USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
ARTICLE XXXVIII.
Parishes in Hanover-St. Paul's and St. Martin's-Rev. Mr. Brooke first minis- ter-Rev. Charles Bridges next-His attention to the servants-Letter to the Bishop of London-Division of the parish-Ministers in them-The Revs. Patrick Henry, Robert Barrett, &c .- Character of the Rev. Mr. Philips- Families in Hanover-Old Mrs: Berkeley, of Airwell, and the Communion- plate-Old Mrs. Nelson-Her authority over her sons-Her poverty-Her death-Mr. Frank Nelson. 419
ARTICLE XXXIX.
Dissent finds its way into Hanover-The treatment of Dissenters in Virginia considered-Misrepresentations of it examined-A case stated-Treatment of the Quakers misunderstood-Their treatment in Accomac-Governor Spottswood and the Quakers-The Baptists-Rev. Mr. Maury's pamphlet
12
CONTENTS.
PAGE
concerning them-Mr. Sample's acknowledgment-Case of Rev. Samuel Davies and the Presbyterians in Hanover-Address of five Episcopal clergy- men to the House of Burgesses about Mr. Davies and his followers-Governor Gooch and the Presbytery of New Castle-History of the introduction of Presbyterianism into Virginia-Correspondence between Dr. Davies, the Bishop of London, and Dr. Doddridge-Result of the whole .. 426
ARTICLE XL.
Parishes in Prince George county-Martins Brandon and Bristol-No vestry-book of Martins Brandon-Rev. Mr. Finnie-His funeral-sermons-Other minis- ters-Churches, old and new-Bristol parish-Why so called-Its ministers -Robertson its minister for forty-six years-His account of the parish in 1724-Succession of ministers-Churches-Old Blandford-Many others- Petersburg made up of four towns-Names of the vestrymen from the old vestry-book-Genealogy of the Blands-Old Mr. and Mrs. Grammar-Rev. Mr. Slaughter's history of the parish. 437
ARTICLE XLI.
Parishes in Chesterfield-Dale and Manchester-Dale parish-Rev. George Frazer-Rev. Mr. McRoberts-His defection-Correspondence with Jarratt- Rev. William Leigh-The Watkins family-Churches-Old Saponey-Wood's Church-Controversy about it-Still standing-Manchester parish-Its ministers-Churches-Falling Creek Church-Affecting account of it-Old Mr. Patterson-The Cary family. 448
ARTICLE XLII.
St. James Northam, Goochland county-Vestry-book-Rev. Mr. Gavin-His letter to the Bishop of London-Rev. Mr. Douglass-His register and notes -A letter from him-Rev. Mr. Hopkins and his descendants-Rev. William Lee-List of vestrymen-Churches-Parsonage the gift of Mr. William Bol- ling .. 456
ARTICLE XLIII.
King William parish, or Manakintown-The Huguenot settlement-Sketch of the Huguenot history-Henry IV .- Huguenots in America-In Virginia-The Fontaine and Maury families-Succession of ministers at Manakin-The Dupuy family-Names of the Huguenot families of Virginia. 463
ARTICLE XLIV.
Parishes in Dinwiddie and Brunswick counties-Bath parish-Succession of ministers-Sketch of the Rev. Devereux Jarratt-Mrs. Jarratt-St. Andrew's parish-Its churches-Its ministers-Its vestrymen-Meherrin parish, Green- ville-Its ministers and churches-Tarleton's visit to it .. 469
ARTICLE XLV.
Parishes in Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Charlotte-Cumberland parish- Vestry-book-Ministers and churches-Caution in employing ministers- Clement Read-Rev. Mr. Craig-His patriotism-Tarleton's visit to his mill -Rev. Dr. Cameron-His school-Hon. Duncan Cameron-Long list of vestrymen-Mr. Buford-St. James parish, Mecklenburg-Principal families -Rev. Mr. Micklejohn-Anecdotes of him-Bishop Ravenscroft-The Nel- sons-Minister of the county. 482
Old Churches, Ministers, and Families
OF
VIRGINIA.
[From the Protestant Episcopal Quarterly Review.]
ARTICLE I.
Recollections of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, during the Present Century. With a Brief Notice of its Earlier History. By BISHOP MEADE .*
IT is a useful employment for societies as well as individuals to look back through their past history and mark the dealings of a kind Providence towards them. The History of the Episcopal Church of Virginia has been, from the very beginning, a most inte-
* Having been urged to furnish some personal recollections of the Church in Virginia for this Review, I have consented; and in this article commenced the delicate task. The candid and the charitable will make due allowance for the peculiar difficulties of it, especially that of avoiding the frequent mention of myself. Had I kept a diary for the last fifty years, and taken some pains during that period to collect information touching the old clergy, churches, glebes, and Episcopal families, I might have laid up materials for an interesting volume; but the time and opportunity for such a work have passed away. The old people, from whom I could have gathered the materials, are themselves gathered to their fathers. The vestry-books, from which I could have gotten much, and some of which I have seen, are, for the most part, either lost, or fallen into the hands of persons who use them for the establishment of land-claims or bounties, the regis- ter of baptisms and marriages sometimes rendering them assistance in their work. Small, therefore, is the contribution I can make to the ecclesiastical history of my native State. To Dr. Hawks's elaborate and able work I must refer the reader for the earlier history of the Episcopal Church of Virginia. A brief notice of that period is all that is necessary to prepare him for my own reminiscences, and that is furnished.
W. M.
13
14
OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
resting and eventful one-beyond that of any other Diocese in the Union. I would briefly refer to some of its particulars, in order to raise our hearts in gratitude to God for its wonderful preserva- tion, and to make us more faithful and zealous in using the proper means for its further advancement.
The Episcopal Church of Virginia commenced with the first settlement of the first Colony. The code of laws of that Colony was drawn up at a time when "religion (as Bishop Taylor expresses it) was painted upon banners," for it was "divine, martial, and moral," all in one, being enforced, even among Protestants, by civil pains and penalties which we would fain now, banish from our recollections and blot from the page of history. That there was much of sincere piety moving the hearts of those who incorporated the forms of the Episcopal Church with the Colony of Virginia, as well as of those who established other forms among the Pilgrim Fathers of New England, I doubt not. Nor do I question the piety and fidelity of some of the people and pastors during its whole subsequent history. But that its spiritual condition was ever, at any time, even tolerably good, bearing a comparison with that of the Mother-Church, over whose defects also there was so much cause to mourn, faithful history forbids us to believe. Many were the disadvantages under which she had to labour, during nearly the whole period of her existence in connection with the government of England, which were well calculated to sink her character beneath that of the Church of England, and of some other churches in America. Immense were the difficulties of getting a full supply of ministers of any character ; and of those who came, how few were faithful and duly qualified for the station! One who was indeed so faithful as to be called the Apostle of Virginia at an early period of its settlement, lamenting over the want of ministers in the Colony, thus upbraids those who refused to come. "Do they not either wilfully hide their talents, or keep themselves at home, for fear of losing a few pleasures ? Be not there any among them of Moses and his mind, and of the Apostles, who forsook all to follow Christ ?" The Council of Virginia also addressed the most solemn and pathetic appeals to the clergy of England, beseeching them to come over to the work of the Lord in the Colony-though, it is to be feared, with little success; for in the year 1655 it is recorded that many places were destitute of ministers, and likely still to continue so, the people not paying their "accustomed dues." There were, at this time, about fifty parishes in the Colony, most of which were destitute of clergy-
15
FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
men, as there were only ten ministers for their supply. Tc remedy this evil it was proposed to establish in the English Uni- versities Virginia fellowships, imposing it as a condition, that the fellows spend seven years in Virginia ; but we do not read of its execution. That the ministers then in the Colony were men of zeal can scarce be supposed, as a law was required enjoining it upon them to preach constantly every Sabbath and administer the sacrament at least twice every year. If we proceed in the history of the Colony another fifty years, which will carry us beyond the first century of its existence, we shall find only a few more parishes established, and, though glebes and parishes had been provided, not more than one-half of the congregations were sup- plied with ministers, the rest being served by lay-readers. In some places indeed lay-readers were preferred to settled minis- ters, because less expensive to the parishioners. As to the un- worthy and hireling clergy of the Colony, there was no eccle- siastical discipline to correct or punish their irregularities and vices. The authority of a Commissary was a very insufficient sub- stitute for the superintendence of a faithful Bishop. The better part of the clergy and some of the laity long and earnestly peti- tioned for a faithful resident Bishop, as the Bishop of London was, of necessity, only the nominal Bishop. For about two hundred years did the Episcopal Church of Virginia try the experiment of a system whose constitution required such a head but was actually without it. No such officer was there to watch over the conduct and punish the vices of the clergy; none to administer the rite of Confirmation, and thus admit the faithful to the Supper of the Lord. It must be evident that the Episcopal Church, without such an officer, is more likely to suffer for the want of godly discipline than any other society of Christians, because all others have some substitute, whereas our own Church makes this office indispensable to some important parts of ecclesiastical government and discipline. Such being the corrupt state of the Church in Virginia, it is not wonderful that here, as in England, disaffection should take place, and dissent begin. The preaching and zeal of Mr. Whitefield, who visited Virginia about this time, contrasted with the sermons and lives of the clergy generally, con- tributed no doubt to increase disaffection. The pious Mr. Davies, afterwards President of Princeton College, made the first serious inroad upon the unity of the Church. His candid testimony deserves to be here introduced. "I have reason to hope," he says, " that there are and have been a few names in various parts of the
16
OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
Colony who are sincerely seeking the Lord and groping after re- ligion in the communion of the Church of England." "Had the doctrines of the Gospel been solemnly and faithfully preached in the Established Church, I am persuaded there would have been few Dissenters in these parts of Virginia, for their first objections were not against the peculiar rites and ceremonies of that Church, much less against her excellent Articles, but against the general strain of the doctrines delivered from the pulpit, in which these Articles were opposed, or (which was the more common case) not mentioned at all, so that at first they were not properly dissenters from the original constitution of the Church of England, but the most strict adherents to it, and only dissented from those who had forsaken it."
That there was at this time not only defective preaching, but, as might be expected, most evil living among the clergy, is evident from a petition of the clergy themselves to the legis- lature asking an increase of salary, saying "that the small encouragement given to clergymen is a reason why so few come into this Colony from the Universities, and that so many who are a disgrace to the ministry find opportunities to fill the parishes." It is a well-established fact that some who were discarded from the English Church yet obtained livings in Virginia. Such being the case, who can question for a moment the entire accuracy of the account both of the preaching and living of the clergy of his day, as given by the faithful and zealous Mr. Jarrett? and who could blame him for the encouragement afforded to the disciples of Mr. Wesley, at a time when neither he nor they thought there could be a separation from the Church of England ? Dissent, from various causes, was now spreading through the Commonwealth ; dissatisfaction with the mother-country and the Mother-Church was increasing, and the Episcopal clergy losing more and more the favour of God and man, when this devoted minister, almost alone in preaching and living according to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was glad to avail himself of any aid in the good work he was endeavouring to per- form. For the time, however, his efforts were unavailing. The War of the Revolution was approaching, and with it the downfall of the Church. Many circumstances contributed to this event. The opposition to the Dissenters in times past had embittered their minds against the declining Establishment. The attach- ment of some few of the clergy to the cause of the king sub- jected the Church itself to suspicion, and gave further occa-
17
FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
sion to its enemies to seek its destruction. The dispute about Church property now came on, and, for twenty-seven years, was waged with bitterness and violence. At the commencement of the War of the Revolution, Virginia had ninety-one clergymen, offi- ciating in one hundred and sixty-four churches and chapels; at its close, only twenty-eight ministers were found labouring in the less desolate parishes of the State. Whither numbers of them had fled, and to what secular pursuits some of them had betaken themselves, it is not in our power to state. Had they been faithful shep- herds, they would not have thus deserted their flocks.
We come now to the efforts of the more faithful to strengthen the things that remained but were ready to die. In common with some other dioceses, the Church in Virginia resolved on an effort to obtain consecration from abroad for a Bishop who might complete her imperfect organization. A very worthy man, the Rev. Dr. Griffith, was selected for the purpose; but so depressed was her condition, so little zeal was found in her members, that, though for three successive years calls were made upon the parishes for funds to defray his expenses to England, only twenty-eight pounds were raised, a sum altogether insufficient for the purpose, so that the effort on his part was abandoned through poverty and domestic affliction. Even at a subsequent period, when renewed efforts, prompted by shame at past failures and a sense of duty to the Church, were made to secure what was necessary for Bishop Madison's consecration, a sufficiency, even with some foreign aid, was not obtained to pay all the necessary expenses of the voyage. The object, however, was accomplished, and at the end of almost two hundred years from the establishment of a most imperfect Church in Virginia a Bishop was obtained. But she was too far gone, and there were too many opposing difficulties, for her revival at that time. From the addresses of Bishop Madison to the Episcopalians of Virginia, it will be seen that he entered on his duties with no little zeal and with very just views of the kind of men and measures necessary for the work of re- vival. He plainly admits the want of zeal and fidelity in many of the ministers as one of the causes of the low condition of the Church, and that the contrary qualifications were indispensable to her resuscitation. He made an ineffectual effort at bringing back into the bosom of the Church the followers of Mr. Wesley, for they had now entirely separated from her. After a few partial visitations of the Diocese, his hopes of the revival of the Church evidently sunk; and the duties of the College of William and
2
18
OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
Mary, of which he was President, requiring his attention during the greater part of the year, at the Convention of 1805 he called for a Suffragan or Assistant Bishop. The subject was referred to the next year's Convention, but no such meeting was held, nor was there another until after his death. For seven years it seemed as if the worst hopes of her enemies and the most painful fears of her friends were about to be realized in her entire destruction. In the General Convention of the Church, held in the city of New Haven in 1811, there was no representation nor any report whatever from Virginia. The following entry is found on the journal :- " They fear, indeed, that the Church in Virginia is from various causes so depressed, that there is danger of her total ruin, unless great exertions, favoured by the blessing of Providence, are employed to raise her." And what more could be expected from the character of the clergy generally at that time, or for a long time before? It is a melancholy fact, that many of them had been addicted to the race-field, the card- table, the ball-room, the theatre,-nay, more, to the drunken revel. One of them, about the very period of which I am speak- ing, was, and had been for years, the president of a jockey-club. Another, after abandoning the ministry, fought a duel in sight of the very church in which he had performed the solemn offices of religion .* Nothing was more common, even with the better
* Another preached (or went into an old country church, professing to do it) four times a year against the four sins of atheism, gambling, horse-racing, and swearing, receiving one hundred dollars-a legacy of some pious person to the minister of the parish-for so doing, while he practised all of the vices himself. When he died, in the midst of his ravings he was heard hallooing the hounds to the chase. Another,-a man of great physical powers,-who ruled his vestry with a rod of terror, wished something done, and convened them for the purpose. It was found that they were unwilling or unable to do it. A quarrel ensued. From words they came to blows, and the minister was victorious. Perhaps it is fair to presume that only a part-perhaps a small part-of the vestry was present. On the following Sabbath the minister justified what he had done in a sermon from a passage of Nehemiah :- "And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair."
This account I received from two old men of the congregation, of the most un- impeached veracity, one or both of whom was present at the sermon.
All indeed of the cases alluded to in the note and the text came so near to my own time and even ministry, that the truth of them was assured to me by those whose testimony was not to be doubted. Gladly would I be spared the painful reference to them and others, could it be done without unfaithfulness to the task undertaken. In consenting to engage in it, which I have done with reluctance, it became my duty to present an honest exhibition of the subject, and not misrepre- sent by a suppression of the truth. God has set us the example of true fidelity
19
FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
portion of them, than to celebrate the holy ordinance of Baptism, not amidst the prayers of the congregation, but the festivities of the feast and the dance, the minister sometimes taking a full share in all that was going on. These things being so, and the churches having been, on account of such things, almost entirely deserted or else occupied by those who only held our Zion up to derision, what but a firm conviction of God's watchful providence over her could keep alive hope in the most ardent of her friends ? How often, in looking at the present comparative prosperity of the Church, do we say, Surely God must have greatly loved this branch of his Holy Catholic Church or he would not have borne so long with her unfaithfulness and so readily forgiven her sins.
Having presented this brief sketch of the past history of the Church in Virginia, I now proceed to execute the task assigned me by stating some things which came more or less under my own personal observation.
My earliest recollections of the Church are derived from visits, while yet a child, to the Old Stone Chapel in Frederick county, (then the back-woods of Virginia,) either on horseback, behind my father, or with my mother and the children in my grandmother's English chariot, drawn by four work-horses in farming-gear,- richer gear having failed with failing fortunes. Some of the neighbours went in open four-horse plantation-wagons, very dif- ferent from the vehicles to which they had been accustomed in Lower Virginia, whence they emigrated .* My father took an
in the biographical and historical notices which pervade the sacred Scriptures. The greatest failings of his best saints, as well as the abominations of the wicked, are there faithfully recorded as warnings to all ages; though there are those who think that it had been better to have passed over some unhappy passages. I have gone as far as conscience and judgment would allow in the way of omission even of things which have passed under my own eyes. Some of those who are hostile to our Church have dwelt much, from the pulpit and the press, on the evil conduct of many of our old ministers, and doubtless have oftentimes overrated this evil, while making no acknowledgment of any good. Some of our own people, on the other hand, have been disposed to ascribe to malice much of that which belongs to truth. Let us seek the truth. It is not only mighty and will prevail, but will do good in the hands of the God of truth. Often and truly has it been said of the Church, in certain ages and countries where evil ministers have abounded, that but for God's faithful promise, those ministers would long since have destroyed it. It is some relief to my mind to be able to add, that in almost all the unhappy instances to which I have made reference, it pleased Providence to ordain that they should leave no posterity behind to mourn their fathers' shame.
* My father had considerable possessions in land and servants in Lower Vir-
20
OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
active part in the erection of this house, which was about seven miles distant from his residence. It was here that I officiated during the first twenty-five years of my ministry. The con- gregation, which now worships in a larger one four miles off, makes a kind of pilgrimage to it on one Sabbath each summer. It is still used for service in behalf of coloured persons, and on funeral occasions. Near it lies the parish burying-ground, where many dear friends and relatives are interred, and where I hope to find a grave. The Rev. Alexander Balmaine, a chaplain in the United States Army during the War of the Revolution, and who was married to a relative of Mr. Madison, one of the Presidents of our country, was the minister of it for more than thirty years, during the last ten or twelve of which I was associated with him. He lived in Winchester, and preached alternately there, in a stone church of about the same size, and at the chapel.
There was a small wooden church very near the chapel, which was built before the war, and in which the Rev. Mr. Thruston offi- ciated. The Baptists were, in his day, establishing themselves in this part of the Valley of Virginia. With them, it is said, he had much and sharp controversy. On the declaration of war he laid aside the ministry and entered the army, attaining before the close of it to the rank of Colonel, by which title he was known to the end of his days. About twelve miles from my father's, in a direc- tion opposite to the chapel, there was another small log church, in which the Rev. Mr. Mughlenburg, afterwards General Mughlen- burg, occasionally officiated. He was the minister of the adjoining parish in Shenandoah county and lived at Woodstock. He also exchanged the clerical for the military profession and rose to the rank of General. Tradition says that his last sermon was preached in military dress, a gown being thrown over it, and that he either chose for his text or introduced into his sermon the words of
ginia, but lost nearly all during the War of the Revolution, in which he served as aid to General Washington. At the close of it, gathering up what little remained of money, and a very few servants, he removed to the rich and beautiful Valley of Frederick, lying between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains. The whole country was little else than a forest at that time. For a small sum he purchased a farm, with two unfinished log rooms, around which the wolves nightly howled. Laying aside the weapons of war, he took himself to hard work with the axe, the maul, and other instruments, while my mother exchanged the luxuries and ease of Lower Virginia for the economy and filigence of a Western housewife.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.