Colonial churches; a series of sketches of churches in the original colony of Virginia, with pictures of each church, Part 9

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 9


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"On the 10th of May, 1785, the Rev. John Buchanan was unani- mously chosen by ballot incumbent for the parish. He was to preach every other Sunday at 'Richmond church,' and on the intervening Sunday at Curle's and Deep Run, alternately."


On the 15th of June, 1785, the first convention of the reorganized


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Diocese of Virginia was held in Richmond. The business sessions were probably held in the Capitol, but the convention attended divine ser- vice in "the church in this city" by resolution of the convention. "It was a correspondence between the Rev. David Griffith and Rev. John Buchanan, the rector of this parish, that led to the resuscitation of the Church in Virginia."


Mr. Buchanan was prominent in this first convention of the Diocese. He was elected Treasurer of the Diocese, and faithfully served as such for nearly thirty years.


Edmund Randolph was lay delegate of this parish. He was on a committee "to prepare an address to the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, representing the condition of the Church, and exhorting them to unite in its support."


Mr. Randolph also reported for a committee, declaring the willing- ness of the Virginia Convention "to unite in a general ecclesiastical convention with the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church."


Edmund Randolph was afterwards Governor of Virginia, and Attor- ney-General and Secretary of State in Washington's Cabinet.


Mr. Buchanan's rectorship extended from 1785 to 1822. The most fraternal relations existed between him and the Presbyterian minister, Rev. John D. Blair. For a time there were alternating services with the Presbyterians in the church. In 1790 the vestry gave permission to any regular minister of any Christian denomination to use the coun- try churches of the parish, when not used by Rev. Mr. Buchanan, or any other minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church.


During part of Mr. Buchanan's ministry services were held in the Capitol, as being more convenient to most of the congregation; but the church was used "on Christmas, Easter and Whit Sunday, when the Holy Communion was administered and confirmations were held."


This faithful and much beloved pastor died in 1822, mourned by the whole community. He was buried beneath the chancel, to the right of the communion table.


Rev. William H. Hart, who had been Dr. Buchanan's assistant for seven years, was rector for the next six years. Under his ministry the church prospered. Bishop Moore speaks of preaching in the church to large congregations, and of "the present prosperous state of the church."


Rev. William F. Lee was the next rector. To him we probably owe the name "St. John's Church." The building had had many names-


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"The New Church," "The Upper Church," "The Richmond Church," "The Town Church," "The Church on Richmond Hill," "Henrico Church on Richmond Hill," "The Church," "The Old Church," etc. The following entry is found in the vestry-book shortly after Mr. Lee became rector: "At a meeting of the vestry of Henrico Parish, at the lecture-room of St. John's Church, Richmond, Saturday evening, April 25th, 1829,", etc.


In the convention journal of that year this church is entered as St. John's Church, Richmond, Henrico Parish.


In 1830 the church was enlarged by an addition to the nave. The tower was probably built a few years later. The church passed through many vicissitudes during the next forty-five years, under the rectorship of the Revs. Edward W. Peet, 1830; Robert B. Croes, 1833; William H. Hart, 1836; J. H. Morrison, 1843; Henry S. Kepler, 1848; J. T. Points, 1859; William C. Butler, 1860; William Norwood, 1862; Henry Wall, 1868. In 1875 Rev. Alex. W. Weddell became rector. During his min- istry the church was repaired and made more comfortable. By his untiring energy and zeal, large numbers were added to the com- munion, and the church again took rank with the first in the Diocese.


Rev. L. W. Burton, now Bishop of Lexington, succeeded Dr. Weddell as rector in 1884. The church continued to prosper, and its member- ship was largely increased during his earnest and faithful rectorship of nine years. During his ministry Weddell chapel and the Chapel of the Good Shepherd were built.


Dr. Burton was succeeded in 1893 by the present rector.


The old mother church, including Weddell chapel, has the largest communicant list in the Diocese. St. John's is the successor of Curle's church, and that church succeeded the church of Whittaker at Hen- ricopolis.


The bowl of the baptismal font of St. John's is a precious relic from Curle's church. It was found in 1826 in the cellar of a house some miles from the church. It had been used as a mortar for beating hominy. Being much mutilated, it was reduced in diameter, but the original shape was preserved. Dr. John Adams presented it to the church.


In 1905 a commodious chancel, organ chamber, vestry-room and other improvements were built on the south side of the old part of church. The church is now cruciform, and points directly to the four points of the compass. Standing in the middle of the old graveyard, shaded by magnificent trees, surrounded by the busy city, the old church


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stands as a connecting link with the earliest civil and ecclesiastical history of our Commonwealth and nation; and as a witness to what the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church have done for the upbuilding of this people in liberty, brotherly love and "the faith once delivered to the saints."


The Bishop of Southern Virginia, in an address delivered in St. John's church on its 150th anniversary, June 10th, 1891, states this very remarkable fact: Speaking of Richard Randolph, who superintended the building of St. John's church in 1741, and Edmund Randolph, who represented the church in the first convention of the Diocese, both of them vestrymen, he says: "These men were great grandsons of one of the earliest members of your parish. A simple, strong, true man he must have been; out of his loins sprang three great men. He was the ancestor of Chief Justice Marshall, the greatest jurist of America. He was the ancestor of Thomas Jefferson, the greatest po- litical thinker of America. He was the ancestor of Robert E. Lee, the greatest soldier of America."


The ancestor of these three men lived in this parish, on the river, just below Richmond.


The writer of this sketch gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Rt. Rev. L. W. Burton, D. D., for much of the information contained therein.


CHRIST CHURCH, LANCASTER COUNTY, VA.


CHRIST CHURCH, LANCASTER COUNTY, VIRGINIA.


BY WILLIAM G. STANARD, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.


T HE most perfect example of Colonial church architecture now remaining in Virginia is Christ church, Lancaster county. It is now, with the exception of some minor details, almost as it came from the hands of its builders in 1732. Every other church in the State has suffered more or less alteration. Even beauti- ful old Bruton is just being restored, after a long interval, to what Christ church is now and always has been.


While Christ church has never been out of the possession of those of the faith of the founders of the parish, the congregation was for a number of years so small that only occasional services were held in it. During an era of bad taste, and a lack of intelligent interest in the past, when more crowded churches were altered, ruthlessly sometimes, to meet the supposed needs of the worshippers, there was not only no call for any alteration in this venerable building, but, owing to econo- mic changes and the building of other churches in the county, it was almost abandoned.


We know but little of the civil or religious history of the country at the mouth of the Rappahannock before the formation of Lancaster county in 1652. By an act of Assembly in 1641 the settlement of that part of the Colony was authorized to begin during the following year, and when the county records commence in 1652, there was evidently a considerable population along the rivers and inlets thereabout.


A vestry book, beginning in 1654, was once in existence and was seen by Bishop Meade, but it disappeared during his life, and now its contents are only known through his brief extracts. Fortunately the county records are entire from 1652, and if carefully examined for the purpose, would no doubt afford much more information as regards the Church history than the writer has had time to gather during visits to Lancaster county.


Before a parish was formed there was doubtless a minister of the Church of England in the community. Rev. Thos. Sax, "an unworthy


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servant of God" (as he styles himself in his will), who died in 1654, was doubtless this first minister. He was probably followed by John Gorsuch, "Proffessor in Divinity." Mr. Gorsuch, who died before April 1, 1657, was one of the many Cavaliers who fled to Virginia during the civil wars in England. He had been rector of Walkholme, Hertford- shire, and married a sister of Richard Lovelace, the poet. Through his descendants, the Todds of Gloucester county, he has had many staunch representatives in the Church.


At the formation of the county, in 1652, it included both sides of the Rappahannock river for an indefinite distance to the west, and contain- ed two parishes, known, from their location, as North Side and South Side. The court records have an entry of the selection, on April 1, 1652, of William Clapham, Jr., as sidesman, and John Taylor and Ed- mund Lum as wardens for North Side. In 1654 the county was again divided into two parishes; but in a different manner. The Lower parish contained the present Lancaster and Middlesex, and the Upper, the present Essex and Richmond.


Meade states that about this time there were four parishes in the county-Lancaster and Piankitank on the south side, and White Chapel and Christ church on the north. The history of these little parishes is vague, and no attempt need be made to go into it at all thoroughly. The genesis of the large parish from several small ones is a familiar feature of our early Church history.


The division of 1654 was made after the surrender of Virginia to Parliament. By the terms of the surrender, dated March 12, 1651-2, the use of the Prayer Book was permitted for one year longer, with the consent of the major part of the parish, provided that the portions relating to the King and the royal government should not be used publicly. It is probable that the latter provision was observed, but there is no evidence that, otherwise, the public use of the regular form of worship of the Church of England was ever abandoned. The As- sembly could not (without a conflict with the Parliamentary authori- ties) uphold the King's religion; but the same end was reached by leaving the parishes to manage their own affairs. This meant that the old faith would be retained.


The order for the division of 1654 appears in the court records as follows:


"At a court held at ye house of Mr. Da. Fox, Aug'st ye 7th 1654 for ye countye of Lancaster


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"Pres't: Major John Carter, Mr. Toby Smith, Mr. Ja. W'mson, Capt. Hen Fleete, Mr. Rich. Lees, Mr. Ja. Bagnall


Memor'd. - ye county of Lancaster is divided into two parishes, ye inhabitants being sumoned to hereto giving their votes herein, vizt: ye lower parish to begin on ye right'nd side of Moratican river & to include ye westward side to ye head thereof, & soe into ye woods E. by N. & on ye south side from ye lower marked end of ye land of Rich. Bennett, Esq'r, now in the possession of Rice Jones, & thence S. W. into ye woods, ye w'ch two places are to be the bounds between ye two parishes, ye upp & ye lower."


The men associated with the making of these early parishes were all adherents of the old Establishment, and have innumerable descend- ants still well known to the Episcopal Church. David Fox, in his will, dated and proved in 1669, gave 20 pounds sterling to the glazing and other uses of St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster, and his son, Capt. William Fox, in his will, dated 1717, directed that "My wife shall send for the Lord's Prayer & Creed well drawn in gold letters & my name under each of them, set in decent black frames," as a gift to St. Mary's White Chapel, and also left to that church "the font that came in this year." Capt. Fox's gifts still remain in old St. Mary's. A contem- porary, George Spencer, of Lancaster, by his will dated March 3, 1691, gave to St. Mary's 10,000 pounds of tobacco, 20 pounds sterling for the purchase of a piece of Communion plate, and also gave a "Cur- plice." It may be noted here that Christ church and St. Mary's were so often in the same parish, that though the history of the buildings is, of course, different, their parish history may be considered as prac- tically the same.


John Carter, whose name appears first among the members of the court, was the immigrant ancestor of that distinguished Virginia fami- ly, and the leading man in the parish at this time, while James Wil- liamson, through his descendants, the Balls, was ancestor of many people well known in the Church.


Henry Fleet (a man of note in his day) had a grandson of the same name, who left, in 1730, twenty pounds to the poor of Christ church, to be distributed by the vestry, while a descendant bearing the family sur- name, is, together with a son of the Bishop-Coadjutor of Southern Vir- ginia, a Rhodes scholar from Virginia at Oxford.


On April 1, 1657, appears among the court records an agreement of the people of Lancaster with Mr. Samuel Cole to serve as a minister,


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they to pay him 10,000 pounds of tobacco and cask for the present year. Mr. Cole died before September 28, 1659.


For a time the parishes of Lancaster seem to have had only occas- ional services from the ministers of other parishes.


On October 27, 1658, the county court ordered a payment to David Linsey, minister, on account of his pains in the performance of his duties. Mr. Lindsey, who is stated in his epitaph to have been a doctor of divinity, was minister of a Northumberland parish.


About the same time the Lancaster parishes must have been visited by Rev. William White, minister of York parish. Else how, in those times of little traveling, could he have met Martha, widow of Thomas Brice, gentleman, of Lancaster, whose will was dated April 24, 1657, and proved on May 9th following-the very same day on which was recorded a marriage contract between his widow and William White. Mr. White died shortly afterwards, and there is some reason to believe that he was a brother of Jeremiah White, Cromwell's famous chap- lain.


On April 1, 1657 (April 1st seems to have been the regular date for such elections), the county records show the choice of church wardens. for the North Side.


With the formation of the parishes in 1654 began the vestry book referred to by Bishop Meade. It would appear that though there were really but two parishes, the Upper and Lower, yet there were separate. wardens and vestries for the different sides of the river.


In 1661 the difficulty of obtaining a regular ministerial supply (a dif- ficulty doubtless aggravated by the political uncertainty of the preced- ing ten years) stirred the county court to action.


On October 23, 1661, the following order was made:


"This court, taking into consideration the great want of the ministry that hath been in this countie & conceiving it to arise from the small- ness of ye p'ishes, not able to give such a competency as may invite mynisters to officiate amongst us the Court has therefore ordered that. the Constables in each p'ishe sum'on the inhabitants unto the usuall place of meeting in each p'ishe or where there is no usuall place of meeting, unto such place as the Co'ission'rs [justices] in each p'ishe shall think meete & there being met to subscribe their resolutions con- cerning ye following queries:


"First whether they will consent until such tymes as they bee able to maintaine themselves to unite & joyne with the rest of the p'ishes of this countie as one p'ishe to maintayne a minister amongst us to


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officiate at such times & places as shall be thought fit by a general vestry chosen by them for that purpose.


"Secondlie. What three men each p'ishe choose to make up this generall vestry to act in all things w'ich Concerns this generall p'ishe. "It is further ordered that Coll. John Carter, Mr. Hen. Corbyn, Mr. David Fox & Mr. William Leich doe take the subscriptions of ye p'ishon'rs of each p'ishe & they are hereby impowered to issue out warrants to the respective constables for the Conveening of the people at such times & places as ye foure p'sons is ordered to issue out warrants to the Constables for ye sum'oning of the inhabitants before Mr. Leich.


"Several Copies hereof ordered to be sent to the p'sons aforesaid."


The constant and earnest efforts of Virginia legislatures, courts and vestries, throughout the Colonial period, to promote religion and morals, should alone be a sufficient answer to the ignorant slanderers who have tried to besmirch the character of our people at that time.


This concentration of the strength of the several weak parishes doubtless resulted in the building of better churches as well as in a more regular filling of the pulpit. There had previously been some small churches in various parts of the county; but in 1670 the first church on the present site of Christ church, of which we have any knowledge, was completed. Bishop Meade says that name. By the same authority we are told that from the begin-


it was erected under the care of John Carter, first of that ning of the vestry book of 1654 the name of John Carter appeared first in the lists, followed by the name of the minister, and that this was also the case with his sons, John and Robert. The Bishop was writing from recollection after an interval of almost twenty years, and it is possible that his memory was at fault. During the numerous meet- ings of vestry, when there was no minister present, John Carter's name no doubt appeared first because he was a member of the Council; but it does not seem likely that his name usually preceded that of the minister. Governor Nicholson once assailed Robert Carter, charging him with arrogance, &c., and if he could have had such an example as Carter's taking precedence of the minister in his own vestry, he would certainly have mentioned it.


Two tombs formerly in the old church retain their places in the present. At the side of the chancel is that of Colonel John Carter. Much discussion has arisen from the rather confused way in which his wives and children are mentioned. The epitaph is as follows:


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"Here lyeth buried ye body of John Carter, Esq., who died ye 10th of June Anno Domini 1669, and also Jane, ye daughter of Mr. Morgan Glynn, and George her son, and Eleanor Carter, and Ann ye daughter of Mr. Cleave Carter, and Sarah ye daughter of Mr. Gabriel Ludlow, and Sarah her daughter, which were all his wives successively and died before him.


"Blessed are ye dead which die in the Lord, even soe, saith the Spirit; for they rest from Their labors, and their works do follow them."


Colonel Carter was actually married five times, one of his wives surviving him.


In the centre of the church, at the intersection of the aisles, is a tomb bearing the following inscription:


"Here lyeth the body of Mr. David Miles, who died the 29th of December, 1674, in the 40th year of his age.


"Hodie mihi, cras tibi."


Rev. Benjamin Doggett, who seems to have come from Ipswich, Eng- land, was probably the first minister of any considerable length of service in the parish. He died in 1682, and in his will directed that his books be collected, packed in a "great chest," and sent to England for sale. He is believed to have been ancestor of the distinguished bishop of the name in that daughter of the Church of England-the Methodist Episcopal Church. The next clergyman who appears in the county records is the Rev. John Bertrand, a Huguenot, but a minister of the Established Church, who died in 1701. Among his descendants was Judge Cyrus Griffin, last president of the Continental Congress, and a lay delegate to Virginia Church Councils.


In a clergy list dated 1702 Rev. John Carnegie appears as incumbent of St. Mary's, without any name following that of Christ Church. Doubtless he had charge of both.


The next minister, who bore the historic name of Andrew Jackson, and who may have been of the same stock as Old Hickory or Stonewall, left, at his death in 1710, his books to Christ church parish for the use of the incumbent, and gave £10 sterling to "the meeting-house in Caple Square, Dublin."


Bishop Meade, again writing from memory, says that he made his mark in the vestry book, but if so, it must have resulted from some temporary injury, for it was certainly not the case when he signed papers in regard to secular affairs. The Bishop adds: "He was not


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episcopally ordained, and this lead to a correspondence between the vestry and one of the Governors of Virginia, at a time when an order came from England requiring all holding livings to be episcopally or- dained should be enforced in Virginia. They plead that he had been serving the parish faithfully for twenty-five years, that he was much esteemed and beloved, and had brought up a large family of children, and laid up something for them from his industrious culture of the glebe (then and now a good farm near the church)." Mr. Jackson remained minister of the parish until his death, though, as far as his will shows, he left neither wife nor children. He appears to have been an emigrant from Belfast, Ireland, and had, no doubt, been a Presby- terian minister.


His successor was Rev. John Bell, who was incumbent until his death in 1743. His inventory shows that he owned land in Lancaster and Prince William, forty-three slaves, &c.


The ministry of Rev. David Currie, who succeeded, was only termi- nated by his death in 1792. He was a faithful and useful man. Meade gives a pleasant letter from Charles Carter, of Shirley, to Mr. Currie, in which he tells him that he had put in his will a bequest of 500 acres of land for life to Mrs. Currie. No doubt a most cheering epistle for a minister in the dark days of 1790.


We have interesting mention of Christ church during Mr. Currie's pre-Revolutionary ministry in the diary of Colonel James Gordon, of Merry Point, Lancaster. Colonel Gordon was one of the leading men of the county and of fervent piety; but he was of the old type of Scotch- Irishman, and of what has been called "High-Church Presbyterianism." As Mr. Currie sometimes preached against the Presbyterian Church, it is not surprising that Colonel Gordon did not admire him. How- ever, he and the members of his family frequently attended "church," as he called it, in contradistinction to the "meet-


ing-house," as he names the place of worship of his own faith. On August 26, 1758, he writes: "At home with my wife and family, where I have much more comfort than going to church to hear the ministers ridiculing the Dissenters." And on October 7th: "Went with my wife to White Chapel church, where we heard Mr. Currie-a very indifferent discourse-nothing scarce but external modes; much against Presbyterians-so that I was much disappointed, for it was misspending the Lord's Day." At the same time Colonel Gordon was a member of the vestry.


There were two flourishing Presbyterian churches at that time in


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Lancaster, and no doubt the contrast in preaching between good Par- son Currie, who after the old fashion, probably read his sermons with (from his nationality) a Scotch accent, and Davies, Whitfield and Waddell (afterwards Wirt's famous blind orator), who officiated at the "meeting-house," was very strong.


After Mr. Currie's death the parish was for many years irregularly served. These were the dark days of the Church in Virginia. Be- tween 1792 and 1832 appear the names of Leland, Page, McNaughton and Low. Bishop Meade says the two latter were unworthy men. There is some reason to believe, however, that poor Low suffered from some mental infirmity. Born of very humble parents, he early showed great talents, and before leaving Scotland was the author of at least one song, "Mary's Dream," which was long popular in that kingdom.


In 1832 Rev. Ephraim Adams took charge of the parish and con- tinued its minister for four years. He was followed in 1839 by Rev. Francis McGuire, in 1844-1845 by Mr. Richmond, in 1850 and 1852 by Mr. Nash, and in 1853 by Rev. Edmund Withers. He was followed in succession by Revs. George May, H. L. Derby, E. B. Burwell, Mr. Micou and L. R. Combes, the present rector.


In tracing the series of ministers of the parish, the event which makes it pre-eminent among Virginia parishes-the erection of the fine church, which still stands, unaltered-has been passed over.


The church built in 1670 became too small for the congregation, and a larger one, with some change of location, was considered. Robert Carter, of Corotoman, even then known as "King Carter," offered, if the site was retained, to build one at his own expense. In his will, dated August 26, 1728, he made the following bequest:




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