USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 18
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"In the summer of 1833, after leaving Williamsburg, I visited a great- uncle, Captain William Payne, a venerable old gentleman, (grandfather of Richard Payne, of Warrenton,) residing near Warrenton. He was dressed in short pants, had served in the Revolution, and was a fine speci- men of the old Virginia gentleman. Finding me interested in the history of our family, he took down from his library a copy of Smith's History of Virginia, and in the index showed me the names of our ancestors to whom King James gave patents of land in Virginia. They were Sir William Payne, John Payne, and Richard or Thomas, I forget which. Sir William, he said, never came to America, but the other two brothers did. One of these brothers, as I learned from him, and his daughter,-my cousin,-Mrs. Scott, of Fredericksburg, settled in the country about Lynchburg, and from him descended Mrs. Madin, (Polly Payne.) The other- John Payne -settled between the Potomac and Rappahannock, probably in or near that which was to be the great city Leedstown. My grandfather, John Payne, whom you saw, I think died when I was six or seven years old,
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but I recollect him distinctly as dressed in the old style, like Uncle Wil- liam. His residence was at the old family-stead called, when I knew it, the Red House. It is immediately in the rear of Bunker's Hill, (Henry Taylor's place,) and three miles from Leedstown. His estates-subse- quently divided between my father and his brothers, Daniel, George, and daughter Elizabeth-were on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, and partly in Richmond county. My third great-uncle, Richard, whom I re- member well, settled in Culpepper, and his descendants, (except one son, William,-Episcopalian,-who married old Parson Woodville's daughter, and removed to Columbus, Mississippi,) Methodists, are now to be found in Culpepper county.
"When in Alexandria, Mr. Dana showed me in the vestry-books of Christ Church the name of William Payne associated with George Wash- ington; and one of the cross-streets in Alexandria, near the head of King, I noticed, still bears the name of 'Payne Street.' Learning that this family emigrated to the West, when in Lexington I made inquiries about them, and soon found multitudes of most respectable people in and about Lexing- ton and Frankfort bearing this name. They are Presbyterians. Mr. Berkeley, the Episcopal minister, subsequently introduced me to Dr. Payne, of Lexington, who said at once, 'We are doubtless the same family,' and he and all his relatives about there were descended from Washington's contemporary and associate, William Payne, of Alexandria. He told me with a spirit of too much self-complacency-as I told him-that this was the same William Payne who knocked down General Washington in Alex- andria for insulting him. But he replied quickly, "Oh, no! he was right. For General Washington the next day sent him an apology, instead of a challenge as his friends had anticipated.'
" Of the ecclesiastical and theological views of my father and grand- father I know but little. I think you told me that the latter gave you proof that he clung to ' the old Church' and eschewed all others. I am inclined to think, from circumstances which I can remember, that my father was like-minded. I found among his books 'The Theological Repertory,' with whose history you are familiar; and one of the few things that I can re- member about him well was his holding long and late discussions with the Methodist ministers who in 1823-25 began to preach in the neighbourhood and occasionally to visit my father's house. My father was a teetotaller, very thoughtful,-I will hope, a religious man, though of this I cannot be certain. My mother, however, from my earliest recollection I know was, but she did not make a profession of religion until after my father's death, nor until my eldest sister (now dead) made a profession among the Method- ists. This circumstance leads me to think my father's influence prevented my mother from uniting herself before with the Methodists,-though the only representative of the Episcopal Church in the neighbourhood was our poor friend, Mr. Clapham.
"The last baptism by a Church parson in our family was that of brother William. I infer it was one of the old sort, as his godfather was any thing but a pious man, and thought his duty to his godson quite performed after he had given him a yoke of oxen.
"I have said I was born in the White Oak Swamps about one mile from the Potomac. This was my father's residence for two or three years after his marriage, being convenient to his estate on the Potomac. But it proved so unhealthy that he purchased one of the old glebes in the Pine Forest, on 17 : ridge between the Potomac and Rappahannock, seven miles from
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the former, and three from the nearest point of the latter. Here eight of us were reared in most remarkable health. From this glebe to the Old Round Hill Church, or rather its remains,-for it was demolished before my earliest recollection,-there was in my childhood one of the most beautiful roads I ever saw. It led for several miles in a direction perfectly straight, under an avenue of beautiful oaks. It was called 'the Parson's Road,' and was no doubt the road by which the parsons travelled to the Round Hill Church. By-the-way, have you ever ascertained or written the history of this said Round Hill Church? It was situated on a beau- tiful and commanding knoll, near old Machodoc Meeting-House, which superseded it, and in which Mr. Clapham was wont to officiate before his removal from King George to Loudon. But, as I have said, nothing of it but some fragments remained at the time of my earliest visits to the neighbourhood.
" I have given you all that occurs to me of my family history of inte- rest. Should you wish to make further inquiries, I would refer you to my cousin, Mrs. Scott, of Fredericksburg, and through Cousin Richard Payne, of Warrenton, to his father and Mrs. Scott's eldest brother, Daniel Payne, who resides in the neighbourhood of Warrenton. He is called the French- man of our family, and should you ever meet with him you will find him very agreeable and fond of talking, and on no subject more than that about which I have been writing."
THE WASHINGTON FAMILY.
It is agreed on all hands that, about the year 1655, two brothers, John and Laurence Washington, came over to Virginia and settled in Westmoreland county. In all the histories which I have seen of the Washington family there is not another word said of Lau- rence Washington, except that he and his brother came together and settled at the same place. While the descendants of John Washington, in all their branches, are minutely described in gene- alogies and histories and biographies, doubtless in a great measure because the great Washington was one of them, Laurence Wash- ington was forgotten and lost sight of as though he had never been. I have met with persons who could not trace their connection with General Washington or his first ancestors, yet were certain of some connection with the family, but never thought of inquiring whether their descent is not from the other brother. In a recent visit to Tappahannock, the county seat of Essex county, (where are the records of the old county of Rappahannock, which from 1653 to 1692 embraced all that lay on each side of the Rappahannock River for some miles up to the Falls above Fredericksburg,) in searching in an old record of wills, I found that of this same Lau- rence Washington. Although he may have settled near the Poto- mac with his brother John, he must have removed into Rappa- hannock county, for his will is there recorded. He may have done
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this without moving many miles from his brother, as Westmoreland county and Washington parish were only about five miles wide, and Rappahannock county and Littenburne parish were about the same width, the one lying on the Potomac, the other on the Rappahan- nock River. I have also obtained, by the help of a friend, the will of Mr. John Washington, which was recorded at Westmoreland Court-House, and whose original is still there in an old book of wills, though in a somewhat mutilated form. That they were the two brothers is evident from the fact that they mention each other in their wills. Both of the wills are made in the same year,-that of one on February 26, 1675; that of the other on September 27, 1675. The one is proved the 10th of January, 1677, and the other the 6th of January of the same year, at an interval of only four days, so that it is probable they died in a few days of each other. There is something so pious in the language of these wills, that I make no apology for introducing a portion of them. Without any means of ascertaining which was the elder of the two, we begin with the will of John Washington :-
"In the name of God, Amen. I, John Washington, of Washington parish, in the county of Westmoreland, in 'Virginia, gentleman, being of good and perfect memory, thanks be unto Almighty God for it, and calling to remembrance the uncertain state of this transitory life, that all flesh must yield unto death, do make, constitute, and ordain this my last will and testament and none other. And first, being heartily sorry, from the bottom of my heart, for my sins past, most humbly desiring forgiveness of the same from the Almighty God, my Saviour and Redeemer, in whom and by the merits of Jesus Christ I trust and believe assuredly to be saved, and to have full remission and forgiveness of all my sins, and that my soul with my body at the general resurrection shall rise again with joy."
Again he repeats the same sentiment, hoping "through the merits of Jesus Christ's death and passion to possess and inherit the kingdom of heaven prepared for his elect and chosen." He directs his body to be buried on the plantation upon which he lived, by the side of his wife and two children. He then proceeds to distribute his property, which he says it has pleased God to give him " far above his deserts." After dividing a number of landed estates between his second and surviving wife and his children,- John, Laurence, and Anne,-and also his property in England, he directs that a funeral sermon be preached and no other funeral kept, and that a tablet with the Ten Commandments be sent for to England and given to the church. I think, also, that he directs four thousand-weight of tobacco to be given to the minister, though
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of this I am not certain, some words being lost. He leaves one thousand pounds to his brother-in-law, Thomas Pope, and one thousand pounds and four thousand-weight of tobacco to his sister, who had come or was coming over to this country. He makes his wife and brother Laurence his executors. From the above it would seem that, great as were his military talents, being commander-in- chief in the Northern Neck, high as he stood in the Government, so that the parish was called after him, and large as was his property in England and America, he was also a sincerely pious man, and in his will emphatically testifies to those great Gospel principles which are so prominent in the Church of his fathers.
In the will of his brother Laurence there is the same spirit of piety. After the usual preamble, he says, "Imprimis : I give and bequeath my soul unto the hands of Almighty God, hoping and trusting, through the mercy of Jesus Christ, my one Saviour and Redeemer, to receive full pardon and forgiveness of all my sins, and my body to the earth, to be buried in comely and decent manner by my exe- cutor hereafter named: and for my worldly goods, I thus dispose of them." To his daughter Mary Washington (by a former wife in England) he bequeathed his whole estate in England, both real and personal, to be delivered immediately after his death, together with a ring and other articles. To his loving son John he left all his books and part of his plate, the other part to his daughter Ann, when they should be of age or marry. His lands are divided be- tween his wife and the two children-John and Ann-by her. A farm called West Fales, which lay on the south side of the Rappa- hannock, which once belonged to Captain Alexander Fleming, and which came to him by his wife, was to be sold for his debts. It is probable that his second wife was a daughter of Captain Fleming. He leaves his wife executrix of the estate, but provides that in case of her death or neglect to be the guardian and overseer of his children, his loving brother John Washington and loving friend Thomas Hawkins should be. In a codicil written at the same time, he leaves that part of the land on which he then lived, and which came to him by marriage, to the sole disposal of his wife. It is probable, from the above, that he lived on the north side of the river, in what is now Westmoreland. From the foregoing particu- lars, some other than myself may be able to ascertain the maiden name of his wife, and who, if any, are the descendants of his three children, as it is more than probable they had descendants.
1
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1
THE WASHINGTON FAMILY SEAT AND VAULT.
I recently paid a visit to the old family seat of the Washingtons, which is sometimes said to be on Pope's Creek, and sometimes on Bridge's Creek, near the Potomac. The farm lay between the two, which are about a mile apart, near their junction with the Potomac. The family mansion lies near Pope's Creek, and the vault where the dead were deposited near Bridge's Creek. The latter appears to have been favourable to a rich growth of cedars, and may have been chosen for this reason. Or it may be that one of the two brothers first settled there. The estate is still in the family, or in the possession of one intermarried with the family. Some years since it was owned by Mr. John Gray, of Travellers' Rest, near Fredericksburg, who either repaired one of the outhouses or a wing of the old one, or built a small house for his overseer out of the old materials. The brick chimney is all that remains of the Washing- ton mansion,-the birthplace of General Washington,-except the broken bricks which are scattered about over the spot where it was built. The grandson of Mrs. General Washington, Mr. Custis, of Arlington, some years since placed a slab with a brief inscription on the spot, but it is now in fragments. I was happy to hear that a bill had passed one branch of our Legislature, appropriating a sum of money for enclosing this spot, as well as the vault in a neigh- bouring field nearly a mile off. I also visited that spot, which no one can look upon without distress and even disgust. The condition of all such vaults as were once common in some parts of Virginia, especially in the Northern Neck, must after the lapse of time be necessarily thus distressing and disgusting, like the sepulchres of old when filled "with rottenness and dead men's bones." The vault where so many of the Washington family are interred is in an open field and unenclosed. A small space around it is covered with grass, briers, shrubs, and a few small trees. Itself can only be distinguished by the top of the brick arch which rises a little above the surface. The cavity underneath has been very properly filled up with earth by Mr. Laurence Washington, one of its late proprie- tors, to prevent the bones of the dead being taken away by visitors, who had begun thus to pillage it. Not far from the vault there was a large slab lying on the ground, with the name of one of the family and two of his children. There were also fragments of another. It is to be hoped that the Legislature will resolve on putting a permanent enclosure around this also.
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THE VAULT OF THE LEES AT STRATFORD, IN WESTMORELAND.
In the preceding sketch of the Lees, by Mr. William Lee, of London, there is mention made of a loss by fire sustained by his father, Thomas Lee, of Stratford, and of a present to him by Queen Caroline. This establishes the source from whence came the means of building the present most durable building at that place, which for the thickness of the walls and the excellency of its architecture is not surpassed, if equalled, by any in Virginia .* It has some- times been called the Governor's House, probably because its owner and builder, Thomas Lee, was commissioned as Governor, though he did not live to act in that capacity. The cemetery was not built by him, as he was buried at Pope's Creek Church. I have been assured by Mrs. Eliza Turner, who was there at the time, that it was built by General Harry Lee. The ceme- tery is much larger than any other in the Northern Neck, consist- ing of several apartments or alcoves for different branches of the family. Instead of an arch over them there is a brick house, per- haps twenty feet square, covered in. A floor covers the cemetery. In the centre is a large trapdoor, through which you descend by a ladder to the apartments below. I went down into it some years since, when nothing was to be seen but the bones of the deceased, which were scattered over the dirt floor. I was informed that it had sometimes been filled with water, and that then the bones and skulls of the deceased might be seen floating upon the surface,-at any rate, if stirred up with a pole, as was sometimes done. The entrance to this house has of late years been almost prevented by a thick growth of young aspens and briers. I am happy to state that it is the purpose of the present proprietor to fill up the vault, take down the brick walls and convert them into a mound over the place, and on the top of the mound to have the tombstone of old Thomas Lee fixed in some immovable way.
Some mournful thoughts will force themselves upon us when considering the ruins of churches, of mansions, and of cemeteries, in Westmoreland. By reason of the worth, talents, and patriotism which once adorned it, it was called the Athens of Virginia. But how few of the descendants of those who once were its ornaments
* An American writer says there were once a hundred rooms in this house. A view of the engraving of it will show how untrue this is. Even including the base- ment and the large hall, there are not more, I think, than seventeen, and never were more. Another says there were one hundred stalls for horses in the stable,-almost equally untrue.
R.CRUMP DE:
STRATFORD HOUSE, WESTMORELAND.
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are now to be found in it! Chantilly, Mount Pleasant, Wakefield, are now no more. Stratford alone remains. Where now are the venerable churches ? Pope's Creek, Round Hill, Nomini, Leeds, where are they ? Yeocomico only survives the general wreck. Of the old men, mansions, churches, &c. we are tempted to say, "Fuit Illium, et ingens gloria Dardanidum ;" and yet we rejoice to think that new ones have taken their places, in some respects better suited to present times and circumstances. Those who, in the general defection, have remained to the Church, are exerting themselves to repair the waste places; and we trust there awaits for Westmoreland a greater glory than the former.
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ARTICLE LXII.
Farnham and Lunenburg Parishes, Richmond County.
To do justice to the history of this county and these parishes, we must go back to the time when they were a part of Rappahan- nock county and Littenburne parish,-which they were from the year 1653 to 1692,-when new counties and parishes were esta- blished. But where are the vestry-books or county records from whence to draw our facts ? Of the former there are none. Some few of the latter are to be seen in Tappahannock, the county seat of Essex, where the archives of old Rappahannock county are preserved.
At my request, a worthy friend-most competent to the task- has searched these records, and though unable to specify who were the vestrymen of the parish, yet, in giving the following list of magistrates from 1680 to 1695, has doubtless furnished us with the names of far the greater part of the vestrymen, if not the whole of them, during that period. We cannot determine to which side of the river they belonged, as both the county and parish were on both sides. They are as follows :- Henry Aubrey, Major Henry Smith, Captain George Taylor, Mr. Thomas Harrison, Colonel John Stone, Colonel Leroy Griffin, Major Robinson, Colonel William Loyd, Cap- tain Samuel Bloomfield, William Fauntleroy, Samuel Peachy, Wil- liam Slaughter, Cadwallader Jones, Henry Williamson. My friend adds that " the character and habits of the early settlers, so far as can be ascertained from their wills and the records, indicate intelligence and a high state of morals for the times." This section appears to have been settled chiefly by those coming from the lower counties,- the names of the principal men being those of families in the lower country. There are some, however, whose names are rarely met with in other counties; and there is evidence that they originally settled here. They are such as Latane, Waring, Upshaw, Rowsee, Rennolds, Micou, Roy, Clements, Young.
To the labours of another friend, on the other side of the river, we are indebted for information gotten from the records of Rich-
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mond county after the year 1692, which can nowhere else be found, as we have no vestry-book of that county, except that of North Farnham parish, from the year 1787 to 1804. The first justices of the peace were Captain George Taylor, William Underwood, Cap- tain William Barber, James Scott, Captain Alexander Swan. From that time to the Revolution, the principal families in the county were Stone, Glascock, Deane, Donaphun, Colston, Thornton, Travis, Peachy, Tayloe, Conway, Brockenbrough, Gwin, Tarplay, Down- man, Slaughter, Parker, Sherlock, Davis, Robinson, Beale Smith, Woodbridge, Heale, Barrow, Taverner, Barber, Griffin, Fitzhugh, Fauntleroy, Gibson, Taliafero, Ingo, Bellfield, Tomlin, Grymes, Metcalf, Newton, Barnes, Sydnor, Jordan, Hornby, Hamilton, Car- ter, Mountjoy, Flood, Plummer, Beckwith. Of all these, my in- formant says, a very few have descendants in the county at this time who are called by these names.
According to the records of the court, he says, there were once three parishes in the county,-North Farnham, Lunenburg, and St. Mary's,-having separate ministers.
Of the three ministers mentioned on the records, from the year 1693 to 1742, the account is sad. The two first-John Burnet and John Alexander-were always in court, suing or being sued. The third-the Rev. Thomas Blewer-was presented by the grand jury as a common swearer. A particular account is drawn from the records of different families. From the votes on election-days, the Woodbridges and Fauntleroys appear to have been at one time the most popular. The Carters and Tayloes, of Sabine Hall and Mount Airy, were active and useful men. The Chinns first appear in 1713. "From Raleigh Chinn," he says, "descended those model males and females of that name who have served to give character to our county in modern times." The McCartys were an ancient family, springing from. Daniel and Dennis McCarty, who are first mentioned in 1710.
Having furnished this general account of individuals and families from the court records, we proceed to give the information in our possession concerning each of the parishes separately.
First, of North Farnham. This was established in 1693, when Rappahannock county was stricken from the list of counties and Richmond and Essex erected in its stead, and South Farnham parish created in Essex. The first minister of this parish whom we have on our lists-though there were doubtless many before-is the Rev. William Mackay, who was there in 1754, and continued
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until 1774 .* From his long continuance in the parish and the respectability of the people, we have grounds for believing that he was a worthy man,-although in a few years after his death, or departure from the parish, it seems to have been in the most de- plorable condition, as we shall soon see. The Rev. John Leland, a worthy minister from Northumberland, officiated statedly in Farn- ham for some time after Mr. Mackay disappears. Then the Rev. Thomas Davis, from one of the parishes of Northumberland, gives them a portion of his time for two years. After this a considerable interval occurred in which there was no vestry,-several efforts at an election having failed. At length, a partial meeting having been had, the following address was prepared :-
"FRIENDS AND FELLOW PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIANS :-
" Permit us, surviving members of the late vestry of this parish, to ad- dress you and entreat you, for your own sakes as well as that of the rising generation, to come forward on this occasion. Although our church, from various causes, has been most woefully neglected for a season, we flatter ourselves that the time is at hand when the members thereof-of whom there are not a few-will throw off their lukewarmness and exert themselves in the cause of that profession of Christianity handed down to us by our forefathers, who-God rest their souls-left us a goodly fabric to assemble in and pay our devotions to the Almighty Creator and Preserver of the universe, as they had done,-although by our neglect it is mouldering into ruins. The first step toward a reform is the appointment of trustees ; for, until that is done, our church must remain in that miserable condition we see it. There is now a probability of procuring a minister to perform divine service once a fortnight ; but this cannot be done until there shall be persons authorized to meet and consult on the ways and means of afford- ing him an adequate compensation for his services. Awaken, then, from this fatal supineness. Elect your trustees, and they, we doubt not, will make the necessary arrangements, in the accomplishment of which, aided by your hearty exertions and concurrence, our church will be restored to its former decency and rank as the temple of the living God.
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