USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 10
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The Rev. Thomas Martin succeeded Mr. Marye in 1767-68. He was a young man of merit. He came with his mother and sister to reside at the glebe; but his residence was of short duration. Death removed him from the scene of his labours and his usefulness not long after he entered upon the duties of the parish. He was followed by the Rev. John Barnett. His name occurs officially in 1771. But his connection with the parish was also of brief dura-
He removed to Richmond county, Virginia.
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tion, for in 1774 the Rev. John Wingate was the minister, and is the last of the ante-Revolutionary clergy whose name occurs. Whether he continued in charge of the parish during the war we have no means to verify; but circumstances justify the conclusion that, like some others of the old Colonial clergy, he surrendered his charge at the commencement of hostilities between the Colonies and the mother-country.
A period of sad depression dates from this time. For the long interval between 1774 and 1797, (twenty-three years,) the parish seems to be without a minister. The occasional services that were rendered by the Rev. Matthew Maury, of Albemarle, during the latter part of this interval, are, so far as we can see, the only ones performed by any clergyman. Mr. William Moore, a man of note in the parish at this time, a good old Churchman and an excellent reader, was generally called upon on funeral occasions to read the burial service. In the first Convention of the Church in Virginia, held in 1785, we find St. Thomas parish, though without a minis- ter, not without a representative. Mr. Thomas Barbour (father of the late Governor and of the late Judge Barbour) appeared as the delegate. In the following year the parish is again represented by Mr. Barbour, in connection with Mr. William Moore. In 1790, Thomas Barbour and J. Daniel are the delegates. In 1793, the parish is again represented by Thomas Barbour. In 1797, we find the Rev. Charles- O'Niel the clerical and William Moore the lay delegate. The Rev. Mr. O'Niel took charge of the parish in the latter year, and remained until 1800. He resided first near the Pine Stake Church, and preached at that church during his resi- dence in Orange. He afterward removed to the upper part of the county, where, as well as at his former residence, he taught school in connection with his parochial duties. The late Judge Barbour was one of his pupils. Mr. O'Niel was an Irishman, and a man of ardent temperament and of ardent temper. We have often heard him spoken of by elderly persons, but more as a teacher than as a preacher. He was of that class of teachers that adopted . not only the theory, but the practice also, of the old régime, as the best for the government of boys. Flogging was a main ingredient in the practice of his system. He had a summary method of re- ducing and gentling a refractory youth. Mounting him upon the back of an athletic negro man, whom he seems to have kept for the purpose, the culprit was pinioned hand and foot as in a vice, and, with the unsparing application of the rod to his defenceless back, was taught the lesson, if not the doctrine, of passive obe-
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dience. However his school may have flourished under his manage- ment, it seems his parish did not, for we look in vain for any fruits of his parochial labours. Another long interval now occurs in the " history of the parish, without any one to take the regular oversight of its spiritual interests. The Rev. Matthew Maury again kindly extended his care to this neglected field, and performed occasional services in it at least as late as 1806. In 1809-11, we find the Rev. Hugh Coran Boggs, of Berkeley parish, Spottsylvania, devoting a portion of his time to Orange. He preached at the Pine Stake Church and also at the court-house. We have often heard it said, that when he preached at the latter place he was never known to use the Liturgy. This may have been owing to the difficulty he met with in procuring the responses. He may have rightly judged the lex necessitatis to be a "higher law" and of more stringent force than any canon or rubric to the contrary. From 1811 to 1815 the parish was again without a minister. In the latter year, the Rev. William Hawley, coming to reside at Culpepper Court-House, took charge of St. Thomas parish in connection with St. Stephen's Church, Culpepper. At the time he commenced his labours in Orange, the Episcopal Church had wellnigh died out in the county. But three or four communicants remained in all this region of country, and some of these were far advanced in age. So entirely had our time-honoured service gone into desuetude, that when Mr. Hawley first commenced its use it was listened to as a striking novelty. Under his ministry there began to appear the dawn of a brighter day for the Church. Several communicants were added ; some of whom, in the providence of God, still remain with us. In the autumn of 1816, Bishop Moore made his first visitation of the parish, preached and administered the Lord's Supper, and also the rite of Confirmation, in the court-house. This was now our usual- nay, our only-place of worship. Referring to this visitation, the Bishop, in his report to the following Convention, says, "My labours commenced in the county of Orange,. at which place I preached to a large and attentive auditory, celebrated the Lord's Supper, and administered the rite of Confirmation to a goodly number." The visit of the good Bishop, as well from its novelty as its effectiveness, was calculated to make, and did make, a great impression at the time. It was an event of unusual solemnity, and is still remembered with lively interest by some who were present. This was the first Episcopal visitation that had ever been made, and this the first time the rite of Confirmation had ever been ad- ministered, in the parish. Bishop Madison, it appears, was in the
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habit of visiting his relatives at Montpelier, socially, from time to time, but we learn from undoubted authority that he never visited the parish in his Episcopal capacity. Among the "goodly number" confirmed by Bishop Moore on this occasion was the aged mother of President Madison. She became a communicant at the age of twenty, and now at the age of fourscore and four she came forward to ratify her early baptismal vows. Until that day an opportunity had never presented itself for the reception of this solemn and sacred rite. The ministry of Mr. Hawley was evidently blessed during his connection with the parish; but the growing interest in religion and the Church which now became manifest was checked at this auspicious period by his removal in 1817 to another field of labour. In 1820, the Rev. Herbert Marshall came to Culpepper and devoted some of his time to Orange. This worthy young mi- nister married the sister of the present Bishop of Kentucky. The parish was very soon deprived of the benefit of his labours. Death ended his usefulness not long after he came to this part of the diocese. For about two years from 1823, the Rev. Frederick Hatch, of Albemarle, had the oversight of the congregation. in Orange, officiating once a month at the court-house. In the winter of 1826-27, the Rev. George A. Smith came to reside in Culpepper, and took charge of St. Thomas parish in connection with St. Mark's. He continued in charge until 1830, and devoted two Sundays in the month to the congregation at Orange Court- House. While it appears the attendance on divine service was good and the congregations attentive during the time he officiated here, yet at this period the interests of the parish were at a low ebb. In his report to Convention in 1828, Mr. Smith says, "There is no vestry in this parish, and the churches which existed there some years since have been destroyed." A decided improvement, how- ever, in the spiritual interests of the congregation took place under his ministry, and several communicants were added to the Church. In the early part of August, 1832, the Rev. William G. H. Jones, coming on a visit, was induced to take up his residence in Orange, and to undertake the pastoral care of the parish together with Walker's Church, in Albemarle. Here he met with the Assistant- Bishop of the diocese, who had an appointment at Orange Court- House at that time. This was a most auspicious period in the history of the parish. There was found at the time of his coming a deep awakening in the hearts of many on the subject of religion; and this interest was kept alive for some time thereafter. The visit of Bishop Meade at the time was also most opportune, and was at-
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tended with the happiest effects. In his report to the following Convention he stated, "From Albemarle I proceeded to Orange Court-House, where I spent two days in ministering the word and ordinances to large and deeply-impressed assemblies ; on the second day I administered the rite of Confirmation to seventeen persons, and the Holy Communion to more than twice that number. A spirit of earnest inquiry has been awakened among the people of that place, which will, I trust, lead to glorious results to themselves and their posterity." Of the communicants added on that occasion, Mr. Jones, in his first report from St. Thomas parish, says, "Five were added by Bishop Meade, and twelve by myself." An effort was now made to reorganize the parish. A vestry was elected-a body which had not existed . in the parish for many years-and steps were shortly after taken for the building of a church. In 1833, a spacious and eligible lot in the village was selected, and a neat church-edifice of brick was commenced and completed the fol- lowing year, at the cost of three thousand five hundred dollars. The Rev. Mr. Jones continued in Orange until the summer of 1840.
In January, 1841, the present minister took charge of the parish. Since that time there have been alternate seasons of prosperity and adversity in the congregation. Yet, in the face of some discourage- ments, both the communion and the congregation have steadily increased. Mr. Jones, in his last report to Convention from St. Thomas's Church, gave thirty-four as the number of communicants: the number now reaches ninety. In 1853, to accommodate the increasing congregation, the church-edifice was enlarged, and at the same time both the exterior and interior were much improved.
When we look back at the depressed state to which the parish was reduced, and compare it with what it now is, we cannot but exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" and to add, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory." If we except the interval between 1797 and 1800, during which the Rev. Mr. O'Niel resided in Orange, the parish was without a resident minister from 1774 to 1832. Nowhere, during the long and dreary night through which the Church in Virginia was made to pass, was the darkness more distinctly visible than in Orange. With but three or four communicants left, and they far advanced in age,- with her substantial church-edifices, erected in Colonial times, utterly destroyed,-with the graves of her once honoured servants, who ministered at her altars, dismantled and insulted,-with her time-hallowed Liturgy, so dear to every true-hearted Churchman,
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gone into disuse and become a novelty in public worship,-with a parish without an organization and existing only in name, and with the place of litigation as the only place for the worship of Almighty God,-the destruction of the Church in Orange seemed wellnigh complete. But light was made to dawn upon her darkness. By the mercy of God she has risen again, phoenix-like, from her former ashes, and is now, in point of numbers, as it respects both her communion and her congregation, one of the largest of the rural parishes in Virginia.
During the darkest period of the parish, there were not wanting a few faithful witnesses. These were identified with the Church in the time of her prosperity and in the time of her adversity. They forsook her not because she was down-trodden and depressed; on the contrary, they loved her more the more she was afflicted, and clung to her like loving children to a devoted mother. If among God's ancient people the children were blest for their fathers' sake, so we may believe the Church in Orange was ultimately blest for the sake of these devoted servants of the living God. Among these we deem it proper to notice specially the names of several individuals, and we can do so now with the more propriety as we speak of the dead and not of the living. The individuals to whom we allude were the mother of President Madison, the mother of Governor and Judge Barbour, Mrs. Frances Burnley, and Mrs. Jane Howard,-the two last the sisters of Mrs. Lucy Balmaine, of Winchester. These were all bright ornaments of the religion which they professed, and the savour of their piety continues to the present day.
In the absence of vestry-books and other records, I am unable to furnish the names of the vestry prior to the reorganization of the parish in 1832. Since that time we find among the vestry the following :-
Charles P. Howard, Mann A. Page, Jeremiah Morton, James Shep- herd, Peyton Grymes, Lewis B. Williams, Anthony Twyman, Robert T. Willis, Lawrence H. Taliafero, John Taliafero, Benjamin Franklin Talia- fero, Jaqueline P. Taliafero, Uriel Terrill, Thomas T. Slaughter, John J. Ambler, John H. Lee, James H. Minor, William Bankhead, Peter T. Johnson, Thomas A. Robinson, and Horace D. Taliafero.
The principal families connected with the Church in Orange in Colonial times were the Barbours, Bells, Burtons, Campbells, Caves, Chews, Conways, Daniels, Madisons, Moores, Ruckers, Shepherds, Taylors, Taliaferos, and Whites. Mr. Richard White, who died some years since at the age of ninety, was the last communicant
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connected with the Old Orange Church. With comparatively few exceptions, the descendants of these respective families continued to retain their attachment to the Church of their fathers, and some of them are among its most worthy members.
The following letter has also been received from the same :-
"ORANGE COURT-HOUSE, March 7, 1857.
"RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR :- Since I wrote you some days since, a few items of interest in relation to this parish have come to my hands. A single leaf, and that somewhat mutilated, of the old vestry-book of St. Thomas parish, was found among the papers of one of my communicants who died last week, and has since been handed to me. From this I am able to ascertain who composed the vestry as far back as 1769. The record states :- ' At a vestry held for St. Thomas parish, at the glebe, on Friday, the 1st day of September, 1769, present, Rev. Thomas Martin, Eras. Taylor, James Madison, Alexander Waugh, Francis Moore, William Bell, Rowland Thomas, Thomas Bell, Richard Barbour, William Moore.' The object of their meeting was to take into consideration the repairs necessary to be made to the house and other buildings connected with the glebe.
"From a private record kept at the time, I also learn that the congre- gation in Orange, in the year 1786, engaged the services of Mr. Waddell, the blind Presbyterian minister, to preach for them for two years. He officiated at the Brick Church. There was no Episcopal clergyman here at the time. It appears that forty pounds were subscribed for him, and it was expected the subscription would reach sixty pounds. The Rev. Mr. Balmaine was here occasionally at that period, addressing Miss Lucy Taylor, whom he married on the 31st day of October, 1786. He preached and administered the ordinances from time to time, both before and after his marriage. On one occasion, when Mr. Waddell preached, we observe he gave notice that he would preach and administer the Lord's Supper on the following Sunday.
"I have also ascertained that the Rev. Mr. O'Niel was in Orange in 1796. I stated he came in 1797. You will make this correction, and also add to the list of the families the Thomases and the Waughs.
" Yours very truly and affectionately, J. EARNEST."
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ARTICLE LVI.
The Genealogy of the Madisons and Taylors-President Madison's religious character-Churches in Madison and Rappahannock.
THE following documents will give you the ancestry of President Madison. You may be aware that he married Mrs. Dolly Todd : her maiden name was Payne. She was, as I am informed, a Qua- keress, and was born in the county of Hanover, but at the time of her marriage resided in Philadelphia. It was, if I mistake not, while he was a member of Congress, sitting at the time in Phila- delphia, that he made her acquaintance. She was a lady of ex- ceedingly attractive manners. During the latter years of her life she resided in Washington, and in her old age was baptized and became a member of St. John's Church in that city. Mr. Madison died without children. Mrs. Madison had one child, a son, by her former marriage.
I have thought it best to furnish you with a transcript from the record of James Madison, Sen., as it will give you some further in- formation respecting the family. It was transcribed in great haste, and was intended only for my own eye.
A .- James Madison (the late President) is the eldest of twelve chil- dren-eight sons and four daughters-of whom but one brother and one sister are now living. He was born on the north bank of the Rappahannock, at Port Conway, opposite the town of Port Royal, on the 5th of March, 1751. His father's name was James, the son of Ambrose Madison and Frances Taylor. He lived to the age of seventy-eight years, and died in February, 1801. The father of Ambrose was John, the son of John Madison, who it appears took out, by a statement of a patent now in possession, certain lands on the shores of the Chesapeake, between North and York Rivers, in Glocester county, near Colonel Taylor's creek, in the year 1653,-6th Charles II.,-Richard Bennet, Governor and Captain-General of Virginia: The ancestors of Frances Taylor are traced one remove further back, and were residents of the same district of country. The name of his mother was Nelly Conway, descended from some of the early settlers. Her father, Francis, lived near Port Royal, in the county of Caroline, whose father, Edwin Conway, married Elizabeth Thompson. Her mother, Rebecca, was the daughter of E. Gaines and John Catlett, whose father, John, was born in Virginia and educated in England. He was killed by the Indians in defending the fort of Port Royal,-being a first settler. A great-aunt of his was likewise killed by the Indians lower down the river. It appears that all the ancestry just traced were natives of Virginia, and, it is be-
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lieved, for the most part at least, if not altogether, of English descent. In both the paternal and maternal line of ancestry they were planters, and among the respectable though not the most opulent class .*
B .- From the Record of James Madison, Sen., father of the President.
Ambrose Madison was married to Frances Taylor, August 24, 1721.
Ambrose Madison was father of James Madison. Frances Taylor was sister of Erasmus Taylor and daughter of James Taylor.
James Madison, Sen. was born March 27, 1723, and was baptized April 21, and had for godfathers Thomas Madison and James Taylor, and for godmothers Martha Taylor and Elizabeth Penn.
Frances, wife of Ambrose Madison, departed this life October 25, 1761, and was interred the Sunday following at Montpelier in Orange. Her funeral sermon was preached on Wednesday, the 30th of December fol- lowing, by the Rev. Mr. James Marye, Jr., on Revelation ch. 14, v. 13.
James Madison, Sen. was married to Nelly Conway, September 15, 1749. The following are their children :-
James Madison, Jr., the President, was born on Tuesday night at 12 o'clock, being the last of the 5th and beginning of the 6th day of March, 1751, and was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Wm. Davis, March 31, and had for godfathers Mr. John Moore and Mr. Jonathan Gibson, and for god- mothers Mrs. Rebecca Moore, Miss Judith, and Miss Elizabeth Catlett.
. [James Madison, Jr. was born at Port Conway, in King George, and was baptized there,-his mother being on a visit there to her mother at the time of his birth.]
Frances Madison was born on Monday morning at 7 o'clock, June 18, 1753, and was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Mungo Marshall, July 1, and had for godfathers Mr. Taverner Beale and Mr. Erasmus Taylor, and for godmothers Miss Milly Taylor and Mrs. Frances Beale.
Ambrose Madison was born on Monday night between 9 and 10 o'clock, January 27, 1755, and was baptized by the Rev. Mungo Marshall, March 2, and had for godfathers Mr. James Coleman and Colonel George Taylor, and for godmothers Mrs. Jane Taylor and Alice Chew.
Catlett Madison was born on Friday morning at 3 o'clock, February 10, 1758, and was baptized by the Rev. Mr. James Maury, February 22, and had for godfathers Colonel Wm. Taliafero and Mr. Richard Beale, and for godmothers Mrs. Elizabeth Beale and Miss Milly Chew.
Nelly Madison (afterward Mrs. Hite) was born February 14, 1760, and was baptized March 6, by the Rev. Mr. Wm. Giberne, and had for god- fathers Mr. Larken Chew and Mr. Wm. Moore, and for godmothers Miss Elizabeth Catlett and Miss Catharine Bowie. The said Nelly was born on Thursday morning just after daybreak.
William Madison was born May 1, 1762, baptized May 23, by the Rev. James Marie, Jr., and had for godfathers Mr. Wm. Moore and Mr. James Taylor, and for godmothers Miss Mary Willis and Miss Milly Chew. He was born on Saturday morning, about twenty-five minutes after 10 o'clock.
* These papers are copies from the originals loaned me by Mrs. L. H. Conway, niece of the late President Madison. They were found among his papers after the death of his wife. The original of this marked A. is believed to be in Mr. Madison's handwriting. The handwriting of the other is not known.
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Sarah Madison, (Mrs. Thomas Macon,) born August 17, 1764, and was baptized September 15, by the Rev. James Marye, Jr., and had for godfathers Captain Richard Barbour and Mr. Andrew Shepherd, and for godmothers Mrs. Sarah Taylor and Miss Mary Conway. She was born forty-five minutes after 5 o'clock P.M., on Friday.
Elizabeth Madison was born February 19, 1768, half an hour after 12 o'clock, and was baptized February 22, by the Rev. Mr. Thomas Martin, and had for godfathers Major Zachariah Burnley and Captain Ambrose Powell, and for godmothers Miss Alice and Miss Milly Chew.
Reuben Madison was born September 19, 1771, between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening, and was baptized November 10, by the Rev. Mr. John Barnett, and had for godfathers Mr. Thomas Barbour and Mr. James Chew, and for godmothers Miss Alice and Miss Milly Chew.
Frances Taylor Madison (afterward Mrs. Dr. Robert H. Rose) was born October 4, 1774, and was baptized October 30, by the Rev. Mr. John Wingate, and had for godfathers Mr. Thomas Bell and Mr. Richard Taylor, and for godmothers Miss Frances Taylor and Miss Elizabeth Taylor.
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
The Taylors of Orange trace their ancestry back to James Taylor, of Carlisle, England. The time of his emigration to Virginia is not known. It appears he settled on the Chesapeake between the North and York Rivers, (Doc. A.) He died in 1698. He had several children,-one of whom (Mary) was the mother of Judge Edmund Pendleton. His son John (who married a Pendleton) is the ancestor of Colonel John Taylor, of Caroline. His son James took up lands in Orange, and was a first settler. He was the father of Frances, wife of Ambrose Madison and grandmother of the President. He had four sons,-James, George, Zachary, and Eras- mus. From James are descended the Taylors of Kentucky. George had fourteen sons, seven of whom served in the Revolution- ary War, and thirteen of whom held offices under Government at the same time. Some of his descendants are now residing in Orange, and are members of the Episcopal Church. Zachary had seven sons and three daughters. He was grandfather of General Zachary Taylor. The latter was born at Hare Forest, about four miles from Orange Court-House. Erasmus had two sons and five daughters,-viz .: John and Robert, Mildred, (married Wm. Morton,) Frances, (married - Burnley,) Elizabeth, (married - Glassel,) Lucy, (married the Rev. A. Balmaine,) Jane, (married Charles P. Howard.) John was father of the late Judge John Taylor, of Mis- sissippi. Robert married Frances Pendleton, and from them are descended most of the Taylors now residing in Orange,-all of whom retain their attachment to the Church of their fathers.
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PRESIDENT MADISON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS.
In the neighbourhood of Orange Court-House, at Montpelier, lived Mr. James Madison, once President of the United States, and relative of Bishop Madison. Having been often asked concerning his religious sentiments, I give the following, received from the Rev. Dr. Balmaine, who married his near relative, and by whom Mr. Madison himself was married. Mr. Madison was sent to Princeton College,. perhaps through fear of the skeptical principles then so prevalent at William and Mary. During his stay at Princeton a great revival took place, and it was believed that he partook of its spirit. On his return home he conducted family worship in his father's house. He soon after offered for the Legislature, and it was objected to him, by his opponents, that he was better suited to the pulpit than to the legislative hall. His religious feeling, how- ever, seems to have been short-lived. His political associations with those of infidel principles, of whom there were many in his day, if they did not actually change his creed, yet subjected him to the general suspicion of it. This was confirmed in the minds of some by the active part he took in opposition to every thing like the support of churches by the Legislature, in opposition to Patrick Henry, Governor Page, Richard Henry Lee, and others. This, however, ought not to have been sufficient to fix the charge upon him, as George Mason and others, whose faith was not questioned, agreed with him in this policy. A reference to a memorial against any such act by Mr. Madison, at the request, it is affirmed, of some non-Episcopalians, will show his character and views. It is by far the ablest document which appears on that side of the question, and establishes his character for good temper as well as decision. It is drawn up on the supposition of the truth of Christianity. It must indeed have done this in order to be acceptable to those by whom it was solicited. Whatever may have been the private senti- ments of Mr. Madison on the subject of religion, he was never known to declare any hostility to it. He always treated it with respect, attended public worship in his neighbourhood, invited minis- ters of religion to his house, had family prayers on such occasions, -though he did not kneel himself at prayers. Episcopal ministers often went there to see his aged and pious mother and administer the Holy Communion to her. I was never at Mr. Madison's but once, and then our conversation took such a turn-though not designed on my part-as to call forth some expressions and argu-
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