USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 31
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" Most dutiful and most obedient, humble servant, " CHARLES GRIFFIN."
I am sorry to add that, Mr. Griffin's labours proving much less successful at Christina than he fondly anticipated in his letter, he was some years after this removed to the Brafferton Professorship at William and Mary College, and the institution at Christina abandoned. He, however, still continued to pay attention to such Indian youth as came to the College.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
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ARTICLE XXIV.
Parishes in Nansemond .- No. 2.
HAVING thus availed myself of the journal of Colonel Byrd, and the report of Mr. Griffin concerning the Indian School, and Mr. Anderson's account of the Church in North Carolina, I return to the brief sketch of the Church in Nansemond. It was divided into two parishes,-the upper and lower. The lower was sometimes called Suffolk parish, although the town of Suffolk was in the upper parish. All that I have yet learned of the Suffolk or lower parish is, that there are two old brick churches in it, one on the left and the other on the right bank of the Nansemond River, each about ten miles from Suffolk. There is a valuable glebe attached to them, which, being a private donation, has not been touched. There is no minister in the parish.
The vestry-book of the upper parish dates back as far as November 30th, 1743. At the first vestry-meeting there were present Colonel Andrew Meade, Edward Norfleet, Lemuel Reddick, John Gregorie, John Norfleet, Daniel Pugh, Jethro Sumner. In the year 1744 Captain William Wright and Captain Williams appear on the list, and the Rev. Mr. Balfour is minister. In the year 1745 Mr. David Meade and Mr. Daniel Pugh take the places of Colonel Andrew Meade and Colonel Daniel Pugh, the sons suc- ceeding the fathers. In this year the Rev. Mr. Balfour is arraigned by the vestry for drunkenness, swearing, and other vices, and nothing more is heard of him. In the year 1746 Henry Temple, Christo- pher Norfleet, Miles Reddick, and Mr. Wimburn are vestrymen. In this year a new brick church is ordered in Suffolk in the place of the old one. In the year 1747 the Rev. Willis Webb is elected minister, Richard Baker chosen vestryman, and a chapel at Holy Neck ordered,-the minister to preach at Middle Chapel and Somerton Chapel until the new chapel is built. In the year 1748 the order for a new church at Suffolk is renewed. It is to be a handsome brick church, and David Meade and Lemuel Reddick allowed to put up, at their own expense, galleries for their families. Wm. Moore, Thomas Sumner, Messrs. Hunter and Rawles, Henry Holland, and John Ashburn, vestrymen. In the year 1758 a chapel is ordered at Mr. Norfleet's, like that at Nottoway. Richard
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Webb, James Gibson, Josiah Reddick, are elected vestrymen. In the year 1760 the Rev. Mr. Webb either died or removed, having been minister without reproof for thirteen years. In the same year the Rev. Patrick Lunan is chosen to preach at Nottoway Chapel, Cypress Chapel, Holy Neck, and Suffolk Church, and the Rev. Mr. Burgess assisted. In the year 1766 Jeremiah Godwin was chosen vestryman, and the Rev. Mr. Lunan was presented by the vestry to Commissary Robinson; and in the following year Mr. David Meade and Thomas Gilgrist were ordered to prosecute the case, and to apply to the Attorney-General and Mr. Wm. Waller. This, and several other cases in different parishes, led Commissary Robinson to write to the Bishop of London, stating the uncertainty of the authority given to the Commissaries for the purpose of discipline over the clergy. I presume that no change was made, and this and other cases were left to be settled by the vestry as they could; for we find that, though this Mr. Lunan did not preach for the parish, he held the glebe until the year 1775, when he relinquished all claim on glebe and parish for three hundred pounds, paid in three annual instalments. In the year 1774 the Rev. Mr. Agnew preached at Cypress Church and Suffolk, and the Rev. Mr. Burgess at Holy Neck Chapel once a month. In the year 1775 the Rev. Mr. Andrews is elected. Going back two years, we find that in the year 1773 Mr. Lemuel Reddick resigned on account of age and infirmities, having served forty years, and Mr. David Meade being about to move from the county, having served twenty-seven years, John Reddick and Andrew Meade were chosen in their room. Walls Cooper, Willis Streaton, and William Pugh and Samuel Cohoon appear on the vestry. In the year 1777 Mr. Andrew Meade removed; and Jacob Sumner resigned. John Driver and Christopher Roberts were elected. In the year 1781 John Brinkle and John Coles were vestrymen. In the year 1785, according to Act of Assembly, a new vestry was elected. There were six of the Reddicks placed on it, and Richard Baker, Dimsey Sumner, and John Giles, William King and Abraham Parker. Richard Baker and Willis Reddick were appointed to attend the Episcopal Convention to be held at Richmond that year. The church- wardens were directed to advertise for a minister. Meetings of the vestry were also held in the years 1790 and 1791, when Henry Harrison and Hardy Parker were chosen vestrymen. Thus closes the journal. The misconduct of several of the ministers, and several other circumstances, had combined for a long time to bring the Church and religion to a sad condition.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
On the journal of the Convention of 1785, the Rev. Arthur Emmerson appears as the clerical delegate, and Willis Reddick, Richard Baker, and Solomon Shepherd as lay delegates. In the years 1790 and 1791 a Rev. Mr. Taylor appears on the journals from Suffolk. In the year 1812 the Rev. Jacob Keeling's name appears on the journal, he having been ordained by Bishop Madi- son, but how long before is not known. The excellencies of this simple-hearted and single-minded man are known to some now living. During the latter years of his ministry he had much aid from the Rev. Mr. Jones, of the adjoining parish in the Isle of Wight, and the Rev. Mr. Wingfield, of Portsmouth. In process of time the Rev. Mr. Disbrough became the minister of the parish, and during the period of his ministry the present brick church was erected. After his departure, the Rev. Aristides and the Rev. Leonidas Smith rendered much service to the congregation while engaged as instructors of youth in Norfolk. The Rev. Chauncey Colton is its present minister.
Having thus presented the fullest sketch of the parish history I have been able to get, I close, as in some others, with a notice of some families which once belonged to it. Though there may be others more deserving of notice, yet, as that of my own ancestors is the only one known to me, I will be excused for saying something of that. It is chiefly taken, even to the letter, from papers found among the relics of the late David Meade, of Kentucky, eldest brother of my father, who lived to be more than ninety years of age, and was much addicted to the study of genealogy.
The family is traced by him to Thomas Cromwell, a blacksmith of Putney, in Ireland, who was the father of Thomas Cromwell, servant of Cardinal Wolsey, and his successor in the favour of Henry the Eighth, but who, forfeiting that, was beheaded by his orders. Oliver Cromwell was his nephew. One branch of this family was the Everards, of Essex, from whom Richard Kidder, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was derived, who, together with his wife, was killed by the falling upon them of a stack of chimneys in a thunder- storm. From him came the name of Richard Kidder, so frequent in the family, and from the Everards the name of Everard, also common in the family. The name of Oliver is also to be found in it. The paternal ancestor of the family in this country, Andrew Meade, was born in the county of Kerry and kingdom of Ireland about the latter part of the seventeenth century. Tradition says, that on leaving his native country he went first to London, and from thence came to New York, where he, though a Romanist, married
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Miss Mary Latham, a Quakeress, of Flushing, (a family still residing there,)-a heterogeneous kind of union, less obnoxious to nature than to bigotry, says Mr. Meade. Some five years after, he removed to Virginia and settled in Nansemond county. It has never been certainly ascertained whether he formally renounced the Catholic faith, though he was for many years a representative of his county in the House of Burgesses, judge of the county, and colonel of the militia .*
He is said to have been a large, muscular man, of great corporal strength, and rather hard-featured in the face, but of fine form. He died in the year 1745, leaving a character without a stain, having had the glorious epithet connected with it, The Honest. One son and daughter were all the children which he left. His son David Meade, and wife Susannah, afforded their posterity an example of conjugal felicity which has been rarely equalled. The God of Love was present at their first interview, and made them feel the effects of his disposition at the same moment. But there was a considerable lapse of time between their first meeting and marriage. Her father was Governor Everard, of North Carolina, then living with his family in Edenton, and was unwilling to leave his daughter in the wilds of America when he should return home. When about to sail,-the ship in which they were to embark lying in Hampton Roads, then called Nansemond River,-there was no other house at that time, convenient to the place of embarkation, at which they could be well accommodated but Andrew Meade's. To this they went; and, being detained some time by adverse winds, or other causes, the earnest entreaties of a most affectionate father, almost distracted at the thought of parting with his only son, (who was determined to follow her,) at length prevailed, and they were immediately married ;f and the daughter of Andrew Meade was named Priscilla, and married a Mr. Wilson Curle, of Hampton, by whom she had two daughters and not less than six sons.
* From his holding these offices, we may certainly conclude that he had renounced it, since test-oaths were required of such officers, and he was reputed to be an honest man. In this I am further confirmed by the fact, that the name of Colonel Andrew Meade stands first on the list of vestrymen in the year 1743, when the list I have commences. He was at Suffolk, and a hospitable entertainer, in 1728, as Colonel Byrd testifies.
+ The case of David Meade and Susannah Everard had something so touching in it as to give rise to some little novel or poem, but of which nothing remains but uncertain tradition. David Meade is represented as rigid in his morals, and one who could not tolerate vice. He was active in enforcing discipline against evil ministers.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
David Meade had two daughters and five sons. His daughters were Anne, who married Richard Randolph, of Curls, and Mary, who married Colonel Walker, each of them leaving many children, who are scattered over the land. The sons were David Meade, who inherited the estate in Nansemond, married a Miss Waters, of Williamsburg, then settled at Macox, in Prince George, then re- moved to Kentucky, devoting his time and fortune to the improve- ment of the seats on which he lived, and which were celebrated all over Virginia and Kentucky. The others were R. K. Meade, aid to General Washington, Everard Meade, aid to General Lincoln and afterward raised to the rank of General, Andrew Meade, who settled in Brunswick, and John, who died in his youth. The three elder children were sent to England for their education, and placed under the care of Dr. Thackery, the Principal of Harrow School, and Archdeacon of Surrey. The celebrated Sir William Jones, Sir Joseph Banks, and Dr. Parr were at that time among its scholars .*
As it is good sometimes to wander amidst ruins and graveyards, I will take my readers for a few moments to the spot where my ancestors lived and some of them died and were buried, and from whence they will rise up on the great day. It stands on an eminence about a mile back of the town of Suffolk. An avenue of trees led from it to the church in Suffolk, through which the family, at the sound of the bell, repaired to church. Andrew Meade, having made a handsome fortune, first by the fur-trade with Indians up the Roanoke in Virginia and North Carolina, and then by the lumber- trade, built a large house on this spot for his residence, and store- houses also, as he still carried on trade by a creek which came up almost to his door. The mansion has long since been consumed by fire, and the other houses mouldered into ruin. The estate has passed into many hands since the last of the family parted with it. But there was one spot which it was hoped would be spared until the dissolution of the earth,-the graveyard,-so well was it guarded. It was a small square lot, around which cedar-trees were planted so thick that their bodies reached within one or two feet of each other. A better enclosure, and one more likely to endure, cannot well be imagined. I visited the place some years since for the first
* The talented and unhappy Dr. Dodd, of London, used to preach at Harrow to the boys of that school. I have seen his sermons to them, and heard my father speak of his eloquence. When he was executed, the boys of the school were either sent or permitted to go. My father witnessed the scene. I may be permitted to add concerning my father, that while at the school his teacher said of him that he would never make a great scholar, but he will be what is much better,-vir probus.
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time, and was sorry to find that the last owner of it had cut down every tree and converted them into stakes and firewood. The stumps, however, were perfectly apparent. The graveyard was thickly covered with grass, leaves, briers, and shrubs,-so much so, that a friend and connection of the family who was with me could with difficulty get a few yards into it, to search for some memorial of the dead, for nothing of the kind appeared on the surface. The corner of one slab, thickly covered with grass and mould, was all that he could see or feel. We left the spot, convinced that a better protection for the place and its monuments, whatever they were, could not be provided, than that which they then had. But we were mistaken. A few months since, I wrote to that same friend and companion, saying that in view of this work which I am now engaged in, I wished him to get some suitable hands with proper implements, and remove all the trees, shrubs, briers, and rubbish, so as to find out what was concealed by them. According to my request, he went to the spot prepared to make the examination, when to his surprise he found not a stump or shrub remaining, but only a number of small fragments of tombstone about the spot, which was now in the midst of a cultivated field, itself ploughed up and cultivated. The names of Caruthers and Vail were all that could be distinguished. That of Meade could not be made out on any of the fragments. Perhaps no tombstone with that name was ever there, although some of the family must have been buried therc.
I shall be excused for adding in this place some other particulars concerning my father. He married, at the age of nineteen, Miss Jane Randolph, of Curls, sister . of Richard Randolph, who mar- ried his sister, and aunt of John Randolph, of Roanoke, who always called him Uncle Kidder. His wife was some years older than himself, which called from the elder Judge Tucker some humorous poetry, entitled Happy Dick, in which he condoles with the younger ladies on James River upon their disappointment. This wife lived but a few years, having several children during the time, and leaving none behind. During his first marriage he lived at Coggin's Point, in Prince George, the present possession and residence of Edmund Ruffin, and which he sold during the war, though, by means of the depreciation of money, he realized but little from it. In Prince George he was a vestryman, but resigned because the vestry would not discharge an unworthy clergyman. He entered early into the Revolutionary War, being one of twenty- four persons-among whom were James Monroe, George Wythe,
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
Benjamin Harrison, Colonel Bland, &c .- who, in June, 1775, seized upon the arms and ammunition in Dunmore's house, in Williams- burg, carrying the powder to the magazine, and dividing the arms among themselves for safe-keeping and the service of the country. In December of that year he was found at the battle of Great Bridge, near Norfolk,-the first battle fought in Virginia. He had raised a company, and was then serving as captain under General Woodford. [See the account which he gives in the Bland Papers.] He was soon taken into the family of General Washington as his aid, and was the most active in reconnoitring, being a good rider and having a fine animal,-the black mare so well known to the British as well as American armies. [See Campbell's History of Virginia.] He used to say that Hamilton did all the head-work for the General, and he the riding, reconnoitring, and carrying orders on the field. He was with Washington in all the great battles of the Revolution. To him was committed the superintendence of the execution of Major André, of which he always spoke with much feeling, saying that he could not forbear tears at seeing the execution of so un- common and interesting a man, though he entirely approved the order. At the close of the war he married the widow of Mr. Wil- liam Randolph, of Chattsworth, near Richmond, the brother of Governor Beverly Randolph, of Cumberland, and Colonel Robert Randolph, of Fauquier. She is mentioned in Campbell's History as among the female contributors to the expenses of the war in a time of great need. Her contribution was eight hundred dollars. Perhaps this circumstance may have first attracted my father's attention to her. When Washington was taking leave of some of his aids, a circumstance occurred which showed his estimate of their different characters. To Hamilton he said, "You must go to the bar, which you can reach in six months ;" to Laurens, some- thing as appropriate ; to Colonel Meade, whom he then called by his familiar name, "Friend Dick, you must go to a plantation in Virginia ; you will make a good farmer and an honest foreman of the grand jury of the county where you live." And so it proved; for he became a most attentive, successful, and, at first, hard- working farmer, and was, while health permitted, always the fore- man of the grand jury of the old District Court of Frederick county. He rejoiced as a citizen in those blessings which his mili- tary services had helped to obtain, and often said that there was no debt he so gladly discharged as the taxes levied for the main- tenance of our free and happy government. He never allowed a tax-gatherer to come to his house in search of what was due, but
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always anticipated this by paying it beforehand at some appointed place. The same was true of all his debts. As infirmities of body increased, the foundation of which were laid in his exposure during the war, and he could no longer fell trees and maul rails with the very few servants saved from the wreck of his estate, he still laboured in other ways. A box of tools, imported from England, stood in the corner of the old log dining-room, and a saddler's bench during the winter season was on one side. All the helves, rakes, cradles, gates, and plantation-gear were made by his own hands ; and so expert was he in the latter manufacture as to pro- duce a compliment from an old friend, that "a good saddler was spoiled in the attempt to make a gentleman of him." Neverthe- less, he did not entirely discard books and politics, but sometimes wrote an article for the press on some subject which deeply in- volved our country's interests. Nor did Washington disdain to consult with him as to the choice of officers when, in the near pros- pect of war with France, he was called on once more to head the armies of our country. The year before the death of Washington, my father paid him a visit at Mount Vernon. They had not met since the close of the war. The general was on his farm. They met in one of the fields, near a pair of draw-bars. Each, recog- nising the other, dismounted and shook hands over them, the Ge- neral insisting that he would pull down his own bars, and my father that he would be his aid still.
My father survived but a few years. Several interesting obitua- ries, in prose and verse, appeared at his death. From them I take the following extracts. The first is from the pen of Mr. Robert Page, of Janeville, Frederick county :-
" His virtues, though of that dignified kind which enforce respect, were yet so tempered by gentleness and condescension that they never failed to conciliate affection. In public life his conduct was such as to secure the esteem and friendship of those accurate discerners of merit, Washing- ton and Hamilton. This speaks sufficiently his eulogium. His benevo- lence was ardent, active, and disinterested ; and one of his greatest plea- sures consisted in promoting the happiness and welfare of all around him. The death of his friend, General Hamilton, made an impression of me- lancholy on his mind, which, it is believed, was not obliterated until the hour of his death."
The following is from the Rev. Mr. Wiley :-
" The heart that beat for public weal, Where justice held her steady way, Where glow'd the flame of patriot zeal, Is now a lump of inert clay.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
But memory often shall rejoice, With pensive pleasure, to retrace His form, the accents of his voice, And every valued mental grace. His social gayety, whose flow Could pleasure ever new impart; His candour, which could never bow To veil in dark disguise the heart ; His goodness, active, ardent, great, And prompt the sufferer's wants to aid; These, whilst the pulse of life shall beat, Will never from remembrance fade."
The last is from Mrs. Mary Page, of Pagebrook, Frederick county :-
" Though wars have ceased, the hero claims renown ; With choicest myrtle let his tomb be crown'd ; And ye, sweet nine, your plaintive tribute pay, And o'er his virtues shed a milder ray. In scenes domestic man is truly known ; In scenes domestic Meade forever shone. His soul, unconscious of one narrow thought, Of self regardless, did the thing he ought. Where'er his form benignant bent its way, Grim care soon vanish'd and each heart was gay. At mercy's call he ever foremost press'd ; For meek-eyed pity sway'd his manly breast. Hasten, fair nymphs of Frederick's peaceful plains ; Attend, fond youths, to breathe your mournful strains; Votaries of Hymen, follow to deplore That Meade, your pride and father, is no more. But why, blest shade, should friends lament thy doom ? Joys celestial hover o'er thy tomb ; Thy Mary, purer than the snowdrop white, Shall guide thine offspring to the realms of light."
I conclude this article by a brief reference to one individual belonging to Suffolk parish, whom not to mention in its history were an unpardonable neglect. In the history of Bruton parish, Williamsburg, we have on the list of vestrymen and active mem- bers of the Church the name of Prentiss more than once. Mr. Prentiss, of Suffolk, was a worthy successor to the virtues of his ancestors. To his persevering attachment to the Church of his fathers during a long and dark period of almost despair, may be mainly ascribed, under God, its continuance in Suffolk. A more humble and conscientious Christian and more true-hearted Epis- copalian, a more honourable and courteous gentleman, a more affectionate husband and tender father, was, and is, nowhere
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to be found. His descendants still cherish the Church in which they were trained, and will so do, we trust, to the latest gene- rations.
Other members might, doubtless, be found among the Reddicks, the Joneses, the Bakers, the Hallidays, and other families of the parish of Suffolk, most worthy of special notice; but the writer has not the necessary information for the purpose.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
ARTICLE XXV.
Parishes in Isle of Wight and Southampton.
THE Isle of Wight was one of the eight original shires in the year 1634, and embraced what is now Southampton, extending from James River to the North Carolina line,-a distance of ninety miles. The first name it bore was Warrosquoyacke, which, in the · course of three years, was changed to its present. In all the early notices of the Colony we have frequent mention of this settlement, for it was among the earliest, being not far from Jamestown, on the other side of the river. We find in Henning's Statutes, that in 1642 it was divided into two parishes, the upper and lower, or Newport and Warwicksqueake, each extending the full length of the county, or ninety miles. The condition of the division, how- ever, was that the Rev. Mr. Falkner, the minister, should not lose any thing of his salary by the change. In the year 1734, those parts of the two parishes which lay south of Blackwater were united in one, under the name of Nottoway parish, while those on the north of it were to be united under the name of Newport parish. In the year 1748, fourteen years later, Southampton was cut off from Isle of Wight, the parish still retaining the name of Nottoway. In the year 1762 this was again divided by the Nottoway River running through Southampton, into two parishes, and St. Luke's established. There are no Church records of this parish to which I can resort for information about it. At the time of Tarleton's invasion of Virginia, he sent a detachment to Macclesfield, the residence of Colonel Josiah Parker, of Revolutionary memory, in hopes to take him and destroy his papers, &c. In the former he failed, but in the latter succeeded. Among the effects destroyed were the vestry-book and some Church-papers, which he, as a warm friend of the Church, had in keeping. It appears, however, that, notwithstanding the vigilance of Arnold's men, some papers relating to the Church were preserved and remained in possession of his daughter, Mrs. Cowper, until the war of 1812, when a militia force which was stationed near Macclesfield, being in want of cartridge- paper, obtained from the servants what they supposed was waste paper ; and thus what remained of Church records was used in the service of the country. Such being the case, I must rely on tradi-
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