USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 12
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regardless of the scoffs of the infidel and the ridicule of a vain and inconsiderate world, giving an open and solemn testimony that he was not ashamed of the cross of Christ, which was to him both the wisdom and power of God to his salvation.
"These and many more features of his character I might exhibit to your view. But though a minute and particular detail would still appear to myself as falling short of his merit, yet, to those less acquainted with him than I was, it might seem to be drawn by the flattering pencil of a friend. I therefore forbear a further recital, and make one reflection naturally arising from the subject : -that whenever the eye of man is disgusted and shocked by scenes of impiety, rapine, cruelty, and bloodshed, let him cast it on such a fair and pleasing picture as the present, which does so much honour to human nature, and he will not fail to conclude that man, the prey of furious and malignant passions, resembles an infernal spirit; but when actuated by the sacred dictates of religion and devoted virtue he claims kindred with the angels in heaven. 'Mark, therefore, the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.' "
The following account of Mr. Edward Ambler is from the same source,-the family document :-
" When he attained the age of twelve years he was sent to England to finish his education, accompanied by his younger brother, John. They were entered at Leeds Academy, near Wakefield, in the county of York, at which place they continued for several years; after which they were sent to Cambridge, where they went through a regular course of study and terminated their university career with the highest credit. The liberality of Mr. Richard Ambler allowed his son Edward to make the grand tour of Europe after he quitted the university, so that he had passed his twenty-first year before he returned to Virginia. After which event it was not very long before he led to the altar Miss Mary Cary, the daughter of Wilson Cary, Esquire, of Celeys, Elizabeth City county, Virginia, who was descended from one of the most noble families in all England.
"The elder sister of Miss Mary Cary had married George William Fairfax, at whose house she was on a visit, when she captivated a young man, who paid her his addresses. His affection, however, was not re- turned, and the offer of his hand was rejected by Miss Cary. This young man was afterward known to the world as General George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Young Washing- ton asked permission of old Mr. Cary to address his daughter before he ventured to speak to herself. The reply of the old gentleman was, 'If that is your business here, sir, I wish you to leave the house, for my daughter has been accustomed to ride in her own coach.' It has subse- quently been said that this answer of Mr. Cary to the stripling Washing-
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ton produced the independence of the United States, and laid the founda- tion of the future fame of the first of heroes and the best of men,-our immortal Washington ; as it was more than probable that, had he obtained possession of the large fortune which it was known Miss Cary would carry to the altar with her, he would have passed the remainder of his life in inglorious ease. It was an anecdote of the day, that this lady, many years after she had become the wife of Edward Ambler, happened to be in Williamsburg when General Washington passed through that city at the head of the American army, crowned with never-fading laurels and adored by his countrymen. Having distinguished her among the crowd, his sword waved toward her a military salute, whereupon she is said to have fainted. But this wants confirmation, for her whole life tended to show that she never for a moment regretted the choice she had made. It may be added, as a curious fact, that the lady General Washington after- ward married resembled Miss Cary as much as one twin-sister ever did another.
"Edward Ambler, after the death of his father, Richard Ambler, was appointed Collector of the port of York, which station he was induced to occupy, rather on account of the honour it conferred in those days, than for the sake of the emolument. He was a man of such considera- tion in the Colony, that when Lord Baron Botetourt came over to this country as Colonial Governor of Virginia he brought a letter of introduc- tion to him, which is now in possession of the writer. Upon the death of his younger brother, John, who gave him Jamestown, he removed there to live, and represented the old borough for many years afterward in the House of Burgesses. Edward Ambler died and was buried at James- town, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, Anno Domini 1767. His widow survived him fourteen years. When the Revolutionary War broke out she removed, with her children, from Jamestown to the Cottage, in Hanover county, which was a much less exposed situation. Several of her acquaintances and connections removed from the lower country and bought estates near the Cottage, merely for the sake of society. Among others were Robert Carter Nicholas, Esquire, who bought and lived at a place called 'The Retreat.' Wilson Miles Cary, Esquire, her brother, bought an estate near, as did the family of General Nelson; so that this neighbourhood, as deserted and uninhabited as it now is, afforded at that time as polished society as any in Virginia. Mrs. Ambler was a woman of uncommon strength of mind and firmness of purpose. After the tea had been thrown overboard at Boston, she would not allow a particle of it to be used in her family, though fully able to have indulged in every luxury which the country afforded. And, as another proof of her pa- triotism, I will mention, what I have often heard my father say, that, at the time that the young Marquis De la Fayette was retreating before Lord Cornwallis, he passed with his army near the Cottage, taking the right- hand road to Negrofoot, about half a mile above Ground-Squirrel Bridge and two from the Cottage. As soon as she heard of it she procured uni- form and arms for my father, then a boy only sixteen years of age, buckled them on him with her own hands, and then bade him 'to go out and join the American troops ; and though you are my last and only child,' said she, 'return to me with honour or return no more!' This most excellent and amiable lady did not live to see her country independent and the war terminate, as she fondly wished she might do, that she might once more return to light her hospitable fires in the hearths of her noble old family
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mansion at Jamestown; to which every member of the family had been exceedingly attached for several generations past ; for at that spot almost all of the blood and the name had been born, had lived, had died, and been buried. Independent of its antiquity,-being so celebrated as the spot where the first successful Colony from England located themselves in America, and where the first town and the first church had been built in America, with bricks brought from England,-it is a noble estate of about thirteen hundred acres of land, situated on the banks of James River, where this noble stream is near four miles wide, and originally had one of the largest old mansions on it that was built in times when a Virginia gentleman vied in wealth with an English nobleman. Though half of this structure was destroyed by fire during the lifetime of the first John Ambler, yet the remainder presents as commodious and commanding an appearance as any dwelling-house in Virginia. The estate is now an island ; though it was formerly a peninsula, connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus, which has in the last century been entirely washed away by the resistless action of the waves upon it. At Jamestown there abound, in the very greatest perfection in which they can be eaten, all sorts of fish, deer, wild ducks, sora, and ortolans. Figs, grapes, and pome- granates here attain perfection. It is situated within eight miles of the ancient city of Williamsburg, which, during the lifetime of my grand- mother, contained as polished society as could have been found at the court of St. James itself. In the year 1781, Mrs. Mary Ambler, the widow of him whom we shall call the first Edward Ambler, whilst staying at the Cottage, in Hanover county, was attacked by that illness which ended in her death. Whilst on her death-bed she directed that her re- mains should be taken to Jamestown. But, as the war still raged with England, it was thought best to have them interred where she died. And even this precaution did not have the effect of securing them from the profanation of the British troops, a detachment of which overran this part of the country and came to the Cottage to ransack and to plunder. In looking for the family plate they took it into their heads that it was buried in the graveyard ; though they were assured to the contrary by the servants. They proceeded to the grave of my grandmother, dug up the coffin, and actually opened it before they would be satisfied that the object of their search was not there. When the war was ended, Mrs. Ambler's remains were taken to Jamestown, according to her request, and placed by the side of those of her husband."
The following account of a recent visit to Jamestown will con- clude our notices of this parish :-
On the 27th of October, 1856, I went to this place of ruins in company with the Rev. Dr. Totten, the Rev. George Wilmer, Mr. Richard Randolph, and Colonel Durfey. The latter had been owner of the place some years since, and was well acquainted with its past and present history. Mr. Randolph, our Virginia anti- quary, was also quite at home as to all that belonged to the scene. We entered the island in a boat, at the upper or western end of it, near to that which was once the neck constituting it a peninsula and uniting it to the mainland. This has long, since
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been overflowed and the peninsula has become an island. About ninety years ago the late Mr. John Ambler, then owning the greater part of the island and residing on it, made a causeway on that which had been the neck of land, but which was now covered with water some feet deep. This, after some time, having been overwhelmed with the waves of James River, Colonel Durfey, on becoming the proprietor of the whole island, made a bridge to it at some distance from the causeway, over which the stage passed, car- rying passengers to the Old Wharf at Jamestown, where the steamboats received them. Only the piles on which the bridge rested now remain, and the steamboats receive passengers from Williamsburg and the country around at some other place. The only access at this time to the island from the mainland is by boat across Back River, which surrounds the island on the west and in part on the north and east, uniting with James River at the upper and lower ends of the island; also stretching up some miles into the mainland, by a creek called Portan. While the neck of land stood firm, Back River terminated in this creek. Since the irrup- tion of the waters of James River over this neck, the upper part of the island has lost much of its ancient territory. The neck itself is in some places a third of a mile in the river. A large portion of the town also lies buried in the waves. At low-water some signs of it may yet be seen. As this was the highest part of the peninsula, and the most fertile and beautiful, the town was chiefly built on it. The work of destruction has now passed along nearly a mile, from the original connection with the mainland to the lower part of the town, where the public buildings and the old church stood. The bank is giving way within one hundred and fifty yards of the old tower and graveyard ; and, if some remedy be not applied in time, they also must be immersed in the waters of old Powhatan ; for that was the Indian name of James River. As the church was built on the fifty acres of land which is deeded to the authorities of James City for public houses, it is hoped that in due time either those authorities or that of the State will guard the same against destruction. The old tower and the ruins of the church are about fifty yards from the river, which in that place has not yet encroached on the bank ; although, as we have said, a hundred and fifty yards above it is rapidly advancing on the island.
Something special deserves to be said of the ruins of the old church. The graveyard, in the midst of which it stood, contained about half an acre of land, which is covered with old sycamores,
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and mulberries, and smaller trees, and shrubberies, which form a dense shade. The old brick enclosure, which was mouldering into ruins, and some of the walls of the church, were used about sixty years ago by Mr. William Lee, of Green Spring, and the late Mr. John Ambler, of Jamestown, in making a small enclosure around the tombstones which were still remaining. This enclosure covers about one-third of the original one, and takes in a part of the spot on which the church stood. The foundation of the old church is still marked by the bricks which remain. On accurate measure- ment, we found it to be an oblong square of just twenty-eight feet by fifty-six. The ruined tower was judged to be about thirty feet high, and, by measurement, proved to be eighteen feet square. As there are conflicting opinions concerning the date of the erection of this old church,-some affirming that what we see are the ruins of that which was destroyed in Bacon's rebellion, while others affirm the building of a new one after that event,-we will briefly state the facts bearing on the case. The history of the succession of the Jamestown churches is as follows :- The first place of wor- ship, as described by Captain Smith, was made of the awning, or old sails, taken from vessels, and fastened to trees. The second was a very plain log building, which was burned down in the second or third year of the Colony, during the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Hunt. The third was a larger and better one, probably of wood, built during the presidency of Captain Smith, and in a ruinous or neglected condition when Lord De la War arrived, in 1611. By him it was repaired and adorned as I have stated. Its dimen- sions were twenty-four feet by sixty. The chancel, called quoir, was large enough to hold the Governor, the Council, and other officers of state. This was doubtless the same in which Governor Yeardley, with the Councillors and Burgesses, held their legislative session in 1619; and, as we read of no other being built between that time and 1676, when the town and church were burned down by Bacon, it is most probable that this was the building. In oppo- sition to the theory that the present are the ruins of the old church which was burned in the rebellion, is the fact that the dimensions of the church which Smith built and Lord De la War repaired were different from the one whose ruins are now seen. The dimen- sions of the former were twenty-four by sixty; those of the latter twenty-eight by fifty-six. Other circumstances there are, which render it almost certain that another church had been built since the destruction of the one by Bacon. Not only was there a goodly number of families residing in the place for some time after this,
AR- GRU
RUINS OF THE CHURCHYARD, JAMESTOWN.
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but the court-house and House of Burgesses were there until the removal of the seat of government to Williamsburg, after the year 1705. Although the Governors may have lived at Green Spring, yet some of the officers of government, belonging to the port, and Legislature, were there; and it is not to be supposed that they would live for thirty years without a church. This improbability is strengthened by the fact that Governor Andros presented some communion-plate to the church at Jamestown in 1694; and yet more by another fact, that in 1733 a silver font, still in existence, was presented to it by two of the Ambler family. Surely these would not have been presented to the ruins of a deserted church. We must, therefore, suppose that the ruins which we now behold are those of a church put up since the rebellion. That they are not the ruins produced by fire I ascertain, not merely by the fact that there are no marks of destruction by fire, but by the testimony of an elderly gentleman, who assured me he was present when the wooden part of the tower was burned by accident. It is proper to state, in connection with this, that at a later period, the date not known, a brick church was built on the road from Jamestown to Williamsburg, called the "Main Church," in which Bishop Madi- son preached in the concluding years of his ministry. He doubt- less preached at Jamestown in the earlier part of it. The Main Church has recently disappeared. Underneath it was found a brick vault, containing the remains of some unknown ones who were buried there .* Having thus disposed of the church, we add some- thing concerning the graveyard. Deep-pressed into the earth and almost covered up by it we found the following inscription :- " Here lyeth the body of the Rev. John Gough, late minister of this place, who departed this life January 15th, 1683-4, and waits in hopes of a joyful reunion." This supplies one blank in our list of its ministers. Besides this, we found the tombstones, or frag- ments thereof, of Philip Ludwell and Sarah his wife, of Ursula Beverly, wife of Robert Beverly and daughter of William Byrd, (the first of that name, we presume, and who lived in Williams-
* Since the above was written I have received the following information :- "The last minister of the ' Main Church' before Bishop Madison was the Rev. Mr. Bland, afterward of Norfolk. His wife was a daughter of the Rev. William Yates, who was for a short time President of William and Mary College. When the church was taken down, a piece of timber broke the arch of a vault containing a coffin, with a plate on which was inscribed 'Elizabeth Bland,' with a vacant space suffi- cient for another coffin."
8
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. burg during the building of the College.) The tombs of Edward Jaqueline and Jaqueline Ambler, also those of B. Harrison and Mrs. Edwards, may yet be seen.
Something special in the way of notice is due to the condition of the tombs of Commissary Blair and Mrs. Blair; the latter being the daughter of Philip Ludwell, of Green Spring, who married Miss Sarah Grymes, of Middlesex. The tombs were placed side by side, and were very heavy and strong. The platform, sides, and ends were of white freestone, and the interior filled with bricks, well cemented. The top slab, on which the inscriptions were made, are of thick dark iron-stone, or black marble. A sycamore-shoot sprung up between the graves and is now a large tree. In its growth it embraced, on one end and on the top, the tomb of Mrs. Blair, one-third of which lies embedded in the body of the tree and is held immovable. All the interior, consisting of brick, and two of the side-stones, have been entirely forced out of their places by the tree and lie scattered around, while the dark iron-stone slab is held in the air three feet above the surface of the earth, fast bound by the embrace of the body of the tree, into which it is sunk between one and two feet, the inscription being only partially legible. On the other side, the whole tomb of Com- missary Blair has been forced away from its place by the roots and body of the tree, and is broken to pieces in all its parts. We found about two-thirds of the slab (on which was the inscrip- tion) scattered in three or four fragments at some distance from each other, and having put them together made out an imperfect Latin memorial,-so imperfect that we shall not insert it.
Leaving the ruins of the church and graveyard, we add a few concluding words as to the island. About two hundred yards be- low the church and a hundred from the river, is the old brick house of the Amblers, or a large part thereof, built, it is supposed, more than a hundred years since. It is still in good repair and is the residence of the manager of the present owner, Mr. William Allen. It is the only house on the island except the old brick magazine and a small frame room near it, both of which, unless preventive measures are adopted, must soon tumble into James River. At the lower end of the island there are still the remains of a graveyard belonging to the Travis family, which owned that part of the island for some generations. The house is gone. This part of the island became separated from the other by some low and swampy ground. Mr. Allen now owns the whole of the island, which consists of about seventeen hundred acres and is between two and three miles
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in length and three-quarters of a mile in width. Twelve hundred acres of it are now and always have been a marsh and incapable of use. There are one hundred acres of woodland and four hun- dred of arable land, very fertile and valuable. Within the last thirty years it has changed owners several times, being sold at various prices, from ten to thirty thousand dollars.
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ARTICLE VIII.
The Parish of James City .- No. 6 .*
SOME NOTES ON JAMESTOWN; SUPPLEMENTARY TO BISHOP MEADE'S ARTICLES.
YOUR readers must have been deeply interested, Mr. Editor, by Bishop Meade's articles in your paper upon the "Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia." For a very long and im- portant portion of the history of the Episcopal Church in Vir- ginia, his own experience and observation have put him in posses- sion of the best materials ; and for the rest, his position and efforts have enabled him to avail himself of most of what others had to contribute. For a vast deal of information, therefore, must we acknowledge ourselves dependent upon and indebted to him.
When he reached the parish of James City, however, he entered a field which has been long comparatively open to the researches of other inquirers. Dr. Hawks explored it some years ago with such industry and success, that we regret that he could not have had the rare opportunities for obtaining materials which have been enjoyed by the Rev. Mr. Anderson. No one can properly study, write, or appreciate Virginia history who does not largely and heartily enter into those parts relating and devoted to religion and the Church. So that, if confined to any two works for the history of Virginia down to the Revolutionary period, one could hardly do better than take Henning's Statutes at Large and Hawks's Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of Virginia.
It is hoped that a few supplementary notes will not be deemed by Bishop Meade or any one else as an intrusion, but as a co-opera- tion in the good work in which he is engaged. Should any new facts be brought out, or any inadvertences corrected, it may be of some little service when he comes to rewrite his articles for a more permanent form of publication.
Bishop Meade gives deserved prominence and praise to the mis-
* This article did not appear, as was designed, in the "Southern Churchman;" but it is here inserted as a valuable addition to the preceding ones.
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sionary element that entered into the colonization of Virginia. Those adventurers who looked chiefly to the glory of God and the conversion of the Infidels were as sincerely convinced as any others of the bright prospects of gold and other temporal benefits ; but they used these mainly for the purpose of stimulating "the action," that the religious and spiritual blessings to which they looked might be realized. The constancy and continuousness with which these last are held up in all that was said, done, and written in behalf of this Colony until that awful check in the massacre by Opechancanough, in 1622, are remarkable. Even the business- entries in the records of the Company in London make express reference to the blessing of God and the favouring care of his providence. Whilst the motto of every patriot and Christian should be, " A religious nation, and not a national religion," yet a connection between Church and State is apt to confer upon the State the benefit of an express recognition, in all enterprises of public pith and moment, of God's supremacy and superintending providence. This is a good habit in itself; but, of course, its chief value consists in the sincerity of those who practise it, whe- ther rulers or ruled. In the case before us, numbers of Christian men and women were equally as fervent and sincere as Richard Hakluyt and Robert Hunt.
Bishop Meade refers to the first charters and to the instructions issued by King James in 1606. But the passage in those instruc- tions which enjoins kind treatment of the savages, &c. has this singular addendum :- " And that all just, kind, and charitable courses shall be holden with such of them as shall conform them- selves to any good and sociable trafic and dealing with the sub- jects of us, our heirs and successors, which shall be planted there, whereby they may be the sooner drawn to the true knowledge of God and the obedience of us, our heirs and successors, under such severe pains and punishments as shall be inflicted by the same several presidents and councells of the said several Colonies, or the most part of them, within their several limits and precincts, on such as shall offend therein or doe the contrary." We must not lose sight of the spirit of the age, especially when we come to judge of that after-policy which is said to have been ever the reproach of Virginia.
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