USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 52
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many others-to his home in Staunton, and, he told me, lost every thing of the kind by the burning up of his house.
My father, Robert Beverley, married Miss Jane Taylor, of Mount Airy, Richmond county. My grandfather, Robert Beverley, married Miss Maria Carter, of Sabine Hall. My great-grandfather, William Beverley, married Miss Elizabeth Bland,-the sister, I have heard, of the distin- guished Colonel Richard Bland, of the Revolution. My great-great- grandfather, Robert Beverley, (the historian,) married Miss - Byrd, of Westover, I have heard. His father-the first of the name in the Colony of Virginia-settled at Jamestown about the year 1660, and from thence moved to Middlesex county. He was a long time Clerk of the House of Burgesses, a lawyer by profession, and a prominent actor in Bacon's Rebellion, commanding, I think, the King's troops as major. I have never heard the name of the lady he married in Hull, England. I have heard she was the daughter of a merchant of that town. He brought her to Virginia with him. For a more particular account of this individual I must refer you to the third volume of Henning's "Statutes at Large," from page 541 to the end. You will there see an authentic account of some of his services and persecutions. You will also find in vol. viii. of the same work, page 127, an act which gives, I pre- sume, the only true account of the male branch of the family now extant : the act was obtained by my grandfather for the purpose of changing an entail from an estate in Drysdale parish, King and Queen county, (where the historian lived and died,) to one of more value in Culpepper.
I am sorry I have nothing more interesting to communicate.
With much respect, your ob't serv't, WM. B. BEVERLEY.
REV. BISHOP MEADE, Millwood.
No. XIX.
THE PHILLIPS AND FOWKE FAMILIES.
[THE following communication concerning two families whose names are to be seen on the old vestry-books has been sent me by one of the descendants.]
Mr. James Phillips (sometimes spelled Philipps) was a native of the South of Wales. He came to this country early in the eighteenth century, and settled in that part of Virginia known as the county of Stafford. He married a Miss Griffin. Colonel William Phillips, their only child, was
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born about the year 1746, was High-Sheriff of Stafford, and died about the year 1797. Colonel William Phillips married Miss Elizabeth Fowke, a daughter of Gerard Fowke, Esq., and Miss Elizabeth Dinwiddie, (Miss Dinwiddie was a daughter of Mr. Lawrence Dinwiddie, Provost of Glasgow, Scotland, and was a niece of Robert Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia,) by whom he had twelve children, six of whom are now living, the eldest of those living (Mrs. Jones) being cighty-three, and the youngest (Colo- nel William Fowke Phillips) being sixty-two, years of age. Colonel Wil- liam Fowke Phillips married his cousin, Sarah Edith Cannon, of Prince William county, Virginia, by whom he had seven children,-Laura and Mary Caroline, (now dead,) William Fowke, Jr., Laura E. S., (married to Mr. Wm. B. Carr, of Loudon county, Virginia,) Dinwiddie Brazier, (mar- ried Miss Nannie F., daughter of William Walden, Esq., of Rapp county, Virginia,) Virginia Edith, and Roberta Gustavia. Colonel Gerard Fowke was the first of his name who came to this country. He was Colonel in the British army, and Gentleman of Privy Chamber to Charles I. He came to Virginia about the time that his unfortunate monarch was be- headed. One of his sons settled in Maryland. His son, Chandler Fowke, Esq., settled in King George county, Virginia. He had three sons,-Chandler, Gerard, and Richard. Chandler married a Miss Har- rison, Gerard married a Miss Dinwiddie, and Richard married a Miss Bumbary. Their sister, Elizabeth Fowke, married a Mr. Z. Brazier, (son of Robert Brazier, of Isle of Thanet, Kent county, England.) Chandler, the eldest of the children, had three sons,-viz. : William, John, and Thomas. William married his first-cousin, Jenny Fowke, of Maryland, and John went to the South with his sister Jenny.
Mr. Gerard Fowke (the second brother) had issue also,-Chandler and Roger, who went South, Gerard, William, (William married a Miss Bro- naugh,) Robert Dinwiddie, (Robert Dinwiddie married a Miss Peachy,) Elizabeth, (who married Colonel William Phillips, of Stafford,) and an- other daughter, (who married a Mr. Johnston, who resided in Kentucky.) Richard Fowke, Esq. died in the army. He also left a family.
Elizabeth Brazier had a daughter,-Sarah Harrison Brazier. She married Mr. John Cannon, son of Mr. L. Cannon, of Ireland. They left four children,-Grandison, (now dead,) Elizabeth, (dead,) and Sarah Edith, who married Colonel William Fowke Phillips, the present Auditor of Treasury for the Post-Office Department. She is now dead also.
Most of those named in this short and in some respects deficient his- tory . were members of the English and Episcopal Churches. Of the others, two were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and some few were not communicants in any.
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No. XX.
FURTHER AND MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION CONCERNING POHICK CHURCH.
[MR. ALFRED Moss, the present clerk of Fairfax county, having carefully examined all its records, furnishes me with the following statement. The church at Pohick must have been completed in the year 1772, since a certain number of its pews were sold in that year by order of the vestry. A copy of one of the deeds is presented to the reader as probably the first of the kind ever executed in Virginia. I have met with no hint of any such thing in all my researches. The example was in a measure followed, a year or two after, in Christ Church, Alexandria, as has been already stated. It appears from the court-records that General Washington was vestryman in 1763. George Mason was elected first in 1749. Some objection was made to him on the ground that he was not a resident in the parish, but it did not avail. The Rev. Charles Green was the minister from 1738 until his death in 1765. He came from Ireland, and in his will recommended his wife to return thither. They do not appear to have had children. Mr. Moss informs me that Payne's Church must have been built some time before Pohick, as there is an old man now living in the neighbourhood who is ninety-nine years old and who was baptized in it.]
This indenture, made the twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, between the vestry of Truro parish, in the county of Fairfax, of the one part, and Daniel McCarty, of the same parish and county, gentleman, of the other part : whereas, the said vestry did, on the fifth day of June, in the year 1772, order sundry pews in the new church on the upper side of Pohick to be sold, at the laying of the next parish levy, to the highest bidder for the benefit of the parish, pursuant to which order the said pews were sold accordingly by the vestry at the laying of the said next parish levy, on the 20th day of November, in the same year; and the said Daniel McCarty, party to these presents, then purchased one certain pew in the said church for the price of fifteen pounds ten shillings current money,-to wit: the pew numbered 14, situate on the north side of the said church, and ad- joining the north wall and the rector's pew, being the second pew above the pulpit, as by the proceedings and records of the said vestry, reference being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear. Now this in- denture witnesseth that the said vestry, for and in consideration of the said sum of fifteen pounds ten shillings current money, to them in hand paid, for the use of the said parish, by the said Daniel McCarty, before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed and acknowledged, have granted, bargained, and sold, aliened and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell, alien and
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confirm, unto the said Daniel McCarty, the said pew in the said new church lately built on the upper side of Pohick, in the said parish of Trure and county aforesaid, numbered and situated as above mentioned, to have and to hold the said pew above described unto the said Daniel McCarty, his heirs and assigns, to the only proper use and behoof of him, the said Daniel McCarty, his heirs and assigns forever. And the said vestry, for themselves and their successors, (vestrymen of Truro parish,) do covenant and grant to and with the said Daniel McCarty, his heirs and assigns, that he, the said Daniel McCarty, his heirs and assigns, shall, and may forever hereafter, peaceably and quietly have, hold, and enjoy the said pew above mentioned and described, without the lawful let, hindrance, interruption, or molestation of any person or persons whatsoever. In witness whereof the vestry now present (being a majority of the members) have here- unto set their hands and affixed their seals the day and year first above written.
G. MASON, GEO. WASHINGTON, ALEX. HENDERSON, F. ELLZEY, THOS. WITHERS COFFER,
THOS. FORD, J. A. WAGENER, MARTIN COCKBURN.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the pre- sence of
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WM. TRIPLETT, WM. PAYNE, JOHN BARRY, JOHN GUNNELL, THOMAS TRIPLETT.
At the close of this deed is a receipt to Mr. McCarty for fifteen pounds ten shillings, the price of the pew. General Washington's pew in Christ Church, Alexandria, cost thirty-six pounds ten shillings.
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No. XXI.
THE INSCRIPTION ON COMMISSARY BLAIR'S TOMBSTONE IN THE OLD GRAVEYARD AT JAMESTOWN, FURNISHED BY MR. HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY, A DESCENDANT OF COMMISSARY BLAIR'S BROTHER.
MY DEAR SIR :- I send you the inscription on the stone of the old Com- missary in as perfect condition as I could procure it. I also send a trans- lation, filling the blanks and chasms with my own knowledge of the events of the Commissary's life. If you look critically at the Latin and at my paraphrase, you will perceive that I have rarely missed the mark. One thing it is proper to say. In the line " Evangeli-Preconis" there may be a mistake of the transcriber. If the word "Preconis" be correct, then it is figurative, and means to compare the Commissary with John the Baptist. But I think the word " Preconis" is wrong, and was written "Diaconi," "Deacon," as the number of years shows that it was in his combined character of Evangelist, Deacon, and Priest, to which allusion is made; that is, to his whole ministerial services, which were precisely fifty-eight years.
To another topic I would invite your attention. The concluding lines in which theology is mentioned are imperfect, and cannot convey the exact meaning intended, and so I translate them as referring to pious youth who may seek instruction in sacred things; but they certainly lead us to suspect that the good old man left his books to theological students as a class, and that he had in view to endow by his will an ecclesiastical professorship. His will in the Clerk's Office, and the statute or order of the faculty accepting his books, would ascertain the fact.
I wish the remains of the Commissary could be removed to the chapel of the College, and there, with appropriate services, deposited beneath the chancel.
With affectionate regards, I am, as ever, reverently and faithfully yours,
BISHOP MEADE.
HUGH B. GRIGSBY.
H. S. E. (Hic sepultus est) Vir Reverendus et Honorabilis JACOBUS BLAIR, A.M. In Scotia natus, In Academia Edinburgensi nutritus, Primo Angliam deinde Virginiam venit : In qua parte tenarum Annos LVIII. Evangeli, Preconis LIV. Commissarii Gulielmi et Mariæ Præsidis,
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e Britannia Principum 1
Consiliarii Concilii Præsidis, Colonia Prefecti, munera sustinuit : ornavit um oris venusti Decus, ate hilari sine (?) hospitali munificent issimo egenis largo. omnibus comi superavit. Collegio bene diversam fundaverat ens Bibliothecam suam id alendum Theologiæ studiosum juventutem pauperiorem instituendam Testamento legavit Cal. Maii in die* MDCCXLIII ætat : LXXXVIII
am desideratissimi Senis Laudem is nepotibus commendabunt pene marmore perenniora.
Here lies buried The Reverend and the Honourable James Blair, A.M.,
who was born in Scotland, was educated in the College of Edinburgh, and emigrated to England, and thence to Virginia, in which Colony he spent fifty-eight years as an Evangelist, Deacon, and Priest of' the
* The word "Maii" must be a mistake of the gentlemen who transcribed one of the fragmentary inscriptions from which I have made out the above skeleton. Dr. Blair died, I believe, on the 3d of August, 1743. Some of the words, apparently perfect in my notes, are certainly wrong; but I have done the work as thoroughly as my materials will allow me. The two transcripts before me were made, one of them by the Rev. George W. McPhail, of Easton, Pa., the other by William Lamb, Esq., of Norfolk. I have made a translation, filling up the chasms with my own suggestions; and I feel confident that, however much we may regret the loss of the inscription as a whole, and however unable we may be to judge of it as a work of taste in its present dilapidated state, I have incorporated every important senti- ment which it contained in the transcript which I send you on the opposite leaf. I am ashamed to say that I have lost-or, rather, put too carefully away-the frag- ments of the inscription which you transmitted to me.
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Church of England, and fifty-four years as Commissary of the Bishop of London.
He was the Founder and first President of William and Mary College, a member of the Council, and, subsequently, its President ; and, as such, in the absence of the representative of the King, the Governor of the Colony.
He sustained his various offices with the approbation of his fellow-men, while he illustrated in his life those graces which adorn the Christian character.
He had a handsome person, and in the family circle blended cheerful- ness with piety.
He was a generous friend of the poor, and was prompt in lending as- sistance to all who needed it.
He was a liberal benefactor of the College during his life; and, at his death, bequeathed to it his library, with the hope that his books-which were mostly religious-might lead the student to those things that per- tain to salvation.
He died on the - day of the Calends of May, [August, rather,] in the year 1743, aged eighty-eight years, exhibiting to the last those graces which make old age lovely, and lamented by all, especially by his nephews, who have reared this stone to commemorate those virtues which will long survive the marble that records them.
No. XXII.
EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL.
THIS institution, the diocesan school for boys, is situated at Howard, in Fairfax county, three miles west of Alexandria, and within a quarter of a mile of the Theological Seminary. The situation is perfectly healthy at all seasons of the year, and from its elevation commands a beautiful view of the Potomac, the cities of the District of Columbia, and the surround- ing country for many miles. The play-grounds are extensive and adorned with trees of inviting shade. They are immediately adjoining the school, and with the fields of the enclosure (containing about seventy acres) afford ample room for exercise and recreation. The Potomac and other small streams in the neighbourhood furnish opportunities for bathing and skating. The buildings, erected expressly for the purposes of the school, are large, furnished with every convenience for the wants of the students, and capable of accommodating about eighty boys.
The object of the Church in establishing the High School was to provide
TRUMP DIF L
EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL, FAIRFAX CO., VA.
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an institution of learning, where youth could be thoroughly educated on Christian principles, and where their morals and habits could be preserved from the dangers of evil association. Students can here fully complete their studies; or they can be prepared for advanced classes-the junior and senior-at any of the colleges or universities of the country ; or be fitted to enter upon the study of a profession or the active business of life During their entire course, the most wholesome moral and religious influ- ences are sought to be exercised over them.
It is a fixed and unvarying rule, that every branch taught at the school is to be studied faithfully and well. To effect this object, every effort is made to insure ability and faithfulness on the part of the instructors and diligence and improvement on the part of the scholars. Great pains are taken, by the internal regulations of the school, in each particular depart- ment, to train the students to habits of method, neatness, and punctuality, so important in every business or profession and so indispensable to the comfort and convenience of individuals.
Education of the mind, however, and the formation of business-habits, are by no means the sole or most important aim of the school. Whilst these receive constant and proper attention, it is at all times borne in mind that the morals and the manners of the students are by no means to be neglected.
To make mere scholars or exact men of business is not the sole duty of the Christian teacher. He has much nobler ends in view. No exertions are to be spared to secure those just named; but at the same time he is to be diligent to bring those intrusted to his care under the influence of re- ligious principle. He is not only to labour to make them useful men, but, so far as in him lies, he is to endeavour to make them Christian gentle- men,-gentlemen as well in feelings and principles as in outward conduct and manners.
For these important ends the school was established by the trustees of the Theological Seminary, in 1839, in obedience to a resolution of the Diocesan Convention, and placed under the care of the Rev. William N. Pendleton, who opened it in October of that year. The number of pupils soon became large; and, besides superior intellectual training, the blessings of divine grace were very richly bestowed upon them, about forty having in the first few years made a creditable profession of religion, and some of these having afterward entered the ministry of the Church. This pros- perity continued until the years 1843-44, when, chiefly through a general pecuniary embarrassment, which injured almost every literary institution in the country and ruined some, it became necessary to close the High School for one year.
In the fall of 1845 it was reopened by the Rev. F. A. Dalrymple, who had been appointed its rector at the Convention in May preceding, and whose energy and skill, under the blessing of a good Providence, soon restored it to its former prosperity. After a most laborious devotion to
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his duties for about seven years, the failure of his health constrained him to resign, leaving the institution in a condition promising permanent success. In the summer of 1852, the Rev. John P. McGuire, its present rector, was appointed his successor, and is now nearly at the close of his fifth session. The number of pupils-between seventy and eighty-is about what it has been for years; it is still among the very first as an institution of learning; the fruits of grace are still gathered to an cncou- raging extent, some twenty having been added to the Communion of the Church during the last session, and others now expecting soon to be con- firmed,-thus in the highest sense accomplishing the purpose for which the school was originally established.
No. XXIII.
FURTHER STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON AND THE QUESTION WHETHER HE WAS A COMMUNICANT OR NOT.
EXTRACT from a letter of the Rev. Dr. Berrian, of New York, to Mrs. Jane Washington, of Mount Vernon, in answer to some inquiries about General Washington during his residence in New York as President of the United States :-
" About a fortnight since I was administering the Communion to a sick daughter of Major Popham, and, after the service was over, happening to speak on this subject, I was greatly rejoiced to obtain the information which you so earnestly desired.
"Major Popham served under General Washington during the Revolu- tionary War, and I believe he was brought as near to him as their difference of rank would admit, being himself a man of great respectability, and connected by marriage with the Morrises, one of the first families in the country. He has still an erect and military air, and a body but little broken at his advanced age. His memory does not seem to be impaired nor his mind to be enfeebled."
To the above I can add my own testimony, having in different ways become acquainted with the character of Major Popham, and having visited him about the same time mentioned by Dr. Berrian.
Extract from Major Popham's Letter to Mrs. Jane Washington. NEW YORK, March 14, 1839.
MY DEAR MADAM :- You will doubtless be not a little surprised at re- ceiving a letter from an individual whose name may possibly never have
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reached you; but an accidental circumstance has given me the extreme pleasure of introducing myself to your notice. In a conversation with the Rev. Dr. Berrian a few days since, he informed me that he had lately paid a visit to Mount Vernon, and that Mrs. Washington had expressed a wish to have a doubt removed from her mind, which had long oppressed her, as to the certainty of the General's having attended the Communion while residing in the city of New York subsequent to the Revolution. As nearly all the remnants of those days are now sleeping with their fathers, it is not very probable that at this late day an individual can be found who could satisfy this pious wish of your virtuous heart, except the writer. It was my great good fortune to have attended St. Paul's Church in this city with the General during the whole period of his residence in New York as President of the United States. The pew of Chief-Justice Morris was situated next to that of the President, close to whom I constantly sat in Judge Morris's pew, and I am as confident as a memory now labouring under the pressure of fourscore years and seven can make me, that the President had more than once-+I believe I may say often-attended at the sacra- mental table, at which I had the privilege and happiness to kneel with him. And I am aided in my associations by my elder daughter, who dis- tinctly recollects her grandmamma-Mrs. Morris-often mention that fact with great pleasure. Indeed, I am further confirmed in my assurance by the perfect recollection of the President's uniform deportment during divine service in church. The steady seriousness of his manner, the solemn, audible, but subdued tone of voice in which he read and repeated the responses, the Christian humility which overspread and adorned the native dignity of the saviour of his country, at once exhibited him a pattern to all who had the honour of access to him. It was my good fortune, my dear madam, to have had frequent intercourse with him. It is my pride and boast to have seen him in various situations,-in the flush of victory, in the field and in the tent,-in the church and at the altar, always him- self, ever the same.
Letter from General Lewis, of Augusta county, Virginia, to the Rev. Mr. Dana, of Alexandria.
LEWISTOWN, December 14, 1855.
REVEREND AND DEAR SIR :- When (some weeks ago) I had the plea- sure of seeing you in Alexandria, and in our conversation the subject of the religious opinions and character of General Washington was spoken of, I repeated to you the substance of what I had heard from the late General Robert Porterfield, of Augusta, and which at your request I promised to reduce to writing at some leisure moment and send to you. I procced now to redeem the promise. Some short time before the death of General Porterfield, I made him a visit and spent a night at his house. He related many interesting facts that had occurred within his own observation in
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the war of the Revolution, particularly in the Jersey campaign and the encampment of the army at Valley Forge. He said that his official duty (being brigade-inspector) frequently brought him in contact with General Washington. Upon one occasion, some emergency (which he mentioned) induced him to dispense with the usual formality, and he went directly to General Washington's apartment, where he found him on' his knees, en- gaged in his morning's devotions. He said that he mentioned the cir- cumstance to General Hamilton, who replied that such was his constant habit. I remarked that I had lately heard Mr. - say, on the authority of Mr. - , that General Washington was subject to violent fits of passion, and that he then swore terribly. General Porterfield said the charge was false; that he had known General Washington personally for many years, had frequently been in his presence under very exciting circumstances, and had never heard him swear an oath, or in any way to profane the name of God. "Tell Mr. - from me," said he, " that he had much better be reading his Bible than repeating such slanders on the character of General Washington. General Washington," said he, "was a pious man, and a member of your Church, [the Episcopal.] I saw him myself on his knees receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in - Church, in Philadelphia." He specified the time and place. My impression is that Christ Church was the place, and Bishop White, as he afterward was, the minister. This is, to the best of my recollection, an accurate statement of what I heard from General Porterfield on the subject.
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