in the old bap- tismal registers, and compare them with the names that dot the county maps of the present day, we are struck by their identity. Many of the descendants of those, whose names are written on these registers, have

INTRODUCTION.

departed from the faith of their forefathers. It is not our office to judge them. In like circumstances, we might have done likewise. But however erring they may deem their forefathers to have been ; or however strong may be their convictions of their own right- eousness, we cannot but think that there are many of them who will look back with some interest to the patriarchal pioneers, who first cleared the way into the wilderness under the banner of the cross; and made those vast solitudes, which had hitherto resounded with the war-whoop of the Indians, the scream of the eagle and the wild cries of the wild beasts, vocal with the word of God and the songs of the sanctuary.

NOTE .- Not only do we find in the church registers names which are general now, but those, which are rare, as Spain, Aber- nethy, Browder, Caudle, Wales, Westmoreland, Stroud, Snipes, Satterwhite, Scroggins, Tatum, Claypool, Pentecost, Olivier, Nance, Patillo, Pettypool, Ragsdale, Pistol, Pucket, Lenoye.

HISTORY OF

BRISTOL PARISH.

The 13th of May was the day bi-centennially ccle- brated in 1807, and that which has since been observed as the anniversary of the first landing at Jamestown; and has been regarded by all authors as the true date of that marked event. But according to Percy the landing was begun on the 14th of May, the place hav- ing been chosen the day before.

Captain John Smith, the first hero and historian of Virginia, in the narrative of his exploring adventures, speaks of the "pleasant river of Appamattuck," which is the first time this name occurs in history. The Appomattox river, at that time, was inhabited by a tribe of Indians of the same name, who composed a part of the hereditary dominions of Powhatan, one of the most powerful of the native chieftains. When Captain Smithi (a captive) was presented to Powhatan at Werocomico, in 1610, the Queen of the Appomattox was present, and was appointed to bring water to wash his hands, while another brought him a bunch of feathers, instead of a towel, to dry them. The wig- wam of the Queen of the Appomattox, according to the chart in Smith's history, was on the north side of

BRISTOL PARISH.

the river, between it and the Randolph river, now known as Swift creek, in the county of Chesterfield. The Appamattuck Indians had also a town at the mouth of the river.

In 1614, Sir Thomas Dale, with the Rev. Mr. Whit- taker (who won the title of the apostle of Virginia, as the Rev. Mr. Hunt did that of peace-maker at James City) ascended James river and founded at Farrar's Island (Dutch Gap), in September, Henricopolis ( Hen- rico city) the nucleus around which was formed the county of Henrico in 1634. This beautiful place, com- manding a picturesque view of the winding river, was chosen as the site of the proposed college for the edu- cation of the English and Indian youth, which awak- ened such enthusiasm in England, and elicited the splendid endowment of thousands of acres of James river bottom and other rich gitts. A plantation was opened on the south side of the river, called Hope-in- Faith and Coxendale, with several forts and a guest- house for the sick on the spot (says Campbell) or. which, in Stith's time, Jefferson church stood. On the same (south) side, Whittaker had his glebe of one hundred acres of lind and a well framed house, called Roch Hall .- (Stith 124, Beverly 25.)

About Christmas, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale captured the Indian town at the mouth of the Appomattox. and being pleased with its "commodiousness" for produ- cing corn, and its fitness for an impregnable defense against foreign invasion, made a plantation there, and called it New Bermudas. In the words of Hamor (the contemporary chronicler), "Dale laid out many miles of Champion, and wood land in several hun- dreds, as the Upper and Nether Hundreds, Rochdale

BRISTOL PARISH.

Hundred, West's and Shirley Hundreds, and Digges' Hundred. In the Nether Hundred he first began to plant and inhabit, and with a pale across, from river to tiver, about two miles long, we have secured some eight miles circuit of ground, exceeding good 'corne' ground; upon which pale and round about on the verge of the river in this hundred, half a mile distant from each other are very many 'faire' houses already builded, besides other particular men's houses, not so few as fifty. Rochdale Hundred, by a cross pale, well nigh four miles long, is also impaled, with bordering houses all along the pale, in which our 'hogges' and other cattle have twenty miles to graze in securely. The undertaking the Chief City is deferred until after the Harvest be in, which once reaped, all hands shail be employed therein, which Sir Thomas Dale pur- poseth, and may with some labor effect His designes, to make an impregnable retreat against any foreigne invasion how powerful so ever."-(Hamor's True Dis- course, p. 31-32.)

The distance from Bermuda Hundred to Henrico city was only five miles by land and fourteen by water, and their relations with each other were very intimate. Mr. Whittaker had charge of both places, and was drowned in 1617 in passing the river between them. Sir Thomas Dale spent several years at Bermuda, and Sir George Yeardley, when he became Governor of the Colony, spent much time there. Whittaker was suc- ceeded by his curate Wickham, and he by Stockham, who wrote the famous letter deprecating mild methods for the conversion of the Indian, who, he said, "would devour your gifts, and so they would the giver, if they could. I am persuaded (he adds) if Mars and Minerva

- BRISTOL PARISH.

yo hand in hand, they will effect more in an hour than these verbal Mercuries in their lives; and till their Priests and Ancients have their throats cut there is no hope of bringing them to couversion."

To this date, all the omens had been propitions for the prosperity of these settlements; but the brilliant promise was blighted by the massacre (1622), as we have seen an orchard in full blossom blighted by a killing frost in a single night. Many of the settie- ments were extinguished, and the people were with- drawn to a few fortified places, of which Shirley Hun- dred Island (probably Eppes' Island) was one. Cap- tain Smith said after the massacre that it had "caused all men to believe the opinion of Master Stockham."

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A history of Bristol Parish, Va. : with genealogies of families connected therewith, and historical illustrations, Part 1

Author: Slaughter, Philip, 1808-1890 Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Richmond : J.W. Randolph & English Number of Pages: 532

Author: Slaughter, Philip, 1808-1890
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Richmond : J.W. Randolph & English
Number of Pages: 532