USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 37
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"When in Yorktown, the old windmill (which was blown down by a late tornado, and was long a relic of olden times, and which ground nearly all the bread used in York) was his resting-place. The only time he was ever in the York House he was coaxed by General Nelson's oldest daughter and niece to take his seat in Lady Nelson's sedan-chair. As they bore him in and rested in the passage, he rose up, and sang melodiously one of Dr. Watts's hymns for children,-
' How glorious is our heavenly King !'
The first time it was ever heard in Yorktown. Where he learned it was never known, but we suppose it must have been from his Presbyterian friends in Prince Edward. He had a trick of constantly passing his hands over his face, and, when questioned about it, would say, 'It is the blow-that disgrace to a gentleman-given me by that Louisiana planter ; but-thank God! thank God! but for the Saviour I could not bear it.'
" I have always understood he went to South Carolina from Phila- delphia with a gentleman who took a fancy to him and got him off with the promise of a full suit of regimentals, and there we lose sight of him."
The picture of Selim may still be seen in the library of Mr. Robert Saunders, of Williamsburg. Mr. Saunders married a daughter of Governor Page, and thus inherited it. Selim, out of his attachment to Mr. Page, either followed or went with him to Philadelphia, where the American Congress was sitting, of which Mr. Page was a member. Mr. Peale was then a most eminent painter.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
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ARTICLE XXX.
Gloucester .- No. 4. Supplement to the Articles on Gloucester.
ACCORDING to a purpose expressed in one of my previous numbers, I have visited some places in Gloucester, with a view of obtaining the most accurate information concerning some antiquated places which have interest in them for more than mere antiquaries. My first visit was to the old stone chimney which tradition says be- longed to the house built by Captain Smith for King Powhatan at or near his residence on York River, in Gloucester. I acknowledge that I had never placed much confidence in this tradition ; for, though I did not doubt but that Captain Smith had built a log room with a stone chimney for the King, yet I did doubt whether any remains of the room or chimney could now be seen. I am sure that there is now no other remnant of such architecture, either in stone or wood, to be found in Virginia. I went therefore to the spot with no little of skepticism on the subject. On a high point of land, divided by Timberneck Creek from Mr. Catlett's farm, the former seat of the Manns, there is a wooden frame room, of more recent construction, attached to a low, Dutch-built chimney intended only for a single-story house. The chimney has recently been covered on the outside with a coat of plastering. The fireplace within was eight feet four inches wide-that is, the opening to receive the wood-and four feet deep, and more than six feet high, so that the tallest man might walk into it and a number of men sit within it around the fire. All this was royal enough ; but as many of the old chimneys in Virginia, especially of the negro quarters, were as large in former days, when wood abounded, my skepticism was not entirely removed until I perceived, in the only crack which was to be seen outside of the wall, something which showed that the mate- rial was of no ordinary kind of stone, but like that of which the old church at York was built,-viz .: marl out of the bank, which only hardens by fire and by exposure. To render this more certain, I asked the owner of the house if he could not get me a small block of the material from the bottom of the chimney, near the ground, so as not to injure it. He obligingly consented, and, bringing an old axe, by repeated and heavy blows disengaged from the chimney a
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fragment of it, which I found to be what I conjectured,-a particular kind of marl, composed of shells, and which abounds on some of the high banks of York River, on both sides. I am now satisfied that this is really the stone chimney built by Captain Smith. There is no other kind of stone-if this may be called stone-in this region ; and it was much easier for Captain Smith to use this than to make and burn brick. It is, moreover, more durable than brick or stone. It is impossible to say how many generations of log or frame rooms have been built to this celebrated chimney. There is a contest between this spot and Shelly for the honour of being Powhatan's residence ; and it is thought by some that the old chimney decides it in behalf of this. Shelly, in a straight line, is little more than a mile from this, and may have been the residence of the King and his tribe (and there are some strong marks of this) at the time, though he may have preferred to have this house built on the high and commanding bluff on which it stands. Moreover, Smith and his men may have preferred, while at their work, to be at a little distance from his royal majesty and his treacherous people.
Bearing away with me the piece of marl-stone from Powhatan's chimney, to be kept in proof of what I now believe to be fact, I crossed the creek, and sought at the old homestead of the Manns for some sepulchral monument showing that tradition was true in relation to the residence of a family whose name is only to be found incorporated with other names, inheriting an estate which not only once covered the half of Gloucester, if report be true, but was scattered in large parcels over numerous other counties. In or near the stable-yard, in an open place, there is to be seen a pile of tombstones lying upon and beside each other in promiscuous confusion, on which may be read the following inscriptions :-
" Here lyeth the body of John Mann, of Gloucester county, in Virginia, gentleman, aged sixty-three years, who departed this life the 7th day of January, 1694."
Also,-
" Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Mary Mann, of the county of Gloucester, in the Colony of Virginia, gentlewoman, who departed this life the 18th day of March, 1703-4, aged fifty-six years."
Their daughter and only child married Matthew Page, son of John Page, the first of the family. They buried a child at this place, whose tombstone is a part of this pile, and reads as follows :--
" Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth Page, daughter of Matthew Page,
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of the Colony of Virginia, gentleman, aged three years, who departed this life the 15th of March, Anno Domini 1693."
THE TOMBS AT ROSEWELL.
My next visit was to Rosewell,-the mansion of which I have spoken in one of the preceding articles.
Mr. Matthew Page moved to this place from Timberneck. Three of his young children-Matthew, Mary, and Ann-are buried here before the month of August, 1704. This appears, or did appear, from their tombs. The following is the inscription on the heavy ironstone tomb of Matthew Page :-
I.
"Here lyeth interred the body of the Honble Col. Matthew Page, one of Her Majesty's most Honble Council, of the parish of Abington, in the county of Gloucester, Colony of Virginia, son of the Honble John Page, of the parish of Bruton, in the county of York, in the aforesaid Colony, who departed this life the 9th day of January, Anno Domini 1703, in the 45th year of his age."
II.
" Here lyeth interred the body of Mary Page, wife of the Honble Matthew Page, Esquire, one of Her Majesty's Council of this Colony of Virginia, a daughter of John and Mary Mann, who departed this life the 24th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1707, in the 36th year of her age."
III.
" Here lie the remains of the Honble Mann Page, Esquire, one of His Majesty's Council, of the Colony of Virginia, who departed this life the 24th day of January, 1730, in the 40th year of his age. He was the only son of the Honble Matthew Page, Esquire, who was likewise member of His Majesty's Council. His first wife was Judith, daughter of Ralf Wormley, Esquire, Secretary of Virginia, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. He afterward married Judith, daughter of the Honble Robert Carter, Es- quire, President of Virginia, with whom he lived in the most tender reci- procal affection for twelve years, leaving by her five sons and a daughter. His public trust he faithfully discharged, with candour and discretion, truth and justice. Nor was he less eminent in his private behaviour ; for he was a tender husband and indulgent father, a gentle master and faithful friend, being to all courteous and beneficent, kind and affable. This monument was piously erected to his memory by his mournfully surviving lady."
There were tombstones with inscriptions over each of the wives of this, the first Mann Page,-one in Latin and the other in English. The latter was first broken and then crumbled away.
One of the sons of the above-mentioned Mann Page was named Mann, and inherited Rosewell. The following is the inscription over his first wife :-
I
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IV.
" Here lyeth the body of Alice Page, wife of Mann Page, who departed this life the 11th day of January, 1746, in childbed of her second son, in the 23d year of her age, leaving two sons and one daughter. She was the third daughter of the Honble John Grymes, Esquire, of Middlesex county, one of His Majesty's Council in this Colony. Her personal beauty and the uncommon sweetness of her temper, her affable deportment and exemplary behaviour, made her respected by all who knew her. The spotless innocency of her life and her singular piety, her constancy and resignation at the hour of death, sufficiently testified her firm and certain hope of a joyful resurrexion. To her sacred memory this monument is piously erected."
His second wife was Miss Ann Corbin Tayloe. Two of their sons, who died young, are buried at Rosewell, having tombs and inscriptions. Governor Page, of Virginia, was a son by his first wife, Alice Grymes. There is no tombstone over the second Mann Page. Governor Page died in Richmond, and was buried in the old churchyard around St. John's.
My next visit was to the old seat of the Burwells, about two miles from Rosewell, on Carter's Creek, and in full view of York River. It was formerly called Fairfield, and is so marked on Bishop Madison's map of Virginia. It has for some time past been called Carter's Creek only. The house, as appears by figures on one of the walls, was built either in 1684 or 1694. A portion of it has been taken down : the rest is still strong and likely to endure for no little time to come. The graveyard is in a pasture-lot not far from the house. Being unenclosed, it is free to all the various animals which belong to a Virginia farm. Hogs, sheep, cows, and horses, have free access to it; and, as there is a grove of a few old trees overshadowing it, the place is a favourite resort in summer. The tombs are very massive. The slabs on which the inscriptions are engraved are of the same heavy ironstone or black marble with those at Rosewell, Timberneck, and Bellfield, of which we have spoken. The framework underneath them has generally given way, and they lie in various positions about the ground. A large honey- locust, around which several of them were placed, having attained its maturity, was either blown down by the wind or struck by light- ning, and fell across them, breaking one of the largest into pieces. The young shoots of the tree, springing up, have now themselves become trees of considerable size, and afford shade for inanimate tombs and living beasts. None of the family have for a long time owned this ancient seat.
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TOMBS AT CARTER'S CREEK, OR FAIRFIELD.
I.
" To the lasting memory of Major Lewis Burwell, of the county of Glou- cester, in Virginia, gentleman, who descended from the ancient family of the Burwells, of the counties of Bedford and Northampton, in England, who, nothing more worthy in his birth than virtuous in his life, exchanged this life for a better, on the 19th day of November, in the 33d year of his age, A.D. 1658."
II.
" The daughter of Robert Higginson. She died November 26th, 1675. . She was the wife of Major Lewis Burwell."
III.
" Here lyeth the body of Lewis, son of Lewis Burwell and Abigail his wife, on the left hand of his brother Bacon and sister Jane. He departed this life ye sixteenth day of September, 1676, in the 15th year of his age."
IV.
" Here lyeth the body of Mary, the daughter of Lewis and Martha his wife. She departed this life in the first year of her age, on the 20th of July."
V.
"To the sacred memory of Abigail, the loving and beloved wife of Major Lewis Burwell, of the county of Gloucester, gent., who was de- scended of the illustrious family of the Bacons, and heiress of the Hon. Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., President of Virginia, who, not being more honourable in her birth than virtuous in her life, departed this world the 12th day of November, 1672, aged 36 years, having blessed her husband with four sons and six daughters."
VI.
" Beneath this tomb lyeth the body of Major Nathaniel Burwell, eldest son of Major Lewis Burwell, who, by well-regulated conduct and firm in- tegrity, justly established a good reputation. He died in the 41st year of his age, leaving behind him three sons and one daughter,* by Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Robert Carter, Esq., in the year of our Lord Christ 1721."
VII.
" Here lyeth the body of the Hon. Lewis Burwell, son of Major Lewis Burwell and Lucy his wife, of the county of Gloucester, who first married
* Of these, the daughter, Elizabeth Burwell, married President William Nelson, and was the mother of General Thomas Nelson, &c. One son, Lewis, was the grand- father of the late Lewis Burwell, of Richmond, &c., and father of Mrs. P. B. Whi- ting; and the other was Carter Burwell, of The Grove, who married Lucy Grymes, the sister of Alice, wife of Mann Page, and daughter of the Hon. John Grymes ; and he was the father of Col. Nathaniel Burwell, of Carter Hall, in Frederick county, Virginia ; and the third son was Robert Carter Burwell, of the Isle of Wight, the father of Nathaniel Burwell of the same county, (whose children were Robert C. Burwell, of Long Branch, Frederick, and his four sisters, ) and Fanny, the first wife of Col. John Page, of Rosewell, since Governor of Virginia.
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Abigail Smith, of the family of the Bacons, by whom he had four sons and six daughters ; and, after her death, Martha, widow of the Hon. Wil- liam Cole, by whom he had two sons and eight daughters, and departed this life 19th day of Dec., 1710, leaving behind him three sons and six daughters."
VIII.
" Sacred to the memory of the dearly-beloved . . . Martha, daughter of .... of Nansemond county, in Virginia, married to Col. William Cole, by whom she had no sons and no daughters. Afterward married to Major Lewis Burwell, by whom she had six sons and three daughters ; resigned this mortal life the 4th day of Aug. 1704."
Copies of inscriptions on the tombstones of Ware Church, which stones were covered by the erection of a new chancel-floor in said church in June, 1854.
I.
" Underneath this stone lyeth interred the body of Amy Richards, the most dearly-beloved wife of John Richards, minister of this parish, who departed this life 21st of November, 1725, aged 40 years.
"Near her dear mistress lies the body of Mary Ades, her faithful and beloved servant, who departed this life the 23d of November, 1725, aged 28 years."
II.
" Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Ann Willis, the wife of Col. Francis Willis, who departed this life the 10th of June, 1727, in the 32d year of her age. Also the body of A., daughter of the abovesaid, aged 7 days."
III.
" Underneath this stone lyeth the body of Mr. John Richards, late rector of Nettlestead, and vicar of Teston, in the county of Kent, in the kingdom of England, and minister of Ware, in the county of Gloucester and Colony of Virginia, who, after a troublesome passage through the various changes and chances of this mortal life, at last reposed in this silent grave in ex- pectation of a joyful resurrexion to eternal life. He died the 12th day of November, in the year of our Lord MDCC . .. V., aged 46."
IV.
" Here lyeth the body of Isabel, daughter of Mr. Thomas Booth, wife of Rev. John Fox, minister of this parish ; who with exemplary patience having borne various afflictions, and with equal piety discharged her several duties on earth, cheerfully yielded to mortality, exchanging the miseries of this life for the joys of a glorious eternity, on the 13th day of June, in the year of our Lord MDCCXLII., of her age 38."
V.
' Here also lie the bodies of Mary and Susannah, daughters of the above-mentioned John and Isabel. The one departed this life on the 5th day of September, 1742, in the 4th year of her age; the other on the 8th of October, in the 3d year of her age, MDCCXLIII."
Doubtless there are other tombstones in the county bearing the names of the old worthies of former days ; but no information con-
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cerning them has been furnished me. There is, I am told, an old graveyard, with tombstones, at the old seat of the Washingtons, in Gloucester, on the Piankatank, from which I have been desirous to hear, but have failed. One of the sons of the first John Wash- ington married a Miss Warner, of Gloucester, and settled at the above-mentioned place. Hence sprung the combination of the names Warner and Washington, so common in these families.
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OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
ARTICLE XXXI.
Parishes in Middlesex .- No. 1.
MIDDLESEX county was originally a part of Lancaster county, when the latter covered both sides of the Rappahannock River for an indefinite distance. Between the years 1650 and 1660 it is probable that it was made a separate county. Until that time one minister served the whole county, although it is probable there were two parishes on either side of the river before the division of the county. Those on the south side were called Lancaster and Piankatank. They were originally one, and called Lancaster ; and, in 1666, became one again, under the name of Christ Church, Lancaster county.
I have before me the vestry-book of the parish, from the year 1663 to the year 1767, commencing two years before the reunion. There is reference to a Rev. Mr. Cole, who was minister of both of the parishes in the year 1657; also to a Mr. Morris, as being minister previous to the reunion. A short time afterward, some dissensions as to the bounds of the two parishes and other matters led to the reunion.
The first entry states the appointment of Mr. Henry Corbin to keep the register of the parish, according to a late Act of As- sembly.
The next is the vestryman's oath :-
" I, A. B., as I do acknowledge myself a true son of the Church of England, so I do believe the articles of faith therein professed, and do oblige myself to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline therein taught and established; and that, as a vestryman of Christ Church, I will well and truly perform my duty therein, being directed by the laws and customs of this country and the canons of the Church of England, so far as they will suit our present capacity; and this I shall sincerely do, ac- cording to the best of my knowledge, skill, and cunning, without fear, favour, or partiality ; and so help me God."
Previous to the reunion, the vestry of Lancaster parish had de- termined to build a church, after the model of that of Williams- burg, either on the north or south side of Sunderland Creek. By lot it fell on the north side ; but it was never done. .
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
In the reunion, in 1666, it was agreed by the vestry to build a mother-church,-by the name of Christ Church,-at a place about midway the parish, after the model of that at Williamsburg, the glass and iron to be gotten from England. It was accordingly built about midway between Brandon and Rosegill, the seats of the Wormleys and Grymeses, not far from the Rappahannock River, and was used until the year 1712, when a new one was built in the same place.
On the 29th of January, 1666, it was resolved to continue Mr. Morris as the minister, but that he be not inducted. On the fol- lowing day, at a meeting of the vestry, his salary was paid, and he was dismissed. I suppose he would not consent to serve with- out induction, or that some difficulty arose between himself and the vestry. Major-General Robert Smith and Mr. Henry Corbin were directed to write to Richard Perrott, then in England, for a minister. Measures were also taken for the purchase of a glebe. In the year 1668 it was agreed to employ the Rev. Mr. Shephard for six months. At the end of that time he was chosen for twelve months, and so on until the year 1671, when he was elected as rector for the future. Mr. Shephard continued their minister until his death, in 1683. The following extracts from the proceedings of the vestry will show their estimate of his character, and their desire for a worthy successor :-
"It is ordered by this present vestry, that, whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this life Mr. John Shephard, our late worthy minister, and this vestry and the whole parish desiring to have his place supplied with a gentleman of good life and doctrine, and a true son of the Church of England,-and they knowing of none such at present in this country but have benefices,-it is, therefore, unanimously agreed by the vestry, that the Hon. Ralph Wormley, Esq., and Mr. Robert Smith, be desired and empowered to write in the name of this vestry to the Hon. the Lady Agatha Chichely and Major-General Robert Smith,-who, it is hoped, are now safe in London,-to request them, or either of them, that they will please to take the trouble to procure a fit minister in England to come over and supply the place of Mr. Shephard; and for whose better encourage- ment this vestry do promise, and accordingly resolve, that they will enter- tain no minister in the said parish, except for the present time only, until they have an answer from those honourable persons; and that they will willingly accept and receive into this parish such minister as they shall persuade to come and recommend to this vestry; and that such minister shall have, beside the glebe-land and plantation, (which contains four hun- dred acres of land,) the sum of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco and caske, yearly paid him by this parish, besides all perquisites and other profits which have been enjoyed by our said worthy minister, Mr. John Shephard."
1
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In the interval between the death of Mr. Shephard and his suc- cessor, the parish was supplied by the Revs. Mr. Superiors and Mr. Davis. In November of that year, Major-General Robert Smith appears on the vestry-book, having returned from England and brought with him the Rev. Duell Read, who was chosen their minister for one year; and in proof that the earnest desire and endeavour of the vestry were rewarded of God, by sending a faithful minister, I adduce the following extract from the vestry- book the year after his entrance on the ministry :-
" Memorandum :- That the Rev. Duell Read, our present minister, out of his pious intentions to the good of the souls of his flock, mentioned that the blessed sacrament of the Lord's Supper (too much neglected) might for the future be more frequently administered and attended. To this intent, he, the aforesaid Mr. Read, propounded the monthly observation thereof; that is to say, on the first Sunday in every month according to course, that the congregation should assemble to divine service at the mother-church, then and there the sacrament of the Lord's Supper should be celebrated. And, moreover, that this great solemn mystery might as well worthily as frequently be observed, he, the said Mr. Read, did then frankly and freely promise a sermon at the said church monthly; that is to say, on the Saturday, in the afternoon, for the guiding the com- munion,-not doubting that all parents and masters of families, who ponder the everlasting welfare of the souls committed to their charge, would readily comply, and allow convenient liberty to their children and servants to repair to church at such times, there to be instructed and prepared for this re- ligious duty. This motion was then thankfully and cheerfully entertained by the present vestry, and they did unanimously concur with the said Mr. Read therein."
The duty of more frequent communions in the churches of Vir- ginia was evident. By Act of Assembly, which was only the re- newal of one of the canons of the English Church, it was only required that the sacrament be administered twice a year at the parish churches, the chapels of each not being provided for. Even in this case it is only proposed to have it at the mother-church, which was about midway of a parish forty miles in length. There were two chapels or churches toward either end of the county, not less, we suppose, than twelve or fifteen miles distant from the central one. Those communicants who lived at either end of the parish must have had twenty miles to travel in order to partake of the communion. At a later date the communion was administered at all the churches. Mr. Read's services continued seven years,-at the end of which time he returned to England; cause not known. That he did not forget his parishioners is evident from the following entry on the vestry-book :-
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