USA > Virginia > Colonial churches; a series of sketches of churches in the original colony of Virginia, with pictures of each church > Part 6
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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
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Rector, while in the overhanging galleries in the transepts and along the side walls of the church sat the Speaker of the House of Burgesses and other persons of wealth and distinction, to whom the privilege of erecting these private galleries was accorded from 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, Cary, 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 kings-"We beseech Thee to hear us, Good Lord."
The old Prayer Book, which bears the inscription, "Bruton Par- ish, 1756," bears witness through erasures and marginal insertions to answered prayers. The Prayer for the President is pasted over the Prayer for King George III., while the prejudice engendered by
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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
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clergy of the Colonial period. The chancel has regained its place in the cast, 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 Cocke, Secretary of State, and re- cently the body of the Hon. Judge Edmund Pendleton has been removed from Caroline to be interred in the north aisle of the church. The pews restored in Colonial style are all to be made memorial; those in the transepts to twenty-one of the patriots of the Revolution; those in the choir to the Surveyors-General and the Presidents of the College of William and Mary, and those in the nave to the vestrymen of the parish during the Colonial period. Each pew has upon the door a bronze tablet, inscribed with the name of the person memorialized. Over the Governor's pew has been placed a silken canopy, emblazoned with the name of Governor Alexander Spotswood, and affixed to the wall is a bronze tablet inscribed with the names of the Colonial Governors who worshipped here.
The Bible given by King Edward VII. and the lectern presented by the President of the United States, are in memory of the three hun- dredth anniversary of the establishment of the English Church and English civilization in America.
Preserved and restored the old church is typical of the strong and simple architectural designs of the Colonial period, and a witness to the faith and devotion of the Nation Builders. Rising from amid the sculptured tombs of the honored dead who lie beneath the shadows of its walls, old Bruton stands, as the Bishop of Southern Virginia has said, "The noblest monument of religion in America."
"A link among the days to knit
The generations each to each."
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, ELIZABETH RIVER PARISH, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.
BY THE BISHOP-COADJUTOR OF SOUTHERN VIRGINIA.
T HE 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 1637 there were two well- organized churches, one in the lower part of the county, on Lynnhaven Bay, and the other at "McSewell's Point." This served as the parish church until late in the seventeenth century. Before 1638, however, the settlement at Elizabeth River, the site of the present town of Nor- folk, had so largely increased that the inhabitants found it difficult to attend the parish church, a distance of eight miles. As seen by the following order this inconvenience was sought to be remedied by the erection of a chapel of ease at Elizabeth River:
(From Record of Norfolk County.)
"At a Court holden in the Lower County of New Norfolke 21 of November 1638.
"Capt. Adam Thorowgood, Esq., Capt. John Sibsey, Mr. Willie Julian, Mr. Edward Windha, Mr. Francis Mason, Mr. Henry Seawell.
"Whereas there hath beene an order of Court granted by the Gov- ernor and Counsell for the Building and erecting of a Church in the
upper of this County 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
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and the work to fall into 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 faithful in his ministry in those difficult days of early civilization, though he seems to have been an inexperienced financier, In judging such men from the scanty records which are left, we ought to be careful to weigh our judgments by the standards of their day and generation, and to remember that of them it may be especially said:
"The evil men do lives after them.
The good is oft interred with their bones."
After the death of John Wilson steps were taken to secure another minister, and also to finish the long-needed "Chappell of Ease," as seen in the following order. It will be observed with what seeming recklessness, as in all contemporary records, capitals were used, God being spelt with a little g, and inhabitants with a big I:
"At a Courte houlden att Wm. Shipps the 25th day of May, 1640.
Captain Thomas Willoughbie, Esq., Capt. Jno. Sibsey, Lleftent ffians Mason, Mr. Hennie Sewell, McWm. Julian.
"Whereas the Inhabitants of this Parishe beinge this day convented for the 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. Sewell's Pointe, who to certifie their zeale and willingness to pmote god's service do hereby pmise (and the Court now sittinge doth likewise order and es-
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, NORFOLK, VA.
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tablish the same) to pay one hundreth pounds sterlinge 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- said 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
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ever hereafter be chossen & held at the aforesaid pishe Church: pro- vided that theire priveledge in the ministracion be a like and the charges in the * * Minister every other Sunday until the aforesaid pishe Church be equally levied upon every tithable pson and 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 certain person should make amends for scandalous conduct by sitting upon a stool at the head of the aisle for two successive Sundays.
There is every indication that this first church was on the site of the present St. Paul's, as the place was a cemetery long before the erection of the later building in 1739. For nearly a century it served as the church house to the citizens of the earlier Norfolk. 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 1637, 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 known. Mr. Wern is the last minister of whom we have the record in the seventeenth century. In 1682 Captain Samuel Boush gave a chalice to the church in Norfolk.
We know but little of the history of St. Paul's in the beginning of the eighteenth century. The first minister mentioned is the Rev. James Falconer in 1722. How long he had been in charge we do not know. He was succeeded in 1724 by the Rev. Mr. Garzia, who came with very high recommendations to the Governor of the Colony, and who is always highly spoken of. The Rev. Moses Robertson was rec- tor in 1734.
In 1739 the present church was erected. The church which pre-
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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, when the parish was divided. Mr. Smith seems to have been a man of piety and good character. On the division of the parish he took charge of Ports- mouth, and died as rector there 11th January, 1773, after a faithful and godly ministry of thirty years. In 1761 the parish was divided into Norfolk, St. Bride's (Berkeley) and Portsmouth. The first minis- ter after the division whose name has been preserved was the Rev. Thomas Davis-1773 to 1776. At the breaking out of the war he was one of the most ardent patriots, president of the Sons of Liberty. Despite the statement of the historians, a careful study of the records will show that the large majority of the clergymen in charge of the Episcopal churches in Virginia at the breaking out of the war were true to the American cause, and that a bare handful were loyalists. The contrary is one of the flagrant mistakes of history which the facts contradict.
With the opening of the year 1776 there came sad days to St. Paul's. The bombardment of the town by the fleet of Lord Dunmore, and the firing of the homes left the place in ruins. St. Paul's did not escape. The interior was burned out, but the walls, built strong and true, re- mained intact save for the scar of a ball from the frigate Liverpool, which can be seen to-day cemented in the indenture it made. With the church were lost the ancient records and many things that linked it with the past. The church was partially restored after the disaster to the town, and the Rev. Walker Maury was minister from 1786 to 1788. He was of the French Huguenot stock, connected with the Fon-
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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 cor- 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 rart of 1838 the Rev. Joseph P. Wilmer, afterwards Bishop of Louisi- ana, served as rector. After difficulty in securing a rector, the Rev. Benjamin W. Miller, of the Eastern Shore, came to St. Paul's, and until 1849 did faithful service. His ministry made a good impression and the church strengthened. The Rev. Leonidas T. Smith was in tem- porary charge in 1845, when the Rev. David Caldwell came. He was a man of fine intellect, of gentle nature, strong as a preacher and loving as a pastor. His health, however, was feeble, and he left the congre- gation who loved him so well, to seek health in a more Southern cli- mate. 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-
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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 PORTSMOUTH, Oct. 29, 1863.
To the Wardens of St. Paul's 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
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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.
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