Colonial churches; a series of sketches of churches in the original colony of Virginia, with pictures of each church, Part 7

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Richmond, Va., Southern churchman co.
Number of Pages: 404


USA > Virginia > Colonial churches; a series of sketches of churches in the original colony of Virginia, with pictures of each church > Part 7


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By order of Brevet Major-Gen. A. A. Torbert.


JOHN L. WARDEN, JR., Asst. Adj .- Gen.


When the war was over, the minister and congregation bent their energies to the work of restoration and repair. Money had to be raised to make the church habitable, and money in such a community was scarce; but love for the old church and devotion to the Lord accom- plished much, and a few years saw the parish prosperous as it had never been before. Dr. Okeson resolved to make the churchyard, which comprises nearly two acres, equal to the fairest he had seen in the mother country. The grand old elms and willows were there al- ready; but it is to his skill and labor that we owe the wealth of ever- green, the preservation of the monuments, whose scars he taught the kindly ivy to hide, and the flowers and shrubbery which make St. Paul's churchyard so fair and restful a place. There, when his work was finished, he was laid to rest, by special consent of the city au- thorities, among the dead whose graves he had saved from desecra- tion, and under the shadow of the wall which echoed to his faithful preaching of the gospel of Christ.


In December, 1882, the Rev. Beverley Dandridge Tucker succeeded Dr. Okeson, coming from Lunenburg and North Farnham parishes, Virginia. The devotion and zeal of the congregation has enabled him to carry on the work so faithfully done by the godly man who pre- ceded. The election of Dr. Tucker as Bishop-Coadjutor of Southern Virginia terminates a ministry of twenty-four years.


The interior of the church, which had been much changed, was re- stored in 1892, and the detached tower built in 1901. The church has the beginning of an endowment, and is well equipped to continue its work for the cure of souls, and to the glory of God.


The following notes may be of interest in connection with this sketch of old St. Paul's:


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Rev. M. E. Willig was the Federal chaplain whilst the church was in the possession of the military authorities. Rev. Dr. Okeson, of St. Paul's, acted through that period as rector of Christ church, Norfolk, ministering to the people of both congregations. It is pleasing to re- cord that during the past year the Federal government, through the Court of Claims and Congress, reimbursed St. Paul's church for the losses incurred by the occupation of the edifice by the military author- ities. The amount refunded was $3,600.


JOHN HANCOCK'S CHAIR.


A highly interesting relic at St. Paul's is the chair in which John Hancock sat when he signed the Declaration of American Indepen- dence. It is a mahogany arm-chair, upholstered in leather, and upon it is a silver plate bearing the following inscription:


"This chair was occupied by John Hancock when he signed the Dec- laration of Independence. It was bought by Colonel Thomas M. Bay- ly, of Accomac county, Va. At his death it became the property of his daughter Ann, who subsequently intermarried with the Rev. Ben- jamin M. Miller, once rector of St. Paul's church, Norfolk, Va., who presented it to the parish."


Comparatively few people know that this chair is in St. Paul's. It is in the vestry room, and to those who have their attention attracted to it, it appeals with great interest.


THE MARBLE FONT.


The marble font in the church is a copy of one given by "King" Carter to Christ church in Lancaster county, Va., in 1734. The bowl is upheld by three cherubs. The font was carved by a Danish artist in New York, and was presented to the church by the late Mrs. Sarah F. Pegram, who also gave the Holy Table, which is a copy of one in Yorkshire, England, of the date of 1680. The table is of English oak.


VESTRYMEN OF THE PARISH.


The following is a list of the vestrymen of St. Paul's church, Eliza- beth River parish, at certain crucial periods of its history-the building of the present church, the reorganization in 1832 and in 1865, and the improvements in 1892:


1749-Rev. Charles Smith, Col. George Newton, Col. William Craf- ford, Col. Samuel Boush, Capt. William Hodges, Capt. Willis Wilson,


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Warden, Capt. John Phipp, Warden, Mr. Charles Sweny, Capt. James Joy, Mr. Samuel Boush.


1832-William H. Thompson, Treasurer, Richard B. Maury, Secre- tary, George Rowland, Alpheus Forbes, Alexander Galt.


1865-Rev. N. A. Okeson, William W. Lamb, William H. Smith, Dr. Robert B. Tunstall, William T. Harrison, Alfred L. Seabury, Richard H. Baker, Jr.


1892-Rev. Beverley D. Tucker, Richard H. Baker, Warden, James Y. Leigh, Warden, Caldwell Hardy, Registrar, Walter F. Irvine, Treas- urer, B. Atkinson Marsden, Capt. Robert B. Pegram, Richard B. Tun- stall, Adam Tredwell, Dr. Herbert M. Nash.


THE OLD CANNON BALL.


One of the most interesting features of the church is the cannon ball fired by Lord Dunmore, the last Colonial Governor of Virginia, during his bombardment of Norfolk in 1776. The ball, after striking the church, fell to the ground beneath, and was covered up there for many years, remaining buried in the earth till 1848. The Daily South- ern Argus, a newspaper published in Norfolk, gave, in its issue of Saturday, May 13, 1848, an account of "the recent finding" of the ball in the earth beneath the indenture which it had made in the wall of the church where it first struck. This account says the ball was found about two feet below the surface of the ground immediately under the indenture in the wall. The ball was replaced in the inden- ture and there cemented, where it now attracts much attention and interest from tourists, thousands of whom visit the church every year-being located on the south side of the church, just at the corner, near Church street. It is marked by a plate on which is the inscrip- tion:


Fired By Lord Dunmore, Jan. 1. 1776.


This plate was placed there in 1901 by Great Bridge Chapter, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. The bombardment above referred to occurred between three and four o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, January 1, 1776, the first gun being fired by the warship "Liverpool." The ball which struck the church is reputed to have been fired by the "Liverpool."


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MEMORIAL WINDOWS.


In the church are four beautiful windows, two in the rear of the chancel and two on the north side of the nave. Those back of the chancel are inscribed as follows:


"To the glory of God and to the memory of the Reverend William Myers Jackson. Born Oct. 19th, 1809. Died Oct. 3d, 1855. (On this window is a representation of St. John on Patmos receiving the revela- tion from an angel.)


"To the glory of God and to the memory of the Reverend Nicholas Albertson Okeson. Born Nov. 5th, 1819. Died Sept. 16th, 1882. (On this window is a representation of St. Paul on Mars Hill.)


THE OLD TOMBS.


At St. Paul's is a book containing the record of inscriptions on the tombstones in the yard of the church. This book was gotten up by the Bishop Randolph Chapter, Daughters of the King, 1902. It is in- dexed and is very handy. It shows that there are 265 tombs in the churchyard. Many others have disappeared.


The oldest tomb in the churchyard is on the south side of the church, and bears the following inscription: "Here lies the body of Dorothy Farrell who deceased the 18th of January 1673."


Another of the older and most striking tombs is inscribed as fol- lows: "Here Lyeth The Body of John Taylor Merchant in Norfolk. Born In The Parish of Fintrie In The County Of Stirling In 1694. And Died On The 25th Of October 1744 In The 51st Year Of His Age." Coat of Arms cut with motto, "Fide et Fiducia." This inscription was restored by his great-great-grandson, F. S. Taylor, of Norfolk, · in 1892.


The latest tomb in the churchyard is inscribed as follows: "Nicholas Albertson Okeson. Born Nov. 1819. Died Sept. 16, 1882. An earnest and zealous minister of the Gospel of Christ and for 26 years the faithful and beloved Rector of this church. 'They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.'-2d Tim. 1: 13."


On the urn at the foot of Rev. Dr. Okeson's grave is the following inscription: "Affection's Offering From The Children's Aid Society of St. Paul's Church to the memory of their late beloved pastor Rev. N. A. Okeson, D. D."


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In the churchyard is an old tombstone that does not mark a grave. It is inscribed as follows:


Coat of arms. "Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, the wife of the Honorable Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., who departed this life the second day of November One Thousand Six Hundred and Ninety-One, in the Sixty-Second year of her age." This tomb was brought from King's Creek, James River, at request of Rev. N. A. Okeson, D. D. Elizabeth Bacon was the wife of Col. Nathaniel Bacon. He was President of the Virginia Council and a cousin of young Nathaniel Bacon, the patriot of 1675. She was a daughter of Richard Kingswell, gent, and was married first to Capt. William Taylor, also member of Virginia Council.


SOME OLD RECORDS.


The following are some interesting entries in the old vestry book of 1749:


1751-Received into the vestry, of Capt. Geo. Whitwell, commander of his Majesty's ship Triton, a silver plate as a compliment for his wife, Mary Whitwell, being interred in this church.


Ordered Mr. Matt. Godfrey, Mr. William Nash, Capt. Trimigan Tatem, and Mr. William Ashley shall have leave and are hereby em- powered to build a gallery in the church in Norfolk Town reaching from the Pulpit to the School Boys Gallery equally between them and their heirs forever to have and to hold.


OLD BLANDFORD CHURCH, PETERSBURG, VA.


BLANDFORD CHURCH, BRISTOL PARISH, VIRGINIA.


(" THE BRICK CHURCH ON WELLS'S HILL.")


BY CHURCHILL GIBSON CHAMBERLAYNE, PH. D.


T HE General Assembly of Virginia at the session of March, 1642- '43, enacted that "for the conveniency of the inhabitants on both sides of Appomattock River being farr remote from the parish church of the said plantation upon Appomattock be bounded into a parish by themselves as followeth, to begin at Causon's ffeild within the mouth of Appomattock River on the eastward side, and at Powell's Creek on the westward side of the river, and so to extend up the river to the falls on both sides, and the said parish to be called by the name of Bristol. (Hening's "Statutes at Large," Vol. I., p. 251). This was the genesis of Bristol Parish.


At the same session of the General Assembly a Church-government's Act was passed, one of whose provisions was "That there be a true & perfect register kept in a booke . . . . of all weddings, christenings & burialls and that the clerke of every parish shall present to the com- mander of every monethly court a list of all weddings, christenings & burialls within their parish the present moneth." If, in compliance with this enactment, Bristol Parish did from the beginning possess such a "booke," it must have disappeared a long time ago; absolutely no trace of it remains to-day. With it, and the companion Vestry Book- if any such ever existed-were lost the records of the first seventy-sev- en years of the parish's history. But for the period beginning with the year 1720 and coming down to the present time the contemporary sources for a history of the parish are ample. To these original sourc- es, and to one or two works, like Slaughter's "History of Bristol Parish" and Bishop Meade's "Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Vir- ginia," based in part upon them, reference will be made from time to time during the course of this article.


In the year 1720 Bristol Parish contained about a thousand square miles. It lay along the Appomattox river on both sides, extending westward forty miles from the junction of the Appomattox with the James. There were 848 tithables in the parish, and two places of wor-


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ship, a church and a chapel. (See Perry's "Papers Relating to the His- tory of the Church in Virginia, A. D. 1650-1776," pp. 266-268. Queries of the Lord Bishop of London, answered by George Robertson, Minister of Bristol Parish; also "The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720-1789," pp. 3-4.)


In regard to the situation of the Church, there has been some di- versity of opinion. Bishop Meade says ("Old Churches," etc., Vol. I., p. 439) : "Within the bounds of this parish," i. e., Bristol, "was the old settlement of Sir Thomas Dale, in 1611, called Bermuda Hundred, at the junction of James River and Appomattox. Settlements were from time to time, formed along the river up to the Falls, where is now the town of Petersburg. The mother or parish church was at Bermuda Hundred, opposite to City Point, and it was desirable to organize a parish and pro- vide for those who were settling higher up the Appomattox or Bristol River. That the mother church was at this place is evident from an early entry in the vestry book, where, for the first and only time, the mother church is mentioned; and there in connection with the ferry at the Point (City Point) which is directed to be kept in good order for per- sons, on Sunday, going over to the 'mother-church' called, in the Act of Assembly, the Parish Church."


According to Bishop Meade, then, the mother church of Bristol Parish was at Bermuda Hundred. Was this the case? Let us examine first his own testimony. That examination discovers errors of fact in his account. Bermuda Hundred was never within the bounds of Bristol Parish. The parish church referred to in the Act of Assembly was not the "mother church" of which occasional mention is made in the Bristol Parish Vestry Book dating from 1720. At the time that Act was passed (i. e., March, 1642-'43), Bristol Parish was not in existence, and the parish church therein referred to was of course the church of that older parish of which the territory on Appomattox river, to be cut off and made into the new parish of Bristol, was the outlying portion. Whether the parish church mentioned in the Act of Assembly of 1642-'43 was situated at Bermuda Hundred or not is a matter which does not concern us. That it was not the "mother-church" of Bristol Parish referred to in the vestry book, is certain. In his endeavor to confirm his argument by an appeal to the vestry book Bishop Meade falls into numerous errors. The mother church is mentioned in the Vestry Book not once only, but several times, though not always, under that name-never, however, in connection with the ferry at City Point, "which is direct- ed to be kept in good order."


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The following entry in the Vestry Book (printed volume, page 59, manuscript volume p. 42), under date of October 21st, 1731, is the one to which Bishop Meade refers: "Order'd that a Ferry be Keept at the Point and that it be attended when the sermon is at the Mother Church and that the Min'r pass when he hath Occation." It is to be noted that this entry was made eighty-eight years after the establishment of Bristol Parish, and eleven years after the first entry in the book, that there is nothing said in it about the Ferry being kept in good order; but merely that a Ferry be kept-proof positive that at this place no ferry had previously been operated-and that the place itself is referred to as the Point simply, not as City Point. Bishop Meade's theory in regard to the location of the mother church of Bristol Parish is untenable.


Where, then, was the Mother Church situated? First, let the records speak for themselves. In the Vestry Book under date of November 10th, 1726, there is the following entry: "It is ord'red that henry tatam be Clerk for the ferry Church and Chapell and y't he be Allow'd two thousand pounds of tob'co by the parrish P'r annum." Again under date of November 16th, 1727, the following: "To henry tatam Clerk of the Mother Church and ferry Chapple." These two entries taken in connection with the following, under date of October 21st, 1731: "Ordi- er'd that a Ferry be Keept at the Point and that it be attended when the sermon is at the Mother Church and that the Min'r pass when he hath Occation," make so much at least plain, that the Mother Church and the Ferry Chapel were on opposite sides of the river, and that the two places of worship were not so far apart as to prevent one man's acting in the capacity of clerk at both of them.


The question now is, Where was "the Point" where, in the year 1731, a ferry was ordered to be kept? That it was not at the place now known as City Point has been already shown. There must have been ferries at City Point as far back as a hundred years before 1731, and we know from the Vestry Book that as early as 1720 there was a ferry still higher up the river, at Conjurer's Neck, between City Point and the falls, kept by Mrs. Elizabeth Kennon. With every year the population moved farther and farther toward the west, and keeping pace with the movement in the population, ferries were continually being established higher and higher up the rivers. Everything, then, tends to confirm the- supposition that "the Point" referred to in the minutes of the vestry meeting held Oct. 21, 1731, was Peter's Point, afterwards Petersburg, at the falls


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of the Appomattox. If any doubt remained as to its truth, it would seem to be set at rest by the following independent witness, taken from Col. Wm. Byrd's diary of his "Journey to the Land of Eden," in the year 1733: "When we got home, we laid the foundation of two large Citys. One at Shaco's, to be called Richmond, and the other at the point of Appomattuck River, to be nam'd Petersburg." ("The Writings of 'Col. William Byrd, of Westover in Virginia, Esqr.' Edited by John Spencer Bassett, New York, 1901.)


The records, finally, do not leave one in doubt as to which church was on the north, and which on the south side of the river. By act of the Assembly, Bristol Parish lost, in the year 1735, all that part of its territory lying north of the Appomattox. After that year the Vestry Book makes no further mention of the mother church, while references to the Ferry Chapel are as frequent as ever. A thorough knowledge of the existing records, then, tends to confirm Dr. Slaughter's opinion, held in opposition to Bishop Meade, that the indications that point to old "Wood's Church," five miles from Petersburg, in Chesterfiedd county, built in 1707, as the mother church referred to in the Vestry Book of Bristol Parish.


The site of the Chapel, or Ferry Chaple, as it is frequently called in the Vestry Book, has never been a matter of serious investigation. Bishop Meade erroneously supposed that it "stood near the falls, and not far from the old Blandford church, which took its place in the year 1737 or 1738." (Bishop Meade's "Old Churches," etc., Vol. I., p. 439). But, as has been shown, the ferry at "the Point," that is at what is now Petersburg, was not established until 1731, while the Ferry Chapel was being used as a place of worship in 1720, and doubtless it had been in existence for some time when the first en- tries in the Vestry Book were written. The ferry from which the Chapel took its name, and hence at, or near which it was situated, was without the least shadow of a doubt that kept by Mrs. Elizabeth Kennon, who lived at Conjurer's Neck (the Brick House) in what was then Henrico, now Chesterfield, county, on the Appomattox River, between City Point and the falls. The Chapel was located on the south side of the river in Prince George County.


During the fourteen years between 1720 and 1734 the number of tithables in Bristol Parish more than doubled. In the latter year there were returned 2084. The places of worship too had increased from two to five. Besides the mother church and the Ferry


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Chapel there were now chapels on Namozine, Sapponey, and Flat Creeks, all south of the Appomattox.


Some time during the session of 1734 the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act creating the parish of Raleigh, and another creating the parish of Dale. The former act was to go into effect on March 25th, 1735, the latter, on May 31st of the same year. The creation of these new parishes very much reduced the area of Bris- tol. The number of tithables, too, which in the meantime had increas- ed to 2,305, was cut down to 1,349. Of the five places of worship for- merly in the parish only two were left, the Ferry Chapel, and the chapel on Sapponey Creek, both frame buildings, the former being in a half-ruinous condition.


The passage of the acts in regard to Raleigh and Dale parishes placed the vestry of Bristol in an embarrassing situation. Before that time, namely, at a vestry meeting held March 11th, 1733, it was "Ordred that a new Church be built of Brick on Wellses Hill for the Conveniency of this Parish Sixty foot long and twenty-five foot Wide in the Clear Eighteen foot Pitch with Compass Sealing and Compass windows the Isle Eight foot wide Laid with portland stone or Bristol marble Sash Glass Covered first with Inch Plank Ciphir'd and a Coat of hart Cipruss or pine Shingles 3/4 of an inch thick at the lower End nailed on foalding Shuttors of windscut for the windows"


In November of the next year (i. e., 1734,) in spite of the fact that in the meantime the creation of the two new parishes had been determined upon by the General Assembly, it was ordered "that Colo Robert Bolling, Capt William Stark and Majr William Poyth- res agree with workmen for Building a new Church according to the former Order made March ye 11th 1733." At the laying of the levies for that year 25,000 pounds of tobacco was levied toward building the new church. This caused trouble, for those tithables whose affiliation with Bristol parish was to come to an end in March and May, 1735, objected to being made to contribute toward the building of a church with which they would never have any of- ficial connection. An echo of the protest they made is heard from Williamsburg. At a vestry meeting held on August 12th, 1735, it was ordered "In Obedience to the Governors order that the Church warden do desire the workmen to delay going forward with the building the Church on Well's Hill till the Governors pleasure is further known."


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Evidently the Governor's prohibition was soon removed, for at the next vestry meeting, held at the Ferry Chapel September 15th, 1735, it was ordered "That the Church wardens pay the remaining part of the Parish Money in their hands to Colo Thomas Ravens- croft upon his giving bond to compleat the Church upon Well's Hill pursuant to agreemt made May 4th 1735 Between himself and members of this Vestry appointed for that purpose." The agree- ment referred to in this order appears in the Vestry Book, pages 72 & 73, as follows:


"Order'd that a Church be built of Brick on Wellses Hill to be 60 foot by 25 foot in the Clear and 15 foot to the spring of the Arch from the floor which is to be at least 18 Inches above the highest part of the ground 3 Bricks thick to the water table and 212 after wards to the plate, the roof to be fram'd according to a Scheme now before us, the Isle to be 6 foot wide Lay'd with white Bristol Stone, galerey at the west end as long as the peer will admitt a window in the same as big as the pitch will admit. 7 windows in the body of the Church of Suitable dimensions glaz'd with sash glass the floors to be well lay'd with good Inch & 1/4 plank the Pews to be fram'd the fronts rais'd pannil & 14 round with a decent pulpit and type a decent rail and Ballistor round the altar place and a table suitable thereto as usual, the roof to be first cover'd with plank and shingled on that with good Cypress Hart Shingles Cor- nice Eves large board eves and Suitable doors as usual the whole to be done strong and workmanlike in the best plain manner to be finished by the last of July 1737. Stone Steps to each door Suitable.


Colo Thomas Ravenscroft has agreed to build the above Church for £485 Curr't Money to be paid at three Several payments."


Col. Ravenscroft must have kept his agreement to the letter for it appears from the parish records that a meeting of the Vestry took place at the "Brick Church on Well's Hill" August 13th, 1737. This is the building locally known to-day as Old Blandford Church.


Upon the completion of the new church, the Ferry Chapel was abandoned. No further reference to it is to be found in the Vestry Book. The parish still had but two places of worship, the Brick Church on Well's Hill, and Sapponey Chapel. But the number of tith- ables in the parish continuing to increase, it was found necessary to put up too more chapels, the one, for the convenience of the in-


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habitants in the lower part of the parish, on Jones' Hole Creek, the other on Hatcher's Run.


In the meanwhile, during the year 1739, or early in 1740, the Rev. George Robertson, who had been minister of the parish since 1694, died, and the Vestry proceeded to take steps to secure another minister. Their first choice was an unfortunate one, as the records sufficiently show. We will let them speak for themselves.


"At a Vestry held at the Brick Church on Wells's Hill May 26th, 1740. Present. Colo Robert Bolling, Capt Wm. Stark, Capt Peter Jones, Mr. John Banister, Majr Wm. Poythress, Capt Willm Hamlin, Mr. Theo. Feild, Mr Theok Bland, Capt Charles Fisher.




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