USA > Virginia > Spotsylvania County > Spotsylvania County > History of St. George's parish, in the county of Spotsylvania, and diocese of Virginia > Part 2
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ADDRESS FOR THE CHURCH AT CULPEPER, VA.
ADDRESS FOR THE ORPHAN ASYLUM AT FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
"The three preceding out of print, and dates not precisely re- collected."
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL PARISH, With a tribute to the memory of the oldest Rectors, and an Appendix, containing the Epitaphs of some of its early Officers and Friends. By Rec. Philip Slaughter, the present incumbent. Svo. Richmond, Va. B. B. Minor, Publisher. 1846.
SECOND EDITION OF SAME, with Genealogies of Families con- nected therewith, and Historical Illustrations. 18mo. Ran- dolph & English, Richmond, Va. 18mo. 1879.
FUNERAL DISCOURSE ON REV. ANDREW SYME, D. D., who died, October 26th, 1845.
FAREWELL SERMON BEFORE THE CONGREGATION OF ST. PAUL'S CheRen, PETERSBURG, VA. 1846.
HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH, IN THE COUNTY OF SPOTSYLVANIA, AND DIOCESE VIRGINIA. New York. 8vo. 1847.
ADDRESS BEFORE THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. REMINIS- CESCES OF NOTABLE PERSONS AND PLACES IN EUROPE. Janu- ary 10th, 1850. Virginia Historical Register. Vol. III. p. 29., et se.
THE VIRGINIAN HISTORY OF AFRICAN COLONIZATION. First published in the Southern Literary Messenger, and reprinted from its forms. B. B. Minor, Richmond. Va. Royal, Svo. 1855.
MAN AND WOMAN; or the Law of Honor applied to the solution of the problem, "Why are so many more Women than Men Christians ?" By the Rer. Philip Slaughter, Rector of Calvary Church, Culpeper County, Virginia. With an Introduction by .1. T. Bledsoe, LL. D., of the University of Virginia [ Motto. ] " Marcellus dedicated a temple to Virtue, and near it placed another dedicated to Honor ; the temple of Virtue was the passage to the temple of Honor." Liv. i. 2. [4th edition.] Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1860.
COERCION AND CONCILIATION. A sermon preached at Manassas. 1861.
"DIVERS TRACTS FOR THE SOLDIERS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY." 1861.
TAFE OF RANDOLPH FAIRFAX. 18mo. 3rd edition. Baltimore, Md. 1862.
ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF THE EPISCOPAL SEMINARY OF THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, held on the 24th and
xix
REV. PHILIP SLAUGHTER, D. D.
25th of September, 1873-the deceased Professors of the Seminary. 8vo. Baltimore. 1873.
A HISTORY OF ST. MARK'S PARISH, CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA. With Notes on Old Churches and Old Families, and Illustra- tions of the manners and customs of the Olden Time. By Rev. Philip Slaughter, Rector of Emmanuel Church, Cul- peper County, Virginia. 18mo. [Baltimore. ] 1877.
MEMOIR OF COL. JOSHUA FRY. Sometime professor in William and Mary College, Va., and Washington's Senior in command of Virginia Forces, 1751, etc., etc. With an Autobiography of his son, Rev. Henry Fry, and a census of their Descend- ants. Svo. [ Baltimore.] 1880.
HISTORIC CHURCHES OF VIRGINIA. A Monograph, contributed to the Centennial History of the Episcopal Churches of the United States. By Right Rev. W.m. Stevens Perry, D. D. 1882.
A HUNT FOR A HAPPY MAN; AND THE MIGHTY POWER OF MOTHERS. Translated, or rather paraphrased, from the French for Rous- seul], with variations and additions. Svo. Richmond, Va. 1883.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM GREEN, LL. D., Jurist and Scholar, with some Personal Reminiscences of him, also a Historical Tract, by Judge Greene, and some curi- ous Letters upon the Origin of the Proverb, " For Populi Voc Dei." svo. Richmond. 1883.
VIEWS FROM CEDAR MOUNTAIN IN THE 50TH YEAR OF MY MINISTRY. Sw. 1881.
ADDRESS "THE COLONIAL CHURCH IN VIRGINIA." ADDRESSES AND PAPERS BEFORE THE CENTENNIAL COUNCIL OF THE PROTESTANT ESPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, at its meet- ings in St. Paul's and St. John's Churches, Richmond, May 20 24, 1885. 8vo. New York. Thomas Whittaker. 1885. BIOGRAPHY OF RIGHT REV. WM. MEADE, D. D. In "Memorial Biographies of Deceased Members of the New England His- torical and Genealogical Society." Boston. Vol. IV. 1885. CHRISTIANITY THE KEY TO THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. A Dis- course delivered before the Ladies of the Mt. Vernon Associa- tion, at Pohick Church, Fairfax County, Va. Sve. New York. 1886.
ADDRESS BEFORE THE MINUTE MEN OF CULPEPER COUNTY VA. 8vo. 1886.
MEMOIR OF REV. GEORGE A. SMITH, D. D. 8vo. 1889.
"DIVERS OTHER SERMONS AND PAMPHLETS. " Outline of the History of St. Patrick's Parish, Prince Edward County, Vir- ginia. Sermon on All Saints Day. Sermons on Temperance and other Subjects, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles, Re- ports as Historiographer; (the last in the Southern Church- man, October 2nd, 2890], etc., etc.
Del& Loth of F &S. Palmer, N.I.
Richard Iylahe drar
Proposed Design for a new percept & found.
A HISTORY
OF
ST. GEORGE'S PARISIL.
N the year 1608, Capt. John Smith, who is so I identified with the fortunes of the infant colony 1 of Virginia, conceived and executed an explor- ing expedition worthy of the romantic age of the cavaliers. In an open boat with only fourteen com- panions, he explored the majestic Chesapeake, and the noble rivers which empty themselves into the bosom of that "Mother of Waters."* During this perilous voyage he visited the falls of the Rappa- hammock, and instead of the generous welcome which the stranger now receives from the hospita- ble dwellers upon this beautiful river, he was greeted with the war-whoop, by the fierce Manahoacks, who then roamed in proud independence upon its wooded banks.+
From that period the red man was doomed to retire before the streams of white population, which
* The Indian word, Chesapeake, means Mother of Waters.
+ SMITH's Account of the Voyage.
2
A HISTORY OF
soon began to pour along the vallies of the great rivers, until in less than a century they extended their frontier to those primitive rocks, over which the fresh water falls to meet the tides of the sea. For the protection of this frontier, forts were es- tablished at the falls of the principal rivers.
Accordingly, an act was passed by the "Grand Assembly" in 1676, establishing a fort at or near the falls of the Rappahannock, to be "garrisoned by one hundred and eleven men, out of Gloucester county, of whom Major Lawrence Smith was to be chief commander."*
A few years afterwards, certain privileges were conferred upon Major Smith, upon condition that he would have "in readiness, upon all occasions, at. beat of drum, fifty able-bodied men well-armed, at or near the fort, and two hundred more men within the space of a mile along, and a quarter of a mile back from the river, prepared always to march twenty miles from the fort in any direction."+
The Indians, who had been driven into the mou- tains and beyond the Potomac, had of late insiuu- ated themselves into the white settlements, and committed depredations which awakened so pro- found a feeling of resentment in the minds of the people as to have led to the famous rebellion of Bacon.#
* 2d Hening's Statutes ut Large.
+ 2d Honing.
# On a Sabbath morning, in the county of Stafford, some per- sons on their way to church saw a white man lying athwart his
3
ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
The Indian and civil wars of this period gave a temporary check to the population of the Colony, but so soon as they were over, the tide again flowed towards the west, overleaping that "primitive ledge," which says to the tide of the sea, "hitherto thou shalt gå, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."
That gallant old cavalier, Governor Spotswood, at the head of the young chivalry of Virginia, had now consummated the devoutest wish of his heart, in transcending the blue ridge of mountains which had so long enchanted his vision, and opening a way to those fertile vallies of the west, along which succeeding generations have been swarming in crowds as resistless and unreturning as the travel- lers to eternity .*
Hitherto the counties of Essex, 1720. King William, and King and Queen Alex. Spotswood, Gov. 7th, Geo. I. had exercised jurisdiction over the tract of country about the falls, and along the head waters of the Rap- pahannock. But now the convenience and safety
threshold, chopped on his head and arms with Indian hatchets. When asked who did that, he exclaimed, " Doegs," " Doegs," and died. From this Englishman's blood did rise Bacon's Rebellion, with the following misel iefs which overspread all Virginia .-- See HISTORY OF BACON'S REBELLION, by T. M., a Burgess from Stafford county.
* The county of Spotsylvania was named after Governor Spots- wood, who resided in it for some time. Seo'in the Appendix Homo account of his family, and of this expedition across the mountains.
4
A HISTORY OF
of the people demanded the erection of a new county, and accordingly the following act was passed by the House of Burgesses in the year 1720.
"The frontiers towards the high mountains being exposed to danger from the Indians, and the late ' settlements of the French to the westward of the high mountains, therefore be it enacted, that Spot- sylvania county bounds upon Snow creek up to the mill, thence to the North Auna river, thence up the said river as far as convenient, and thence by a line to be run over the high mountains to the river on the northwest side thereof, so as to include the northern passage through said mountains, ---- thence down the said river until it comes against the head of the Rappahannock, and down this river to Snow creek ; which tract of land from the first of May, 1721, shall become a county by the name of Spot- sylvania." By the same act, the whole county was made one parish, which was called St. George. The inhabitants were freed from public levies for ten years, and an appropriation of .£500 was made for a church, a court-house, a prison, a pillory and stocks, which, in the legislation of the times, were always associated as the necessary requisites of a good goverment .*
The Governor fixed the seat of justice at Ger- manna, where the first court sat on the Ist day of August, 1722, when Augustine Smith, John Talia- ferro, John Waller, Win. Hansford, Richard John- son, and Wm. Bledsoe, were sworn as justices of
* 4th Hening pp. 77, 78.
5
ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
the peace, John Waller as clerk, and William Bled- soe, as Sheriff .* In the records of the county court of Spotsylvania there are some amusing en- tries which serve to illustrate the complex system of government then in operation. The curious reader will be interested in a case of lay-baptism, which we copy from the record. Thomas Moseley and John Shelton were committed by Larkin Chew, upon information of Thomas Chew, church-warden, for taking upon themselves to baptize the child of one Ann Alsop. They were required to give bond and security for their good behavior, and in default of appearing to answer at the next court, were or- dered to be committed to jail, and receive thirty- one lashes on their bare backs, sixteen in the even- ing, and fifteen the next morning. At this term of the court there were thirteen presentments by the grand jury of absentees from public worship. Public opinion, however, seems to have been in advance of the legislation of the times upon the rights of conscience, as it appears from the record that only one of these cases was prosecuted to execution.
Here is the entry. "1724. Information brought by Thomas Chew, church-warden, against John Digg, for absenting himself from the place of divine worship: he is fined ten shillings, or one hundred pounds of tobacco, or must receive corporal pun- ishment in lieu thereof, as the law directs."
* Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia, p. 475.
6
A HISTORY OF
The first meeting of the vestry 1726. of St. George's Parish, of which we Hugh Drys lale, have a record," was held in June, Lieut. Gov. 1726, at the lower church on Rap- pahannock, and was composed of the following persons, viz. : Rev. Theodosius Staige, minister ; Augustine Smith, and John Grayson, t church-ward- ens; John Taliaferro, Francis Thornton, Thomas Chew, William Hansford, Stephen Sharp, and George Wheatle. Among the duties imposed by law in these times upon the vestry was the super- intendence of the processioning of land, and the cultivation of tobacco. The vestry was required to divide the parish into so many preeinets as to them shall seem convenient, and to appoint two intelligent, honest frecholders, in each precinct, to see such processioning performed. The proceed- ings incident to this duty occupy a large space in the records of the vestry. These proceedings are not without interest to the antiquarian, as they de- seribe many localities as they were long ago, and recite the names of many of the ancestors of the
* This record was found by 'sfr. John Minor, of this town, in Williamsburg. It donbilosy contained, originally, the proceed- ings of the Vestry from the first erection of the parish. It is now mutilated -- the proceedings from 1722 to 1726 being torn out.
t The father of Col. Wm. Grayson, of the Revolution, mem- ber of the Virginia Convention of 1788, and United States Sena- tor, was Rev. Sponce Grayson. It has been conjectured that he was a relative of President James Monroe, whose father was Spence Monroe. Both Spence Monroe and Spence Grayson were of Scotch hueage. It is probable that John Grayson of the text was a near relativo, perhaps a brother of Rev. Spence Grayson.
7
ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
present generation, who encountered great perils and privations in subduing those lands on which their descendants now repose with none to make them afraid. Those who take pleasure in such re- searches must refer to the original records, which are too vohninous to be published. The reports of the processioners and counters of tobacco plants in this parish for the years 1726, '7, '8, and '9 are curious, as bringing to our minds the former inhab- itants of that region of country lying upon the head- waters of the Mattapony and Rappahannock rivers, "even to the great mountains," and including the present counties of Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Rap- pahannock, and parts of Orange and Green. So full is the enumeration of names, and so minute the description of the country; that one who is familiar with it can people it with a past generation, as- signing to many of them their estates, and designat- ing the social circle in which they probably moved. I shall confine myself generally to such extracts from the books of the vestry as tend to illustrate our civil and church history, with an occasional in- cident throwing light upon, the social state, and ex- hibiting our fathers and mothers, not in the dim outline of general history, but as they appeared to each other, in their own dress and ways and modes of speech.
It has been already said that the Governor had fixed the seat of justice at Germanna, a village founded by him, and named from some Germans sent over by Queen Anne, upon whom the General
8
A HISTORY OF
Assembly conferred some peculiar privileges, allow- ing them to entertain a minister of their own, and exempting them from taxation for ten years .* This act of humane and liberal legislation deserves to be held in lasting remembrance.
The Rev. Hugh Jones, a cotemporary. historian, describing Germanna, says : "Here, he (Col. Spots- wood) has servants and workmen of most handycraft Trades, and he is building a Church, a Court-House, and a Dwelling-House for himself, and, with his Ser- vants, Negroes, has cleared Plantations about it, pro- posing great Encouragement for People to come and settle in that uninhabited Part of the world lately divided into a county."t.
In the year 1732 Col. Byrd, of Westover, describ- ing a visit which he made to Gov. Spotswood, then residing at Germanna, tells us " that the famous town of Germanna consists of Col. Spotswood's enchanted castle on one side of the street, and a baker's dozen of ruinous tenements on the other, where so many German families had dwelt years ago, but are now removed higher to the fork of the river, to land of
* The following is the language of the Act: "Because foreign Protestants may not understand English readily, if any such shall entertain a minister of their own, they and their tythables shall be free for ten years."- 4th HENING. These Protestants were not Episcopalians.
+ Present State of Virginia, by HUGH JONES, London, MDCCXXIV, p. 59, quoted by HowE in his Historical Collections. This rare work may be seen in the library at Cambridge ; in the Franklin Library, at Philadelphia; and in the library of Peter Force, Esquire, Washington, D. C.
9
ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
their own .* There had also," he says, " been a chapel about a bow-shot from the Col.'s house, at the end of an avenue of cherry trees, but some pious people had lately burnt it down, with intent to get another nearer their own home."
At this time there seems to have A. D. 1728. Sir Wm. Gooch, Governor. been three churches in the parish, one at Germanna, one near the pres- ent site of Fredericksburg, and the third at Mattapony, which was called the " Mother Church," probably because it was the place of wor- ship for the inhabitants of the frontier before the parish of St. George was erected. At a meeting of the vestry in 1728, Col. John Waller was directed to provide a set of books and plate for each of these congregations.
In the year 1727 an act of Assembly had been pasted founding the town of Fredericksburg, which was named from Prince Frederick, Father of George the 11 This town was established upon petition of the citizens of Spotsylvania, for reasons which are set forth in the preamble to the act, which is as fol- lows: " Whereas great numbers of people have of late seated themselves upon the Rappahannock and the branches thereof above the falls, and great quan- tities of tobacco are every year brought down to the upper landings upon said river, and it is necessary that the poorer part of said inhabitants should be
* These were doubtless the ancestors of the German people in Madison county, which lies in the fork of the Rappahannock. de- scribed by Col. Byr.l.
10
A HISTORY OF
supplied from thence with goods and merchandize in exchange for such commodities, but for want of some good place where traders may cohabit, and good houses are greatly wanted upon some navigable part of said river near the falls for the safe keeping of such commodities as are brought thither, and for the entertainment of those who repair thither from re- mote places with carriages drawn by oxen or horses, therefore be it enacted, that fifty acres of land, par- cel of a tract belonging to John Royster and Robert Buckner, of the county of Gloucester, commonly known as the lease land lying upon the south side of the Rappahannock, shall be vested in John Robin- son, Henry Willis, Ang. Smith, John Taliaferro, John Waller, and others, and their successors, who are hereby appointed trustees for building a town upon said land; and the said trustees shall lay out the said fifty acres in lots and streets, not exceeding half an aere of ground in each lot, and also set apart certain portions for a church and church yard," &c .*
In 1742 and in 1759, the boundaries of the town were enlarged by acts of Assembly. When Freder- icksburg was founded, there was a ware-house upon its site. It is worthy of remark, that the persons who were appointed trustees of the town were mem- bers of the vestry of St. George's Parish, as were most of the justices of the county courts in early times.
The Rev. Mr. Staige had ceased to be the rector of the parish in November, 1728, and the Rev. Law-
* Hening's Statutos.
11
ST. GEORGE'S PARISHI.
rence De Butts having proposed to leave his parish in Westmoreland, and take charge of St. George's, the Hon. John Robinson was desired to intercede with the Governor for his assent to this arrangement. This arrangement was not effected, for in March, 1728, '9, we find the following record upon the books of the Vestry.
" The Rev. Rodham Kenner * having produced his honor the Governor's letter to the church-wardens of this parish, to supply our present occasions, re- solved, that the Hon. John Robinson and Col. Wal- ler be requested to return thanks to his honor the Governor, and that an agreement be made with Mr. Kenner to take charge of the parish at the rate of 16,000 pounds of tobacco, and cask according to law."
In the Colonial Church the surplice was worn by all the clergy,-indeed it was required by law. Since the revolution this becoming and appropriate dress has fallen into disuse, except in the cities, where it is still worn. So important was this canoni- cal habit deemed at the time of which we now write, that we find the Vestry in June, 1729, instructing Mr. John Taliaferro to send to England as soon as possible for three surplices for the three churches in this parish.
* Son of Capt. Rodham Kenner, member of the House of Bur- gesses from Northumberland County, 1692-6, and father of Rod- hum Kenner, member from Northumberland County, of the Vir- ginin Convention of 1776. The late Hon. Duncan F. Konner, of Louisiana, wis of this lineage, so also is the distinguishod Garrard funity of Kentucky, in which the name Kenner is a favored pre- nomen, the name Konner Garrard frequently occurring.
12
A HISTORY OF
There being no glebe in the parish at this time, the minister, the Rev. Mr. Kenner, resided at Ger- manna, and was allowed, in addition to his regular sal- ary, the sum of 4,500 pounds of tobacco for his board, instead of a glebe, to which he was entitled by law.
During the present year (1729) the church-ward- ens purchased a glebe, for which they gave 22,500 pounds of tobacco, and erected upon it a parsonage, 24 by 48 feet, for the further sum of 4,500 pounds of tobacco. In the deed conveying this property to the Vestry, which is on record in the county court of Spotsylvania, it is described as lying on the south side of the river Po, about a mile above the falls of the same.
1730. As great inconvenience had begun to arise from the extent of the territory over which the par- ishioners of St. George had diffused themselves, an net was passed by the " Grand Assembly" in January, 1730, dividing the parish by a line from the month of the Rapid Am to the month of Wilderness run- thence up the said run to the bridge, thence south- west to Pamunkey river-all above said line to be erected into a new parish, and called St. Mark's, and the remainder to retain the name of St. George's.
1731-'2. It was now that the first church in Fred- ericksburg was built upon the sight of the present Episcopal Church. As there are many persons now living who have a distinct recollection of the ok] church, and as the parishioners of St. George have it in contemplation to erect a new one, a minute detail of the materials of which the old church was con
13
ST. GEORGE'S PARISII.
structed, and of the order of architecture then fash- ionable, will not be without interest.
On the tenth of April, 1732, Col. Henry Willis contracted to build two new churches, one at Fred- ericksburg, and the other at Mattapony, of the fol- lowing materials and style of workmanship, for each of which he was to receive 75,000 pounds of tobacco. These were the terms of the contract: " Each church is to be underpinned with a brick or stone wall, two feet above the surface of the earth, and eighteen inches thick, to be fourteen feet pitch from the upper part of the sills to the plate; each church is to have ten windows, seven feet by three, each pane of good crown glass from London, and eighteen panes in each sash ; to be well shingled with good cypress shingles the floors to be well laid with good pine plank, with- out any sap, an inch and a half thick at least ; the roof to be werjetted twelve inches, with a handsome mo- dillion cornice ; the rafters to be five inches by four; the studs nine by four; the posts nine by twelve; the braces nine square; the plates twelve by nine; the sills twelve square; the sleepers nine by six; the summers and girders of the under floor to be sup- ported by brick or stone ; the pews to be wainscoated, and the walls also, as high as the pews; the doors, windows, and cornice to be three times well painted and laid with white lead; all the rest of the outside to be well tarred; each church to be well plastered and whitewashed with lime; the whole to be well, sufficiently, and completely done and finished in a workmanlike manner, with the best materials."
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A HISTORY OF
Twenty-five years after, viz., in 1756, an addition was made to these churches, the full width of each church, and thirty-two feet in length, so as to give them the form of a T.
A. D. 1732. It was just previous to the erection of this church, that Col. Byrd visited Fredericksburg, on his return from Gov. Spotswood's at Germanna, to Westover, his own home.
"Col. Willis," he says, " walked me about his town of Fredericksburg. It is pleasantly situated on the south side of the Rappahannock, about a mile below the falls. Sloops may come up and lie close to the wharf, within twenty yards of the public warehouses, which are built in the form of a cross. Just by the wharf is a quarry of white stone, that is very soft in the ground and hardens in the air. There are several other quarries within the limits of the town sufficient to build a large city. The only edifice of stone yet built, is the prison, whose walls are strong enough to hold Jack Shephard, if he had been transported thither. Though this be a commodious and beauti- ful situation for a town, with the advantages of a navigable river and wholesome air, the inhabitants are very few.
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