USA > Virginia > Colonial churches; a series of sketches of churches in the original colony of Virginia, with pictures of each church > Part 25
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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
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families of Berkeley and Shirley, and again repaired just prior to the war, it was used by the Federal troops as a stable.
"In 1867 the Westover church was opened and used again for the first time since the close of the war. Not a door, window, or floor was. left; but by the blessing of good God and kind friends, we have re- paired it." (Parish Register). Now, 1907, a considerable sum is in the hands of the Ladies' Aid Society for the restoration and beauti- fying of the church.
Of the Lower church in the parish, we are told that "the Old Brick church, called Mapsco, stood about seven miles below the court- house and immediately on the road to Sandy Point, the old seat of the Lightfoot family, also convenient to the Chickahominy neighbor- hood." A note written about 1850 says: "Mapsco church was on the road to Barrett's Ferry, near the fork of the road, four miles below where the new church stands. The ruins are still visible. The 'New Church' is first alluded to in the Parish Register in 1841 as St. Thomas', and on Christmas, 1854, St. Thomas' church was destroyed by fire. Rebuilt in 1856, it was consecrated by the Assistant-Bishop Johns at Mapsco church."
Of the parish glebes we are told there were two in the day of Parson Fontaine, 1724, neither having homes on them. The glebe house now standing bears distinct evidence of antiquity. The land is said to have been the grant of the crown; the house is built of the Colonial glazed brick, and it was the residence of early ministers down to Parson Chapin.
After the disuse of the glebe, Parson Norris (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 Anderson, to whose tomb we have referred, who died in 1718, having been for 26 years minister of this parish. He preceded the first mentioned by Bishop Meade, that godly man, Rev. Peter Fontaine, who served the parish faithfully for forty years and died in 1755. He was followed in 1758 by Rev.
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William Davis; in 1776 Rev. James Ogilbie; in 1786 Rev. John Dunbar, the fighting parson, who married a daughter of the House of Byrd, and of whose wild doings there is many a sinister tale. He is various- ly reported to have fought a duel behind Westover and old Mapsco church, and is said to have vainly tried to stir up strife between the cousins Benjamin Harrison, of Berkeley and Brandon, making the offer, which was declined, to the bearer of a challenge from one to the other. Next came, 1793 or earlier, Rev. Sewell Chapin, last occupant of the glebe. Parson Chapin baptized John Tyler, tenth President of the United States, who was born at Greenway, Charles City county, in 1790. An oil painting of old Parson Chapin hung in the Tyler home- stead, "Sherwood Forest," until it was taken during the war to Richmond, with other portraits, for protection, and burned there the day of evacuation. Mr. Chapin died at "Weyanoke," the residence of F. Lewis, and was buried in the aisle and under the present chancel of Westover church.
Now follows the period that the "Churches mouldered away," in which time, tradition tells of Parsons Black and Blagrove.
In 1833 Rev. Charles Farley acted as missionary in Charles City, Chesterfield and King William. In the same year, 1833, Rev. A. Norris took charge of the parish, followed in 1835 by Rev. William Thomas Leavell, and in 1853, Rev. N. K. Okeson. In 1856 Dr. Ander- son Wade followed, and was for upwards of twenty years beloved rector of the parish. In 1880 came the Rev. W. B. Everett, and in 1886 Rev. K. S. Nelson. In 1888 the Rev. J. Poyntz Tyler followed, and in his day there was a distinct increase of interest and enthu- siasm in the parish. He was succeeded in 1891 by Rev. John C. Cor- nick, who is still the faithful rector of the parish.
Among the early vestrymen of the parish we hear the names: "Lightfoots, Minges, Byrds, Carters, Harrisons, Tylers, Christians, Seldons, Nelsons, Lewises, Douthats and Willcoxes," many of the same being on the Vestry Books of to-day. The present vestry-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."
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During the last twenty years a third church has been added to the. parish-Grace chapel, Granville, in Shirley neighborhood. The Shirley mansion, standing on the original "West and Shirley Hundred," is one of the oldest and most interesting in Virginia. Patented in 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 EASTERN SHORE CHAPEI, PRINCESS ANNE COUNTY, VA.
LYNNHAVEN PARISH, PRINCESS ANNE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
BY THE REV. C. B. BRYAN, D. D., PETERSBURG, VA.
T 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 1642, and its bounds covered the area now represented by the county of Princess Anne; but it was at that time a parish in Lower Norfolk county. Princess Anne county, with its parish of Lynnhaven, was set off from Lower Norfolk county in 1691. The bounds of this old parish remained unchanged for 253 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,
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and the undergrowth is fragrant with its green myrtle and with many rare plants, not often found in Virginia north of Lynnhaven Parish; conspicuous among these are the yellow jessamine, wreathing the fence rows in spring, and in the summer the gorgeous yellow flowers of the great lotus, or water chinquapin (wanquapin, the Indians called it), with its cone-shaped seed vessels and its hard nuts, standing in the fresh water ponds near the seashore.
On the northeast point of the Parish of Lynnhaven, at Cape Henry, our English ancestors first touched and claimed our land. And from the settlements on the northern side of James river they began at an early period to settle the southern shore opposite Old Point. In 1620 one John Wood, a shipwright, received a patent of land on Elizabeth river because of the excellent ship timber and good shores for launch- ing there. The earliest settlements on the southern shore of the bay 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 1642, is fifty-two years older than Princess Anne county, which was set off from Lower Norfolk county in 1691.
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-
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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 unflinching discipline administered by the wardens and courts of the county, that when this minister of Eliza- beth River Parish was himself found guilty of immorality, the court
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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 Sundayes Vizt Sunday next Come Senight at ye parish Church & ye Sabboath day following at ye Chappell."
It must not be imagined from these presentments that this section was notoriously immoral, although the case of the clergyman was certainly exceptional. The records of the mother country and of the Colonies north and south of Virginia show that this period was marked by a general laxity of morals. But what the records of these courts and parishes indicate is a conscientious and unflinching discharge of their duty on the part of the church wardens and county courts.
The Reverend Robert Powis died between the 2d of December, 1651, and the 21st of December, 1652, when an inventory of his estate was reported. It is most interesting to notice what this old parson died possessed of. It was as follows, and the values are given in pounds of tobacco:
Lbs. Tob.
Imprimis Seaven Milch Cowes at 3500 Itm six Calves of a yere ould apeece & ye advantage att. 1100 Itm Two Steeres of fower yeres ould apeece or thereabouts att. 0900 Itm Three steeres of two yeres ould apeece. 1050
Itm two younge Sowes & and one barrowe shott at 0200
Itm two Barrowes & two Sowes at 0800
Itm: one feather bedd, one boulster, & one ould blankett 0400
Itm two paire of 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
.
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Itm Six pewter dishes, one pewter salt, one pewter Candlesticke one drinkinge Cupp, one dram cupp, one hatchett, one hammer all att 0070
Itm Six barrells of Corne 0480
Itm one boate, fower oares, & two skulls 0600
Itm one pestle, one brasse kettle & five ould trayes 0080
10700
five bills amountinge to ye Some of. 320
Received of Coll: Yeardley with Caske 600
920
Totall some is
11620 1 tob
Leift Keelinge
Henery Snayle
Appraisers
Owen Hayes
their markes :/"
John Martin
What light an inventory like this throws upon the life of the country parson in Virginia in the early Colonial period! After the death of Parson Powis, there appears to have been no minister in Lower Nor- folk county until December, 1654, when the grand jury made presentment of "the general breach of the Sabbath throughout the whole county, which we conceive is most chiefly occasioned through want of a godly 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
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a thousand pounds of tobacco for dieting the minister for half a year.
During the latter half of the seventeenth century several accusations of witchcraft were made against unfortunate persons in Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne county. In May, 1655, at a court held at the house of Mr. Edward Hill, in Lynnhaven, commissioners were appointed to investigate "divers dangerous and scandalous speeches raised by some persons conserning several women in this county, terming them to be witches, whereby their reputations have been much impaired and their lives brought in question." The result of this investigation we do not know. Later, in 1675, Captain William Carver, who afterwards lost his life in Bacon's Rebellion, gave information "against Ione 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 ignorant people, as the pitiful inventory of their goods plainly shows. But in spite of her pleasant name, Grace got the reputation of being a witch. In 1698 one of her neighbors said she had bewitched their cotton; another said she had come into her at night and rid her, and went out of the keyhole or crack of the door like a black cat; and on these accusations poor Grace was brought before the justices of the county, which cost her heavily, not only in reputation and distress of mind, but in heavy expenses. The family became poorer than ever. Seven years passed, during which James Sherwood died, and Grace became a widow. And now she was again accused by one Luke Hill, and again brought into court; and after suffering the law's delay, her house and every suspicious place about it was ordered to be searched carefully for all images and such like things, which might in any way strengthen the suspicion. And
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further, "a jury of Anciente and knowing women" was summoned to search Grace herself bodily for suspicious indications, and their find- ings were not favorable to Grace. This time she narrowly escaped ducking, the weather being bad. The case and the evidence was laid before the Council Board of the Colony; but Mr. Attorney General said the charges were too vague; and the matter was referred back to the county. After more delay and costs, Grace was ordered to be tried in the water. Now, the approved way of trying a witch in the water re- quired that she should be "stripped naked and cross bound, the right thumb to the left toe, and the left thumb to the right toe," and so cast into deep waters. Whether these requirements were complied with in Grace's case we do not know.
The spot on Lynnhaven river whither she was carried, and where she was bound and put in above man's depth, that they might "try her how she swims," is 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 general, and indeed most of the men of learning in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches 'as mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it, and I willingly take the op- portunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent comple- ment which so many that believe the Bible pay to those who do not believe it." The last trial for witchcraft in New England was in 1692.
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