USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 24
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"You have all heard before now of the measures taken by the British Parliament to deprive his Majesty's subjects of these Colonies of their just and legal rights, by imposing several taxes upon them destructive of their liberties as British subjects. And to enforce those acts they have for some time blocked up the harbour of the city of Boston with ships-of- war, and overawed the inhabitants by British troops. By which illegal steps, the people in general have endured great hardships by being deprived of their trade, and the poor reduced to great want. It is therefore incum- bent upon every one of us, as men and Christians, cheerfully to contribute according to our ability toward their relief. And as we know not how soon their case may be our own, I would likewise recommend to you to contribute something toward supplying the country with arms and ammu- nition, that if we be attacked we may be in a posture of defence. And I make no doubt that what you bestow in this manner will be employed in the use you intend it for. If you want to be better informed with respect to the Acts which have been passed with a view to impose illegal taxes upon us and deprive us of our liberties, I shall refer you to the gentlemen of the committee for this county, who will satisfy you on that head."
Mr. Thomson, from the memoranda on a number of sermons or fragments of sermons I have seen, seemed to have been punctual in preaching in four churches,-Taylor's Church, not very far from Warrenton, Goose Creek Church, near Salem, Old Bull Run Church, whose location I cannot specify, and Piper's Church, in Leeds Manor, not one of which are now standing. They were, I suppose, all badly-built wooden churches, which soon came to ruin. I never saw Mr. Thomson, though he lived in a neighbouring parish and did not die until the year after I entered the ministry. From an examination of some of his sermons, or parts of sermons, I should say that they were marked by more taste and talent than most of those which have been submitted to my perusal. But the Episcopal Church from various causes failed, and almost disap-
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peared, under his ministry. Other denominations took possession of the ground which was once entirely ours.
My nearness to Leeds parish, and its position being such that I must pass through it on my numerous visits to other parts of Virginia, caused me to preach more frequently there than in any of the surrounding parishes. Mr. Thomas Marshall, eldest son of the Chief-Justice, lived at the old homestead of the Marshalls, Oakhill, on the road to Warrington and Fredericksburg. He was one of my earliest and dearest Christian friends. He became a communicant at an early period. He often begged that, in any efforts I might make for the promotion of religion, which required pecuniary aid, I would consider him as ready to afford it. Mr. Thomas Ambler, a nephew of Judge Marshall, and an old school- mate of my early years, lived in the same neighbourhood. Cool Spring Meeting-house lay between them. At this I often preached, and it was the place where Mr. Lemmon officiated until perhaps the close of his labours in that parish. The Marshalls and Amblers continued to settle in this neighbourhood, until they have become two small congregations, or rather important parts of two congre- gations. The children of my esteemed friend, Mr. Thomas Mar- shall, six in number, settled in sight of each other, on the estate of their father, and are all living .* The Peytons, Turners, Be- verleys, Hendersons, and others, descendants of Episcopal families, still adhere to the old Church, and are active in seeking its resus- citation. In the year 1816, the Rev. George Lemmon, of Balti- more, who graduated at Princeton College a year or two before me, took charge of both Hamilton and Leeds parishes, and conti- nued to be the minister, with the exception of a few years spent in Hagerstown, Maryland, until his death. In my report to the Convention of 1847, I find the following notice of him :---
" In the death of the Rev. Mr. Lemmon, the Church has parted with one who had grown old and gray in her service, having devoted all his strength of body and mind to the promotion of her welfare. He who now addresses you has lost his carliest and oldest brother in the ministry. Our acquaint- ance, our friendship, our choice of the ministry, are all of the same date, and reach back to forty years save one. During all this period we have been living in the most intimate communion of soul. A sounder theo- logian, a more true-hearted minister, a more sincere Christian, I have never known."
Never was there a minister more esteemed and beloved by his
* Mr. Marshall was killed by the falling of a brick upon his head in Baltimore, on his way to Philadelphia to see his father, who died there a few days after.
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people of all ages and characters. His preaching-talents were not attractive, on account of the harshness of his voice, but he was faith- ful to the truth, and understood how to present it experimentally to the people. His forte was in private intercourse as a pastor and gentleman. Though strict in his views of fashionable amuse- ments, in which the young are apt to delight, yet so tender, cour- teous, and loving was he, that the young were ever pleased with his company and conversation. It is delightful to hear him spoken of to this day by his old parishioners. His health was very im- perfect for many years, and his ministrations very irregular ; yet such was the attachment of his people in both congregations, that they bore it almost without complaining. The active friends of the Church and Mr. Lemmon were Colonel Randolph, of Easternview, (who was always sure to be at the minister's house on the first day of each year with his subscription of one hundred dollars,) the Horners, the Bells, the Withers, Smiths, Paines, Edmonds, Hen- dersons, Fitzhughs, Digges, and others, in Hamilton parish, and the Marshalls, Amblers, Scotts, Adamses, Carters, Chunns, and others, in Leeds parish. In Hamilton parish Mr. Lemmon was suc- ceeded by the present rector, the Rev. Mr. Norton, in the year 1847, under whose ministry the congregation has greatly increased, and by whose enterprise, aided by the zeal of some untiring ladies, a new church has been built at the cost of seven or eight thousand dollars. I have mentioned before that Judge Marshall had no hope of the revival of the Church in Virginia, though contributing liberally to the efforts made for it. He lived to see himself mis- taken, and to unite with his children and grandchildren in the services of our resuscitated Church in the very place of his nativity and amid the scenes of his early life. In my frequent visits to Coolspring and Oakhill, I often met with him, as I had done at my father's house, and other places in Frederick, in more boyish days. Though not a communicant, he was the sincere friend to religion and the Episcopal Church. I can never forget how he would pros- trate his tall form before the rude low benches, without backs, at Coolspring Meeting-House, in the midst of his children and grand- children and his old neighbours. In Richmond he always set an example to the gentlemen of the same conformity, though many of them did not follow it. At the building of the Monumental Church he was much incommoded by the narrowness of the pews, which partook too much of the modern fashion. Not finding room enough for his whole body within the pew, he used to take his seat nearest the door of his pew, and, throwing it open, let his legs stretch a
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little into the aisle. This I have seen with my own eyes. He was a most conscientious man in regard to some things which others might regard as too trivial to be observed. It was my privilege more than once to travel with him between Fauquier and Frede- ricksburg, when we were both going to the lower country. On one occasion, the roads being in their worst condition, when we came to that most miry part called the "Black Jack," we found that the travellers through it had taken a nearer and better road through a plantation. The fence being down, or very low, I was proceed- ing to pass over, but he said we had better go round, although each step was a plunge, adding that it was his duty, as one in office, to be very particular in regard to such things. As to some other matters, however, he was not so particular. Although myself never much given to dress or equipage, yet I was not at all ashamed to com- pare with him during these travels, whether as to clothing, horse, saddle, or bridle. Servant he had none. Federalist as he was in politics, in his manners and habits he was truly republican. Would that all republicans were like him in this respect ! He was fond of agriculture, and to gratify himself, and for the sake of exercise, he purchased a small farm a few miles from Richmond, to which he often went. On one of my visits to Richmond, being in a street near his house, between daybreak and sunrise one morning, I met him on horseback, with a bag of clover-seed lying before him, which he was carrying to his farm, it being the time of sowing such seed. But the most interesting and striking feature in the domestic cha- racter of this truly great and good man was the tender and assidu- ous attentions paid to his afflicted companion. Mrs. Marshall was nervous in the extreme. The least noise was sometimes agony to her whole frame, and his perpetual endeavour was to keep the house and yard and outhouses as free as possible from the slightest cause of distressing her; walking himself at times about the house and yard without shoes. On one occasion, when she was in her most distressing state, the town authorities of Richmond manifested their great respect for him, and sympathy for her, by having either the town-clock or town-bell muffled. I am sure that every Virginian will excuse this digression .*
* The strength as well as tenderness of Judge Marshall's attachment to Mrs. Marshall will appear from the following affecting tribute to her memory, written by himself, December 25, 1832 :-
" This day of joy and festivity to the whole Christian world is, to my sad heart, the anniversary of the keenest affliction which humanity can sustain. While all
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I have nothing more to say of Leeds parish, but that during the few years of Mr. Lemmon's stay at Hagerstown, the Rev. Mr.
around is gladness, my mind dwells on the silent tomb, and cherishes the remem- brance of the beloved object which it contains.
"On the 25th of December, 1831, it was the will of Heaven to take to itself the companion who had sweetened the choicest part of my life, had rendered teil a pleasure, had partaken of all my feelings, and was enthroned in the inmost recess of my heart. Never can I cease to feel the loss and to deplore it. Grief for her is too sacred ever to be profaned on this day, which shall be, during my existence, marked by a recollection of her virtues.
"On the 3d of January, 1783, I was united by the holiest bonds to the woman I adored. From the moment of our union to that of our separation, I never ceased to thank Heaven for this its best gift. Not a moment passed in which I did not consider her as a blessing from which the chief happiness of my life was derived. This never-dying sentiment, originating in love, was cherished by a long and close observation of as amiable and estimable qualities as ever adorned the female bosom. To a person which in youth was very attractive, to manners uncommonly pleasing, she added a fine understanding, and the sweetest temper which can accompany a just and modest sense of what was due to herself. She was educated with a pro- found reverence for religion, which she preserved to her last moments. This senti- ment, among her earliest and deepest impressions, gave a colouring to her whole life. Hers was the religion taught by the Saviour of man. She was a firm believer in the faith inculcated by the Church (Episcopal) in which she was bred.
"I have lost her, and with her have lost the solace of my life! Yet she remains still the companion of my retired hours, still occupies my inmost bosom. When alone and unemployed, my mind still recurs to her. More than a thousand times since the 25th of December, 1831, have I repeated to myself the beautiful lines written by General Burgoyne, under a similar affliction, substituting 'Mary' for ' Anna :'-
" 'Encompass'd in an angel's frame, An angel's virtues lay ; Too soon did Heaven assert its claim And take its own away ! My Mary's worth, my Mary's charms, Can never more return ! What now shall fill these widow'd arms ? Ah me! my Mary's urn! Ah me! ah me! my Mary's urn !'"
As to the religious opinions of Judge Marshall, the following extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Norwood may be entirely relied on :-
"I have read some remarks of yours in regard to Chief-Justice Marshall, which have suggested to me to communicate to you the following facts, which may be use- ful should you again publish any thing in relation to his religious opinions. I often visited Mrs. General Harvey during her last illness. From her I received this state- ment. She was much with her father during the last months of his life, and told me that the reason why he never communed was, that he was a Unitarian in opinion, though he never joined their society. He told her that he believed in the truth of the Christian revelation, but not in the divinity of Christ; therefore he could not commune in the Episcopal Church. But during the last months of his life he read Keith on Prophecy, where our Saviour's divinity is incidentally treated, and was
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Barnes took his place both in Leeds and Hamilton, and that after Mr. Lemmon's death the Rev. Mr. Slaughter officiated in Leeds parish in conjunction with Upperville and Middleburg. At Mr. Slaughter's resignation of the charge, the Rev. Wm. H. Pendleton became the minister, and so continued until the year 1854. The present minister is the Rev. Mr. Callaway. The parish has recently been subdivided. There are two new churches under the care of the Rev. Mr. Shields, in the part recently cut off, and one in the other under the care of Mr. Callaway. An excellent parsonage is now being built.
convinced by his work, and the fuller investigation to which it led, of the supreme divinity of the Saviour. He determined to apply for admission to the Communion of our Church,-objected to commune in private, because he thought it his duty to make a public confession of the Saviour,-and, while waiting for improved health to enable him to go to the church for that purpose, he grew worse and died, without ever communing. Mrs. Harvey was a lady of the strictest probity, the most humble piety, and of a clear discriminating mind, and her statement, the substance of which I give you accurately, (having reduced it to writing,) may be entirely relied on.
" I remember to have heard Bishop Moore repeatedly express his surprise (when speaking of Judge Marshall) that, though he was so punctual in his attendance at church, and reproved Mr. - , and Mr. - , and Mr. - , when they were absent, and knelt during the prayers and responded fervently, yet he never communed. The reason was that which he gave to his daughter, Mrs. Harvey. She said he died an humble, penitent believer in Christ, according to the orthodox creed of the Church. "Very truly, your friend and brother in Christ, WM. NORWOOD.
"P.S .- Another fact, illustrating the lasting influence of maternal instruction, was mentioned by Mrs. Harvey. Her father told her that he never went to bed without concluding his prayer with those which his mother taught him when a child,-viz .: the Lord's Prayer and the prayer beginning, 'Now I lay me down to sleep.' "
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ARTICLE LXVII.
Truro Parish, Fairfax County.
FAIRFAX county was separated from Prince William in the year 1742, and at first embraced Loudon county. The whole of this was covered with Truro parish .* In 1749, Cameron parish was cut off from it, and was afterward in Loudon, when that county was separated from Fairfax in 1757. The parish of Truro was again divided in the year 1764. In the years 1754, 1758, and 1764, I have evidence that the Rev. Chas. Green was the minister of Truro parish, and probably lived in the neighbourhood of Gun- ston, the seat of the Mason family, near which stood the old church which was superseded by Pohick or Mount Vernon Church. Mr. George Mason makes mention of him in a letter dated 1764. I think it probable General Washington also mentions the same person as visiting Mount Vernon in 1760, when Mrs. Washington was sick. How long he may have been the minister after 1764, I cannot ascertain. He was succeeded by the Rev. Lee Massey, either in or before the year 1767, as that is the date of one of his sermons preached at the Old Pohick Church. He was also in the parish as minister in the year 1785, as I find from the date of a sermon preached at the present Pohick Church, which was built during his ministry, of which I possess the proof. How long he ministered after this, I am unable to say. Mr. Massey was a lawyer previous to his engaging in the ministry, and was ordained by the Bishop of London
* A curious circumstance in relation to the first movements of this parish is recorded in the fifth volume of Henning, pp. 274-275. The Act of Assembly is as follows :- " Whereas, it is represented to this Assembly, that divers of the inha- bitants of the parish of Truro, in the county of Fairfax, do now and for several years past have acted as vestrymen of the said parish, although many of them were never lawfully chosen or qualified; that several pretending to act as vestrymen are not able to read or write, and, under a colour of being lawfully chosen, have taken. upon themselves to hold vestries, and imposed many hardships on the inhabitants of the said parish : for remedy thereof be it enacted," &c. The Act proceeds to order a new election, though ratifying the levies of the pretended vestry. As Lau- rence Washington, the elder brother of the General, William Fairfax, George Mason, and his father, of Gunston, and others of character and education, were then in the parish, and soon after were vestrymen, we presume that the condemned act was done in some other part of the county.
VOL. II .- 15
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for Virginia in 1766. His sermons evince talent and are sound ın doctrine, but, like most of that day, want evangelical life and spirit, and would never rouse lost sinners to a sense of their con- dition. He was a man of great wit and humour, the indulgence of which was the fault of many of the clergy of that day. The following account of a dispute between himself and his vestry has been sent me, and illustrates his character. The clerk whom Mr. Massey had selected was unacceptable to the vestry, and in order to get rid of him they give him no salary or a very small one. Mr. Massey complaining, the vestry met and passed two resolutions :- 1st. That the minister had a right to choose his clerk; 2d. That the vestry had a right to fix his salary. In a letter to the vestry Mr. Massey descanted on these resolutions with severity, and thus concluded :- " And now, gentlemen, as to the knowing ones among you,-and I admit there are such,-I would say, 'humanum est errare;' and, as to the rest of you, 'ne sutor ultra crepidam.'" Mr. Massey was a native of King George. His mother was an Alexander. He lived to his eighty-sixth year, and died in 1814. He had, however, ceased from the ministry for many years before his death. The old families had left the neighbourhood or the Church. General Washington, at the close of the war, had fully connected himself with Christ Church, Alexandria, and Pohick was deserted or only attended occasionally by some ministers of whom I shall presently speak. Before taking leave of Mr. Massey, I will adduce the proof that was mentioned that Mount Vernon or Pohick Church was built during his ministry, and not at the much earlier date as supposed by some. A friend has furnished me the following state- ment :-
" The date of its erection is inscribed on and near the head of one of the columns forming part of the ornamental work of the chancel, in the fol- lowing manner :- '1773. W. B., sculptor.'"
The date is also further established by a deed recorded in the county court, of which I have a copy. It is a deed from the vestry of a pew in the church to Mr. Massey and his successors.
" A deed from the vestry of Truro parish, in the county of Fairfax, to wit :- George Washington, Geo. Mason, Daniel McCarty, Alexander Hen- derson, Thomas Ellzey, Thomas Withers Coffer, Peter Waggener, Thomas Ford, Martin Cockburn, William Triplett, William Payne, Jr., John Barry, John Gunnell, and Thomas Triplett, to Lee Massey, dated 25th of Feb- ruary, 1774, recite that, whereas, in the new church lately built near Pohick, the vestry have set apart one of the pews,-viz .: the one next
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the pulpit, on the east side thereof, and adjoining the north front wall of the church, for the use of the said Lee Massey, (now rector,) of the said parish, and his successors.
" Teste, ALFRED Moss."
We have in this document not only a witness to the age of the present Pohick Church, but a list of the vestrymen of that day. We have seen a printed list of the vestry of Truro and Fairfax parishes in the year 1765,-just after the division,-in which are some other names belonging to the neighbourhood of Pohick,-as George Wm. Fairfax, Edward Blackburn, William Lynton, William Gar- diner, &c. It comes from a leaf, it is said, of the old Pohick vestry- book, which has by some means gotten into the Historical Society of New York. Of the vestry-book itself I can hear no tidings. In the year 1785, I find the name of George Washington, in his own handwriting,-not as a vestryman, but as a pew-holder and subscriber,-in the vestry-book of Christ Church, Alexandria. After this he seldom, if ever, attended at Pohick.
It will be expected that I should say something concerning the tradition as to the part which Washington took in the location of Pohick Church. The following account is probably the correct one. The Old Pohick Church was a frame building, and occupied a site on the south side of Pohick Run, and about two miles from the present, which is on the north side of the run. When it was no longer fit for use, it is said the parishioners were called together to determine on the locality of the new church, when George Mason, the compatriot of Washington, and senior vestryman, advocated the old site, pleading that it was the house in which their fathers worshipped, and that the graves of many were around it, while Washington and others advocated a more central and con- venient one. The question was left unsettled and another meeting for its decision appointed. Meanwhile Washington surveyed the neighbourhood, and marked the houses and distances on a well- drawn map, and, when the day of decision arrived, met all the arguments of his opponent by presenting this paper, and thus carried his point. In place of any description of this house in its past or present condition, I offer the following report of a visit made to it in 1837 :-
" My next visit was to Pohick Church, in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, the seat of General Washington. I designed to perform service there on Saturday as well as Sunday, but through some mistake no notice was given for the former day. The weather indeed was such as to prevent the as- sembling of any but those who prize such occasions so much as to be deterred
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only by very strong considerations. It was still raining when I approached the house, and found no one there. The wide-open doors invited me to enter,-as they do invite, day and night, through the year, not only the passing traveller, but every beast of the field and fowl of the air. These latter, however, seem to have reverenced the house of God, since few marks of their pollution are to be seen throughout it. The interior of the house, having been well built, is still good. The chancel, Communion- table, and tables of the law, &c. are still there and in good order. The roof only is decaying ; and at the time I was there the rain was dropping on these sacred places and on other parts of the house. On the doors of the pews, in gilt letters, are still to be seen the names of the principal families which once occupied them. How could I, while for at least an hour traversing those long aisles, entering the sacred chancel, ascending the lofty pulpit, forbear to ask, And is this the house of God which was built by the Wash- ingtons, the Masons, the McCartys, the Grahams, the Lewises, the Fair- faxes ?- the house in which they used to worship the God of our fathers according to the venerable forms of the Episcopal Church,-and some of whose names are yet to be seen on the doors of those now deserted pews ? Is this also destined to moulder piecemeal away, or, when some signal is given, to become the prey of spoilers, and to be carried hither and thither and applied to every purpose under heaven ?
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