USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 5
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"Our annals do not go far back. From 1835 to 1849 we were con- nected with St. James parish, Goochland. At the Convention of 1849 we were admitted into union with it, as Rivanna parish .* Our first minis- ter was the Rev. Mr. Pleasants in 1835, and, I think, the first who ever preached statedly in the county. He only remained about three months. The next was the Rev. Mr. Doughen, who remained less than two years. He was followed by the Rev. J. P. B. Wilmer in 1838 and 1839. He was succeeded by the Rev. R. H. Wilmer in April, 1839, who continued until the fall of 1843. The Rev. J. P. B. Wilmer returned to the parish and continued until Easter, 1849. After our separation from Goochland, the Rev. Lewis P. Clover was with us from October, 1850, to April, 1852. The Rev. Mr. Bulkley succeeded him, and was with us from July, 1852, to December, 1855. The only Episcopal Church which has ever been in
* The name given it by Act of Assembly, in 1777, was Fluvanna parish. Per- haps this fact was not known or thought of at the time of its new name.
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the county is St. John's, Columbia, which was consecrated on the 30th of July, 1850. The only Episcopal families prior to 1835 were the Carys and General Cocke's.
. Since that time the two Mr. Galts, Mr. Archy Harrison's, Mr. Bryant's, Mr. Brent's, and a goodly number of other families, have been added.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
ARTICLE L.
Fredericksville and Trinity Parishes, in Louisa and Albemarle Counties.
AFTER the separation of Louisa county from Hanover, in the year 1742, and of Fredericksville parish, Louisa, from St. Martin's, Hanover, the parish of Fredericksville was enlarged by taking in a part of Albemarle lying north and west of the Rivanna. After some years Fredericksville parish was divided into Fredericksville and Trinity, the former being in Albemarle and the latter in Louisa. We first treat of it in its enlarged and undivided state. It was then without a place of worship, except an old mountain-chapel (age not known) where Walker's Church afterward stood. The first meeting of the vestry was in 1742. The vestry-book has some documents worthy of introduction as historical antiquities. They were the tests required of vestrymen at that period of England's history :-
"I. Oath of Allegiance.
"I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Second, so help me God.
" Oath of Abjuration.
"I, A. B., do swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position that Princes excommunicate or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or any other what- soever. And I do declare that no foreign Prince, Prelate, Person, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me God.
"II. Oath of Allegiance.
"I, A. B., do truly and sincerely acknowledge and promise, testify and declare, in my conscience, before God and the world, that our sovereign Lord, King George the Second, is lawful and rightful King of this realm and all other his Majesty's dominions and countries hereunto belonging; and I do solemnly and sincerely declare that I do believe in my conscience that the person pretended to be Prince of Wales during the life of the late King James, and since his decease pretending to be, and taking upon himself the style and title of, the King of England, or by the name of James the Third, or of Scotland by the name of James the Eighth, or the
.
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OLD CHURCHES, MINISTERS, AND
style and title of King of Great Britain, hath not any right whatsoever to the crown of this realm, or any other dominions hereto belonging. And I do renounce, refuse, and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him, and I do swear that I will bear faithful and true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Second, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his person, crown, or dignity; and I will do my utmost to endeavour to disclose and make known to his Majesty and his successors all treasonable and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know to be against him, or any of them; and I do faithfully promise to the utmost of my power to support, maintain, and defend the successor of the crown against him, the said James, and all other persons whatsoever, which succession, by an Act entitled ' An Act for the further limitation of the crown and better securing the rights and liberties of the subjects,' is, and stands limited to, the Princess Sophia, late Electress and Duchess-Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants; and all other these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, according to these express words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common- sense understanding of the same words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret reservation whatsoever; and I do make this recognition, acknowledgment, abjuration, renunciation, and promise, heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian, so help me God.
" THOMAS PAULETT, ROBERT LEWIS,
" A. I. SMITH, CHARLES BARRETT,
" DAVID COSBY,
JOHN POINDEXTER,
" THOMAS B. SMITH, ABRM. VENABLE,
" ROGER THOMPSON,
EPHM. CLARK,
"T. MERIWETHER, " Test-Oath.
JOHN STARK.
" I do declare that I do believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the Elements of bread and wine at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever."
From the foregoing it is evident that the apprehension of Popery and the success of the Pretender was quite strong, and that the English Church and Government endeavoured, not only at home, but in the Colonies, through her officers, to guard most effectually against both.
Those who signed the above tests were the first vestrymen after the organization of the parish in 1742. The following were added at different times until the division of the parish in 1762 :- Thomas Walker, John Meriwether, Nicholas Meriwether, David Mills, Robert Harris, Robert Anderson, Tyree or Tyrce Harris, William Johnson, John Harvie, Thomas Johnson.
After the division, a new vestry was elected from Fredericksville parish. Some of the old ones continued, and others were added, as Morias Jones, Isaac Davis, Thomas Caw, William Barksdale, John Foster, Hezekiah Rice, Robert Clark, Nicholas Lewis, and at differ-
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ent times afterward John Walker, Henry Fry, Thomas Jefferson,* William Tims, John Rodes, John Harvie, Mordecai Ford, Isaac Davis, James Quarles, William Dalton, Dr. George Gilmer, David Hooks, James Marks, Thomas Walker, Jr., Robert Michie, James Minor, Peter Clarkson, William Michie, Reuben Tinsley, Francis Walker, George Nicholas, Joseph Tunstall, William D. Meriwether. The last election of vestrymen was in 1787; and the last act re- corded in the vestry-books was the election of Mr. John Walker as lay delegate to the Convention of that year.
Having thus drawn from our record all that relates to the vestry- men, we will return and gather up whatever else is worthy of notice.
There being no churches in the parish, the services were held at Louisa Court-House and at various private houses at different points in the county. These were performed by lay readers on Sundays, and for some years by the Rev. Mr. Barrett, from Hanover, twenty- four times in the year during the days of labour, three hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco being paid for each sermon. In the year 1745 it was determined to build three frame churches, one in some central place in Louisa county, called the Lower Church, and some- times Trinity Church; another in Albemarle, called Middle Church, and which was doubtless the same with Walker's Church; and the third between the mountains on the Buckmountain Road, which is doubtless the same with that now called Buckmountain Church. Each of these was built at different times during the few following years. In the year 1763 another church was resolved on nearer to Orange,-whether built or not I cannot say. In the year 1747 the Rev. Mr. Arnold was chosen for one year, and continued until his death, in 1754, when his funeral was preached by Mr. Barrett.
Mr. Jefferson, then living at Shadwell Mills, on the west side of the Rivanna, was in Fredericksville parish, and appears to have been an active vestryman for some years. Himself and Nicholas Meriwether were ordered to lay off two acres of land including a space around Walker's Church,-land given by Mr. Walker.
Of the Walkers, four of whom appear repeatedly on the vestry-book, I have only been able to obtain the following notices. Dr. Thomas Walker is believed to have been the first discoverer of Kentucky in 1750. In 1755 he was with Washington at Braddock's defeat. In 1775 he was one of the committee of safety appointed by the Convention of 1775 on the breaking out of the troubles with England. He was also repeatedly a member of the General Assembly.
Colonel John Walker, his eldest son, was for a short time aid to General Washing- ton during the war. He was also for a short time a member of the Senate of the United States. Colonel Francis Walker, the youngest son, was repeatedly member of the State Legislature, and represented the counties of Albemarle and Orange in Congress from 1791 to 1795.
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A Rev. Mr. Beckett then performed some services in the parish, as also the Rev. James Maury, who became the minister in the same year, and who married a Miss Walker. Soon after he settled in the parish a good glebe of four hundred acres was purchased for him, near Captain Linsey's, and a parsonage built, which, with the outhouses and other improvements, seem during his life to have been well attended to by the vestry. In the year 1763 the parish was divided into Trinity, in Louisa, and Fredericksville, in Albe- marle. Of Trinity we now lose sight altogether, I fear, as I know of no source from which to obtain information. By an Act of the Legislature the vestry of Fredericksville was ordered to pay two hundred pounds-half the price of their glebe-to the new vestry of Trinity for the purchase of a glebe.
The Rev. James Maury continued until his death, in 1770, to officiate in this parish. Of him and his Huguenot ancestors I have written in my article on Manakintown,-of him particularly in my notices of the Option Law, or Two-Penny Act, and in my remarks on toleration. He was a very deserving man. He was succeeded by his son, Matthew Maury, who was ordained the preceding year. Mr. Matthew Maury continued to be the minister of the parish until his death, in 1808, though his name does not appear on the vestry-book as receiving a salary after the year 1777. From that time forward he received little or nothing for his services as a minister. He retained the glebe for the benefit of his mother and family, who lived on it, while he taught school on an adjoining farm, and educated a large number of the citizens of Virginia. He lived very near to, and on the most intimate terms with, the old blind preacher, Mr. Waddell, who officiated at the death of his wife, there being no Episcopal minister at that time in any of the surrounding counties, and but few in the State .*
* The Rev. James Maury, father of Matthew Maury, had twelve children,-Mat- thew, James, Walker, Abraham, Benjamin, Richard, Fontaine, Ann, Mrs. Strahan, Mrs. Barrett, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Eggleston. His son James was the old consul at Liverpool, filling that station for forty-five years, and leaving five children. His son Matthew raised ten children,-Matthew, Thomas Walker, Francis, Fontaine, Reuben, John, Mrs. Michie, Mrs. Fry, Mrs. Lightfoot, Elizabeth Walker. His son Walker was a teacher of youth in Williamsburg, Norfolk, and Albemarle, also a minister in Norfolk for a short time. His children were James, William, Leonard, Mrs. Hite, Mrs. Hay, and Mrs. Polk. Space, if not time, would fail us, even if we had the information, to mention the names of all the descendants of the old patriarch, the Rev. James Maury. They are scattered all over our land, and are to be found in various professions. One of them is a worthy minister of our Church in Ken- tucky, while two are married to worthy clergymen,-the Rev. Mr. Berkeley, of Lexington, Kentucky, and Rev. Mr. Nash, of Ohio. Another descendant presides
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
Before we make our brief mention of the ministers of this parish, since the revival of the Church during the present century, a few words are due to the two old churches at Walker's and Buckmoun- tain, which we have said were determined upon in the year 1745, and built within a year or two afterward. Old Walker's Church, built upon the site of a still older and ruder house, stood on the side of the road from Orange Court-House to Charlottesville, at the end of a noble avenue of oaks-now no more-leading down to Mr. Walker's old seat, Belvoir,-itself no more, having been consumed by fire, but for a long time the seat of hospitality, especially to ministers and persons coming to church from a distance. The church being of wood-a framed one-of course must decay much sooner than one of more solid material.
In the year 1827, when Judge Hugh Nelson, Mr. William C. Rives, and Dr. Page, occupied their old seats, (having married into the families of the Walkers,) and the descendants of other old families were still around, the duty of repairing it was felt. But the vestry not being able, as of old, to order a levy of tobacco for building and repairing churches, it was not so easy to accomplish the work. One of the females of the parish on that occasion made the following very interesting appeal. It is believed to be from the pen of one who has since taken so active a part in procuring the new one which has recently been erected .*
THE CHURCH'S PETITION.
"Ye friends and kind neighbours, in pity draw near, And attend to my sorrowful tale ; Should you grant me but misery's portion,-a tear,- To my grief-burden'd heart will that tribute be dear, While I my misfortunes bewail.
"Stern winter is o'er, nor his sway will resume, Though sullen and scowling he flies ; Soft May greets us now, with her beauty and bloom, And her whispering airs, breathing varied perfume, Bear her incense of flowers to the skies.
" All nature is lovely and verdant around ; New charms to creation are given,- From the modest wild violet that droops on the ground, To the oak in the forest with majesty crown'd And proudly arising to heaven.
over a National Institute at Washington, and by his learning, zeal, and great dis- coveries, is conferring benefits on the whole human race, rendering the ocean almost as safe as the dry land.
* Mrs. W. C. Rives.
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"But, alas! not to me does the season return, With reviving and soul-breathing powers : While all nature around me is smiling, I mourn My glory departed, my aspect forlorn, Contrasted with freshness and flowers.
" Through my windows dismantled and dreary as night The wild birds in my court seek their rest ! The owl and the bat wheel their ominous flight O'er my altar once hallow'd by heaven's own light, And there is the swallow's rude nest.
"Then pity, kind friends, and your timely aid lend, Or soon I shall sink to decay ;
' Build up the waste places,' your Zion befriend, And gently on you shall my blessing descend. Oh, let me not moulder away !
" Should this world e'er forsake you, your friends become foes, While a wreck, tempest-tost, you are driven,
Then fly to my arms, on my bosom repose ; I can dry every tear, I can soften your woes, And lead you triumphant to heaven."
The result of this poetic appeal, in co-operation with other means, was the raising a sufficient sum for the repairs of the church. But, time still going on with its ravages, it was felt that a new and more durable one should be had. A gentleman, some years since, then in prosperous circumstances, promised several thousand dollars toward the erection of a new one, though by adversity he was dis- abled from the full performance of his promise. This stimulated the desire for a more expensive building than would otherwise have been attempted. It was commenced under the auspices of one family,* although the people around, during its progress, contri- buted about five thousand dollars to it. False calculations were made as to the expense of the style and manner of its execution, which caused great delay in the work, and led to various efforts and soli- citations in Virginia and elsewhere in order to raise the needful amount. Could all the disappointments and miscalculations and costs have been foreseen, it would have been improper to have attempted such a building, as a much cheaper one would have answered all the needs of the neighbourhood. But it was at length completed, and is in its exterior appearance a most beautiful build- ing, without any thing gaudy about it, while the materials and manner of its execution give the promise of its long continuance.
As to Old Buckmountain Church, at the time that measures were
* The family of the Hon. W. C. Rives, of Castle Hill.
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FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA.
commenced for the resuscitation of our Zion in Virginia, it had been so long in the use of some other denomination that it was claimed, not merely by right of possession, but on the ground of having been repaired. It will amuse the reader to learn the kind and the amount of repairs on which this claim was grounded. When I first saw it, more than thirty years ago, it was-though said to be repaired-a mere shell, with many an opening in the clapboard walls, through which the wind might freely pass. The inward re- pairs consisted in removing the old pews into the gallery, where they were piled up, and in their room putting benches made of the outside slabs from the sawmill, with legs as rude thrust through them, and of course no backs. The old pulpit was left standing, but by its side was a platform made by laying a few planks across the backs of two pews, which the preacher preferred to the old- fashioned pulpit. A few years after the revival of our Church began, the Episcopalians around, not thinking that either these repairs or the occasional occupancy of the building had deprived them of their right, put in their claim, which, though stoutly re- sisted by some, being as stoutly insisted on by others, was finally admitted, and the old church, being much better repaired than before, has ever since been in our possession and use.
As to the ministers who have officiated in Fredericksville parish since the revival of the Church, we have but little to say. The Rev. Mr. Bausman took charge of it in 1818, and remained less than one year. The Rev. Mr. Hatch succeeded him in 1820 and continued until 1830. He was succeeded by the Rev. Zachariah Mead, who continued three or four years, and, as did Mr. Hatch, served the whole county. From 1833 to the fall of 1838, the Rev. W. G. Jones, from Orange, officiated at Walker's Church. In the year 1839 the present minister, the Rev. Mr. Boyden, took charge of the parish, and for some years ministered also to the congrega- tion on the Green Mountain. The church on Buckmountain has for many years been served in conjunction with other congregations, which will be mentioned when we speak in our next article of St. Anne's parish.
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ARTICLE LI.
St. Anne's Parish, Albemarle County.
IN the year 1761, Albemarle, besides its present territory, em- braced all of Fluvanna, Buckingham, Nelson, and Amherst. By various Acts between that time and 1777, it was reduced to its pre- sent dimensions. St. Anne's parish covered the whole of this region at its first organization in 1742, and by successive Acts was reduced to the same dimensions with the present county of Albemarle, with the exception of that part which forms Fredericksville parish. The dividing-line, after running some distance along the Rivanna, crosses the same and passes through Charlottesville. Of late years some other parishes have been formed within St. Anne's parish, as that on Green Mountain, &c. Our first knowledge of any churches in that part of St. Anne's parish now in Albemarle, as at present bounded, is of two which began about the year 1746 or 1747, under the direction of the Rev. Robert Rose, who moved from Essex to what is now Amherst, and extended his labours, during a short period, to that part of Albemarle called the Green Mountain, where were built Ballenger's Church, not very far from Warren, and the Forge Church, not far from Mr. John Cole's, the ancestor of those now bearing that name, and who appears from the vestry-book in my possession to have been the most active member of the vestry, until the year 1785, when the record closes. After Mr. Rose's death, in 1751, the Rev. Mr. Camp probably succeeded to all his churches. He lived in the neighbourhood of New Glasgow. The old glebe- house is still to be seen on the land of Dr. Hite, near the road- side. He moved with his family to the West just before the Re- volution, and it is said was murdered by the Indians near the fort of Vincennes on the Wabash. Previously to this the Rev. Mr. Ramsay had settled in Albemarle and become the minister of St. Anne's parish with its reduced dimensions. He is represented as a very unacceptable minister. The Rev. Charles Clay fol- lowed him. He was near relative of our statesman, Mr. Henry Clay,-probably first-cousin,-and inherited no little of his talents and decision of character. He was ordained by the Bishop of Lon- don in 1769, and on 22d October of the same year was received as
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minister of St. Anne's parish. The vestry-book opens in 1772 and closes in 1785, during all of which time, as well as the three preced- ing years, Mr. Clay was the minister, living at the glebe, somewhere in the Green Mountain neighbourhood, and preaching at the two churches,-Ballenger and The Forge,-and sometimes at the court- house, and at various private houses in Albemarle ; also, at the Barracks during the war, which was probably the place where the British prisoners under General Philips were kept, first by Colonel Bland, and afterward by General Wood. He also preached in Amherst and Chesterfield occasionally. The places of his preach- ing I ascertain from the notes on a number of his sermons, which have been submitted to my perusal. The sermons are sound, ener- getic, and evangelical beyond the character of the times. One of them, on the new birth, is most impressive and experimental. Another on the atonement, for Christmas-day, is very excellent as to doc- trine, and concludes with a faithful warning against the profa- nation of that day by " fiddling, dancing, drinking, and such like things," which he said were so common among them.
In the year 1777, on the public fast-day, he preached a sermon to the minute-company at Charlottesville, in which his patriotic spirit was displayed. " Cursed be he (in the course of his sermon he said) who keepeth back his sword from blood in this war." He declared that the " cause of liberty was the cause of God,"-calls upon them to " plead the cause of their country before the Lord with their blood." And yet he said, " There might be some present who would rather bow their necks to the most abject slavery, than face a man in arms." It was at this time and under these circum- stances that he became acquainted with Mr. Jefferson, who, having removed into this parish from Fredericksville, was now elected to the vestry of St. Anne's, though it does not appear that he ever acted. This intimacy was kept up until his death in Bedford county, in the year 1824, where he and Mr. Jefferson each had farms, and where, during the visits of the latter, there was much friendly in- tercourse. During the latter years of his ministry in St. Anne's parish, the connection of Mr. Clay with his vestry was very un- happy. The salary of one year was the occasion of it. There ap- pears to have been some division in the vestry about it. The ma- jority, however, was against Mr. Clay, and a law-suit was the result. The decision was not satisfactory to Mr. Clay, and he refused taking the amount offered, and told the vestry if they would not pay him what he considered right, he would receive none. The vestry ordered Mr. Fry, the collector, to lay it out in a land-warrant, VOL. II .- 4
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thinking that he might change his mind. Nothing more appeared on the vestry-book about it, and how it was ended I know not. Mr. Clay must have left St. Anne's in 1784, for we find him repre- senting the Church in Chesterfield in the Episcopal Convention at Richmond, in the year 1785, but never afterward. The Church was daily sinking, and, his mind being soured perhaps by his con- troversy with the vestry, and discouraged by the prospects before him as a minister, he moved to Bedford, and betook himself to a farmer's life, only officiating occasionally at marriages, funerals, &c. to the few Episcopalians of that region. He married a most estimable and pious lady of that neighbourhood, who survived him many years and contributed greatly to the revival of the Church under the Rev. Mr. Cobbs of that county. He left a numerous and most respectable family of sons and daughters, who have ad- hered to the Church of their parents. At his death the Rev. Mr. Ravenscroft performed the funeral services. There was something peculiar in the structure of Mr. Clay's mind, in proof of which it is mentioned that by his will he enjoined, what has been strictly observed, that on the spot where he was buried, and which he had marked out, there should be raised a huge pile of stones for his sepulchre. It is about twenty feet in diameter and twelve feet high, and being first covered with earth, and then with turf, presents the appearance of one of those Indian mounds to be seen in our Western States.
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