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GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
NOTES ON
CULPEPER
COUNTY, ...
The
WILLIAM L. CLEMENTS LIBRARY of the University of Michigan
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Genealogical and Historical
NOTES ON
CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
Embracing a Revised and Enlarged Edition of
DR. PHILIP SLAUGHTER'S
HISTORY OF
ST. MARK'S PARISH.
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED -BY-
RALEIGH TRAVERS GREEN. CULPEPER, VA 1900.
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F 232 · C9 G79 1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900. -BY- RALEIGH TRAVERS GREEN.
EXPONENT PRINTING OFFICE, CULPEPER. VIRGINIA. 1900.
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WARCL 3-24-61 add
PREFACE.
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When the publication of this book was commenced, the undersigned little dreamed of the magnitude of the task he had undertaken. Our intention at first was to reprint Dr. Philip Slaughter's History of St. Mark's Parish, to- gether with as much revised and supplemental matter as we could gather to- gether. Consequently, we had expected to have a book of one hundred and fifty pages, instead of three hundred.
We have endeavored to advertise, as extensively as possible, the proposed publication of the work, in order that all might have the opportunity of mak. ing additions and revisions to the genealogical part of the publication. Quite a number availed themselves of the invitation, and to them we are much in- debted.
In a work of this kind, mistakes, in the way of omission, and some mis- statements, are bound to occur. A work on genealogy, without such, is an impossibility.
We have, for a number of years, comtemplated the re-publication of Dr. Slaughter's book, but have waited, hoping to become better equipped for the undertaking. However, thinking that a wait for such improvement, would be in vain, we decided not to delay the publication, but to present to the pub- lic the best that we were able to do with our present mechanical equipment, the printing of the book being done in the Exponent office at Culpeper, a Richmond firm doing the binding.
For much valuable assistance we received in our work acknowledgement is made, and thanks therefor returned to Mr. Warren E. Coons, Clerk of the Culpeper courts, Judge Daniel A. Grimsley, of Culpeper, Mr. Thomas Towles Slaughter, of Culpeper, Mr. George Dabney Gray, of Culpeper, Mr. John Strode Barbour, of Culpeper, Major H. C. Burrows, of Culpeper, Rev. E. W. Winfrey, Pastor of the Culpeper Baptist Church, Mr. George M. Williams, of Culpeper, Rev. F. G. Ribble, Rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, of Culpeper, Dr. A. G. Grinnan, of Madison, Mrs. Mary Dunnica Micou, of the Theological Seminary, Virginia, Mr. Joseph Wilmer, of Culpeper, Mrs. John B. Sparrow, of Martinsville, Virginia, Mr. John S. Carpenter, of Louisville, Kentucky, Judge John W. Jones, of Culpeper, formerly of Kentucky, Mr. Willis M. Kemper, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. John A. Fitzhugh, of Ainesbury, Massachusetts, Maj. B. S. Thompson, of Huntington, West Virginia, Mr. James M. Rice, of Peoria, Illinois, and Mr. William F. Boogher, of Washing- ton, District of Columbia.
November, 1900.
RALEIGH TRAVERS GREEN,
Culpeper, Va.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Part
Part
First. Second.
ASHBY FAMILY,
80.
BALL FAMILY,
BAPTISTS OF CULPEPER, THE,
3.8.
BARBOUR FAMILY, -
13.5
BRANDY RIFLES, THE,
3.5.
BRANDY STATION, BATTLE OF,
34.
BRICK MAKING IN VIRGINIA, 112.
BROADDUS FAMILY, - 34.
146.
BROMFIELD PARISH.
35.
BROWN FAMILY,
111
83.
BROWNING FAMILY, -
151.
BRYAN-LILLARD FAMILY.
150.
CALVARY CHURCH REBUILT, 118.
CARTER FAMILY. - - 53. -
CATALPA,
CAVE FAMILY,
54.
CEDAR RUN, BATTLE OF,
3.8.
CHURCH, ORGANIZATION OF IN VIRGINIA, 10.
CHURCHES OF ST. MARK'S PARISH. -
31.
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CLAYTON FAMILY,
55.
CLAYTON, MAJ. PHILIP,
6.
COLE, REV. JOHN, 27.
COLE, REV. JOHN, SUCCESSORS OF,
COLEMAN FAMILY,
30. 5.6
COMPANY B, 6TH. VA. CAVALRY, 35.
COMPANY B, 13TH. VA. INFANTRY, 21.
COMPANY C, 7TH. VA, INFANTRY,
12.
COMPANY E, 7TH. VA. INFANTRY,
21.
CONWAY FAMILY. - - -
COOKE FAMILY, -
COUNTY COURT OF CULPEPER, THE FIRST, 160.
CULPEPER AS A BATTLE GROUND,
CULPEPER COMMITTEE OF SAFETY,
5.
CULPEPER, COUNTY OF 11.
CULPEPER COUNTY, HISTORY, 1.
CULPEPER COUNTY, ENGAGEMENTS IN 32.
CULPEPER, FREEHOLDERS OF, MEETING OF.
120.
CULPEPER IN THE CIVIL WAR, 18.
CULPEPER IN THE REVOLUTION,
2.
CULPEPER MINUTE MEN, -
12.
CULPEPER OF TO-DAY. 11, 16.0.
CULPEPER, PRESENT LIMITS OF, 2.
CULPEPER'S PROTEST AGAINST STAMP ACT, 181.
CULPEPER, TOWNS IN,
12 .
1L
CUPEPER, TOWN OF, LAID OUT,
160.
FAIRFAX LODGE, A. F. & A, M.
FAMILY GENEALOGIES. -
- 75. 132.
FIELD FAMILY, .
FONTAINE, JNO., DIARY OF - 39.
ERY FAMILY. - . 5.8.
GARNETT FAMILY.
5.9.
.
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Part
First.
Second.
GENEALOGISTS, NOTES FOR, - -
45.
GERMANNA SETTLEMENT, -
- 4, 42.
2, 159.
GLASSELL FAMILY,
.
BO. 68,
GREEN FAMILY,
61.
GRINNAN FAMILY,
79.
HENRY-WINSTON FAMILY,
HILL FAMILY, -
85.
HILL, GEN. A. P.
111. 94.
HISTORICAL EXCURSIONS,
36.
JONES FAMILY, 89. -
KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSE SHOE, - 36.
LA FAYETTE IN CULPEPER, -
156.
LAMON, REV. A. H., -
- 25, 118.
LAWYERS IN CULPEPER BEFORE REVOLUTION, 112.
LILLARD-BRYAN FAMILY - -
-
150.
LITTLEPAGE, LEWIS,
- 48.
MADISON FAMILY,
- 71.
MARRIAGE RECORD,
56.
MARRIAGE RECORD, INDEX TO, -
161
MASON FAMILY. -
79
MEDICAL MEN IN CULPEPER BEFORE REVOLUTION, 111.
MICOU FAMILY,
75.
MISCELLANEOUS ENLISTMENTS,
23.
PENDLETON, EDMUND,
105.
PENDLETON FAMILY,
- 95, 119.
REVOLUTION, PENSIONERS OF, 128.
RICE FAMILY, -
182.
SLAUGHTER, CAPT. PHILIP, DAIRY OF - 46.
SLAUGHTER FAMILY,
85.
SOLDIERS IN FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR,
- 14.
SOLDIERS IN WAR OF 1812, -
- 180
-
GREEN, COL. JOHN,
-
1
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Part.
First.
Second.
SOMERVILLE FAMILY, -
79.
SPOTSWOOD FAMILY,
72. SPOTSWOOD, SIR ALEXANDER, 1.
STEVENS, GEN. EDWARD, - -
STEVENSON, REV. JAMES,
I
20, 73.
- 114. ST. MARK'S PARISH, FIRST MINISTER OF, - 7.
ST. MARK'S PARISH HISTORY CONTINUED, - 114.
ST. MARK'S PARISH, NOTES ON,
118.
ST. MARK'S PARISH, ORGANIZATION OF, - - 3.
ST. MARK'S PARISH, VESTRYMEN OF, - 113, 117.
STROTHER FAMILY,
83.
ST. THOMAS' PARISH,
32.
TAYLOR FAMILY,
. 74.
THOM FAMILY,
84.
THOMAS FAMILY,
-
155.
THOMPSON FAMILY,
79. 81 .
THOMPSON, REV. JOHN,
-
8.
THOMPSON, RICHARD W., -
87.
TOBACCO PLANT, THE,
.
50.
WAR OF 1812, CULPEPER COMPANY, - 130.
WASHINGTON, GEORGE, SURVEYOR, . - 5.
WILL RECORDS OF CULPEPER,
4.5.
WILLIAMS FAMILY,
- 108
WINSTON-HENRY FAMILY,
75.
WOODVILLE, REV. JOHN,
- - 21, 79.
YANCEY FAMILY,
81.
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-
5.
ST. MARK'S PARISH, ADDENDA,
PART FIRST.
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Rev. PHILIP SLAUGHTER, D. D.
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REV. PHILIP SLAUGHTER. D. D.
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Stretching from the foot hills of the Blue Ridge mountains east ward, some thirty miles, and taking in the valleys of the Rapidan, Robertson and Rappa- hannock rivers, lies an extensive plain. It is broken here and there by several small mountains-miniature models of the great range to the west. This con- stituted the colonial parish of St. Mark's, which was established in 1731, with Robert and Francis Slaughter as its first church wardens.
The Slaughters owned large landed estates in this parish and west of Slaughter's mountain, at the old homestead of "Springfield," was born in 1808, Philip Slaughter, destined. many years later, to be the chronicler of this parish and many others, as well as historiographer of the Diocese of Virginia.
His grandfather and father were both soldiers, the former commanding a regiment at the battle of Great Bridge, the latter serving gallantly throughout the war of independence as captain in the 8th continental regiment, and going through the terrible campaign of Valley Forge with John Marshall, afterwards chief justice of the United States, as his lieutenant and mess mate.
Thus was blended in the young Philip Slaughter the qualities of his great- grandfather and uncle-the first church wardens-and those of his grandfather and father-the soldiers-and no one who ever saw him rise to speak, could doubt that the soldier of the Cross would have been as valiant a soldier of the State, if such service had been his. His tall, spare figure, with a manner which combined great personal dignity with the utmost courtesy and kindli- ness, made him noticeable in any assemblage,and when he spoke, a voice, whose wonderful modulations even advancing years could not affect, never failed to fix the attention of his hearers.
Trained by the best tutors of the day, and at one of the first classical schools, young Slaughter learned, not only to avail himself of the thoughts of others, but to think for himself. He entered the University of Virginia the first year of its existence, and formed one of a class of notable men, many of them afterwards distinguished in the service of the State.
He was admitted to the bar, but in a few years entered the Theological Seminary of Virginia, and was ordained deacon in 1834, and priest in 1835. For some fourteen years he did most effective work in some of the important parishes in Virginia and elsewhere. Failing health caused him to go abroad
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for a time in the years 1848 and 1849. On his return he devoted his energies to the cause of African colonization; with wise foresight anticipating and try- ing thus to avert the dreadful catastrophe he lived to witness.
Five years were given to this task, and to general evangelistic work. He then returned to Slaughter's mountain, where he built a chapel on his own land, and ministered to his neighbors and their dependents, giving his services as a free will offering. Here he lived up to the outbreak of the war between the States, occupying a unique position. A staunch churchman in the midst of members of other Christian bodies, he provoked no antagonisin from those who differed with him, and by his wise and affectionate counsel and sympathy, probably did more than any man in the State to win the respect, and often the allegiance of men of every class to the church of his forefathers.
He was a man of rare gifts. Of a poetic temperament, he was fond of literature, and master of the best writers in the English language. As a pul- pit orator he was unsurpassed in his day, and his personal magnetism was such that he swayed his audience "whithersoever he listed."
The "mission" of the present day with its week of continuous services and preaching was not unknown fifty years ago. Dr. Slaughter had great power as a missioner, and hosts of the careless and indifferent were brought by him into the "way of righteousness."
In his own community and beyond, he was the trusted friend and adviser, as well as the pastor, the adjuster of variances, and the ultimate court of arbi- tration.
An exile from home, during the four years of war, he ministered whenever opportunity offered to those among whom his lot was cast. In hospital and c.v'up his kindly presence carried help and solace to many a stricken body, and many a weary soul.
And when the war was over, he came back to his devastated home-the scene of one of its bloodiest battles-and took up his work with the strength that was left, meeting the privations and trials of his lot with the courage of a soldier and the loyalty of a patriot, in uncomplaining toil, as an humble parish minister, setting a noble example of the old Roman tradition "Fortuna non mutat genus." And so the end nobly crowned his work after a life spent in the service of his master in the land, and among the people he loved so well, in the home of his childhood and of his ripened years, he was, in the month of June, 1890, "gathered unto his Father's, having the testimony of a good conscience, in the confidence of a certain faith, and in favor with God and man." W.
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A HISTORY -OF-
ST. MARK'S PARISH,
CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA,
WITH NOTES OF
OLD CHURCHES AND OLD FAMILIES
AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
-BY-
REV. PHILIP SLAUGHTER, P. P.
Rector of Emmanuel Church, Culpeper Co., Va.
AUTHOR OF THE HISTORIES OF ST. GEORGE'S AND BRISTOL PARISHES, VA.
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THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. - --: 00 :-
The author believes that he was the first person who conceived the idea of writing a history of the old parishes in Virginia upon the basis of the old ves- try-books and registers. Thirty years ago he published the History of Bristol Parish (Petersburg), of which he was then rector. In 1849 he published the History of St. George's Parish, in Spotsylvania. His labors were then sus- pended by ill-health, and he went abroad, never expecting to resume them. This personal evil resulted in the general good. Bishop Meade, the most com- petent of all men for this special task, was induced to take up the subject, and the result was the valuable work, "The Old Churches and Families of Virgin- ia," in which the author's histories of St. George and Bristol Parishes, and some other materials which he had gathered, were incorporated. The author, in his old age, returns to his first love, and submits to the public a history of his native parish of St. Mark's. The reader will please bear in mind that this is not a general history of the civil and social institutions within the bounds of this parish, and yet he will find in it many incidental illustrations of these subjects. He must also be reminded that it does not purport to be a history of Christianity in its varied forms and polities within in the lines of St Mark's. That would open a large field, which the author has not time or strength now to traverse. He means, therefore, no disrespect to other Christian polities and peoples (among whom are numbered many valued friends and relatives) in omitting all reference to them. In this respect he has followed the example of the parish records, which are the basis of this history, and in which there is not one word about Christians of other names, from the first organization of St. Mark's Parish, in 1731, to the present moment. The vestry abstained in like manner from political allusion; for while keeping up its organization and records during the whole of the American Revolution, the only allusion to an event which so absorbed men's minds is the following entry :- "Capt. Richard Yancey is appointed a vestryman in place of Major John Green, in Continental service."
Church history in Virginia may be distributed into several eras, the obser- vation of which will make it more intelligible. The first is the Era of the Church of England in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. This covers the whole period from the first plantation of Jamestown to the American Revolu-
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tion. During this period the Church was in bondage to the State, which nev- er allowed it to organize. For political reasons it was not permitted to have a bishop; and there were no ordinations or confirmations during the whole colo- nial term. Candidates for orders had to make the then costly, protracted and perilous voyage across the sea. Some of them could not pay the expense, and others were lost at sea, while some died of the small-pox in London, which was very fatal before the use of vaccination. The Church was not only de- nied an executive head, but it had no legislature. It had no authority to pass a law, enact a canon, or inflict a penalty, not even for the discipline of its own ministers and members; and it never performed one of these functions.
The second Era may be called the Transition Age, during which the ties that bound it to the State were one by one severed; and this lasted from 1776 to the first organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, in 1785, when it became free, although its organization was not perfected until the election of its first bishop (Madison).
The next era may be called the Era of Decline, when the Episcopal Church was staggering under the odium of having been an established church, which lasted until William Meade, William Wilmer, William Hawley, Oliver Norris, and such like, came upon the stage, and elected Richard Channing Moore, of New York, to be their leader. Then began the Era of Revival; after a torpid winter, an awakening spring followed by a fruitful summer., To this season we may apply the words of Shakspeare, but in a higher sense :-
"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this son of YORK ; And all the clouds that lowered upon our house, In the deep bosom of the ocean buried"-
While we recognize and rejoice in the good that has been done by other Christian ministers outside of our fold, we too may be permitted to rejoice that our Virginia Episcopal Roll is "without a blemish"; and that their hands have been upheld by a goodly and growing company of preachers, who have rekindled the fires upon many an old altar where the sparrow had found her an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, even thine altars, O Lord God of Hosts ! my King and my God.
SUGGESTIONS TO OUR READERS.
In such an almost countless number of names and dates as occur in this book, it must needs be that errors of the pen or of the press will creep in. If those who detect them will kindly communicate them to the author, he will gladly correct them in a new edition; the proposed first edition having been ordered in anticipation of publication. If the reader will bear in mind the following facts it will facilitate his understanding of this history. In 1720 Spotsylvania County was taken from Essex, King and Queen and King Wil- liam, whose jurisdiction hitherto extended to the great mountains. St. George's Parish, coterminous with Spotsylvania, was formed by the same act. In 1731 St. Mark's was taken from St. George. In 1734 Orange was formed from
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Spotsylvania. In 1740 St. Thomas was taken from St. Mark's. In 1748 Cul- peper was formed from Orange. In 1752 Bromfield Parish was taken from St. Mark's. In 1792 Madison County was taken from Culpeper. In 1831 Rappahannock County was formed from Culpeper, and in 1838 the County of Greene was taken from the County of Orange.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS,
Besides the acknowledgments made in the body of this work, the author is under obligations to Isaac Winston, Jr., for volunteering to transcribe his entire manuscript into a fair hand-a task almost as difficult as the interpre- tation of hieroglyphical characters by Oriental scholars. I am indebted for a like favor to Rev. Dr. Randolph, of Emmanuel Church, Baltimore, for volun- teering to read the proof-sheets as they passed through the press; and to the Rev. Dr. Dalrymple, the Hon. Hugh Blair Grigsby, Mr. R. A. Brock, of the Vir- ginia Historical Society, Dr. Andrew Grinnan, of Madison, Mr. George Mason Williams, of Culpeper, Col. Edward McDonald, of Louisville, to the gentlemen of the press, and to many correspondents too numerous to be named, for aid and sympathy in his work.
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ST. MARK'S PARISH.
SIR ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia. -0-
HIS ANCESTRY, BIRTH, MARRIAGE, ADMINISTRATION, DEATH, BURIAL, DES- CENDANTS, AND RELATION TO ST. MARK'S PARISH. .
A history of St. Mark's Parish in which Gov. Spotswood did not have a prom- inent place, would be like a portrait with the most prominent feature left out. Not only was he a sagacious statesman, a gallant cavalier,a brave and dashing soldier;'but he was also a devout Church of England man, ready to enter the · lists as her champion against all comers, not excepting the vestries, who were the advocates of the people's rights, and the miniature Parliaments in which -"tfie leading statesmen of the American Revolution were trained. He was the largest landed proprietor within the bounds of the parish ; he founded the first town (Germanna), he developed the first mines, and erected the first iron furnace in America. He erected, chiefly at his own expense, the first parish church, and organized and equipped, at Germanna, " The Knights of the Gol- , den Horseshoe," who first passed the Blue Ridge, and blazed the way to the Valley of Virginia, and whose whole course was within the limits of the origi- . nal parish of St. Mark's.
.Governor Spotswood was the great-grandson, of Joli Spotswood, Archbis- . hop of St. Andrew's and author of the History of the Church of Scotland. His grandfather was Robert Spotswood, Lord President of the College of Justice, and author of the " Practicks of the Laws of Scotland," who was one of the eight eminent lawyers executed by the Parliament of Scotland, which (accord- ing to Sir Walter Scott) consisted wholly of Covenanters. While he was at private prayer on the scaffold (says Sir Walter) he was interrupted by the Presbyterian minister in attendance, who asked if he did not desire his pray- ers and those of the people. Sir Robert replied that he earnestly desired the prayers of the people but not those of the preacher ; for that, in his opinion, God had expressed his displeasure against Scotland by sending a lying spirit into the mouths of the prophets. The father of Governor Spotswood was Dr. Robert Spotswood, physician to the Governor of Tangiers in Africa, and his mother had been Mrs. Catherine Elliott. Dr. Spotswood died in Tangiers in 1688, leaving one son, the subject of this notice, who was born in 1676. Gov - ernor Spotswood, " who had been bred in the army," was aide to the Duke of Marlborough, and was badly wounded in the breast at the battle of Blenheim.
His arrival in Virginia, says Campbell, was greeted with joy, because he brought with him the right of Habeas Corpus-a right guaranteed to every Englishman by Magna Charta, but hitherto denied to Virginians. Spotswood
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entered upon his duties as Governor in 1710, and the two Houses of the Gener- al Assemby,severally, returned thanks for their relief from long imprisonment, and appropriated more than two thousand pounds for completing the Govern- or's palace. Although he was, in accordance with the dominant doctrines of his day, a strenuous advocate of the Royal prerogative in Church and State, yet he was one of the most energetic, patriotic and farseeing statesmen that ever ruled Virginia. He first suggested a chain of forts from the Lakes to the Mississippi (beyond the Alleghanies) to check the encroachments of the French; but many years elapsed before his suggestion and policy were adopt- ed. It was he who conceived the idea of making tobacco notes a circulating medium. His military genius and experience enabled him to wield the mili- tia with great effect against the hostile Indians; but he was no less zealous in the conception and execution of measures for their civilization and conver- tion to Christianity, as the Indian school at Christanna on the Meherin river, and the fund of £1000 for instructing their children at William and Mary College, attest. In 1739 he was made Deputy Postmaster-General for the Col- onies; and it was he (says Campbell) who promoted Benjamin Franklin to be postmaster for the province of Pennsylvania.
Governor Spotswood died at Annapolis, on his way to command the army against Carthagena, and was buried at Temple Farm, one of his old country seats near Yorktown, so named from a house in the garden erected by Gov- ernor Spotswood as a cemetery. Dr. Shield, who bought the farm in 1834. says, " the walls of the temple were then only several feet high: within them I found heaps of broken tombstones, and on putting the fragments together, I found the name of Governor Spotswood."
It was in the Temple Farm mansion that Lord Cornwallis met Washing- ton and signed the articles of capitulation which secured American indepen- dence.
There is some verbal discrepancy between the authorities about the name of the lady whom Governor Spotswood married. Bishop Meade, upon the au- thority of a daughter of General Alexander Spotswood, says that her name was Jane Butler, sister of the Duke of Ormond. Charles Campbell, our pains . taking historian, says her name was Butler Bryan (pronounced Brain), daugh- ter of Richard Bryan, of Westminster, and her Christian name was after Jas. Butler, Duke of Ormond, her godfather. On the other hand, several of her lineal descendants have informed the present writer that Mrs. Spotswood was the daughter of Richard Brayne, " whose letters to his daughter show him to have been a man of culture." The name of Butler Brayne has been perpetu- ated in this branch of the family to this day, which raises a strong presump- tion that it is the true orthography.
Since the above was written I have procured, through the medium of Judge Barton and Capt. George Minor, of Fredericksburg, documentary proof which settles the vexed question, in the forin of a letter written by Judge Ed- mond Pendleton for his client John Benger, the son of Dorothea (Col. Byrd's Miss Thecky) Brayne, sister of Lady Spotswood. The letter is dated Virginia, Sept. 8th, 1762, and is addressed to Capt. Wm. Fox, and is signed by John Ben- ger and Edmond Pendleton, and in it is the following paragraph :- " Richard Brayne and his wife are dead, and Mrs. Brayne's issue was four daughters, Anne. Diana, Dorothy,and Butler. Dorothy intermarried with Elliot Benger, gentleman, and, with her husband, is since dead, and I am her son and heir. Butler intermarried with Major-General Alexander Spotswood, and afterwards married John Thompson (Clerk). She is dead, and Alexander
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