Some prominent Virginia families, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Pecquet du Bellet, Louise, 1853-
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lynchburg, Virginia : J.P. Bell Company
Number of Pages: 836

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The above is copied from appendix in J. J. Ambler's MS. by Dr. J. D. Moncure.

VIRGINIA AMBLERS. RICHARD AMBLER. 1690.

Rieliard Ambler was the first member of the family who ever emigrated from England to Virginia. He was the son of John Ambler and of Eliza- beth Burkdike [spelled in William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 1, July 1896, Biekadike], of the City of York, England. Richard Ambler was born on the 24th of December, 1690 (or 1688) ; eame over to Virginia in 1716, and located in the town of Little York, a place of the greatest eommereial importanee in the Colony of Virginia. Richard Ambler followed the fortunes of his uncle Burkadike. As an addition to this, I may mention the depositions of Arthur Burkadike and John Gib- bons, of Yorktown, who testified that Michael Dewiek, dying at Jolin Gibbons' house, requested that the burial service should be read over him, his partieular friends invited, but to be served with nothing but a sprig of rosemary, and to attend him to his grave, requiring that the ring on his finger be given to Arthur Burkadike, to be conveyed to his wife, then in the city of York. In 1720, Richard Ambler qualified as administrator of Arthur Burkadike (York County records, and William and Mary College Quarterly, p. 53).

Richard Ambler was about five feet eleven inehes high and inelined to be fat. He held for many years the office of Collector of the Port of York, whiel at that time was luerative as well as honorable. He was remarkable for his honesty and integrity to a proverb. He was most partieular in everything he said or did, so that when he died it was mentioned in his obituary "that he owed no man a penny." He was very shrewd, prompt, and facetious.

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He told an anecdote as well and enjoyed a joke as much as any man in the world. He lived in excellent style, drank always the best wines, and was extremely hospitable.

Some years after his arrival in this country he became acquainted with the family of Edward Jaquelin, Esquire, of James Town.

A mutual attachment took place between Riehard Ambler and Miss Elizabeth Jaquelin, which resulted in their marriage the year 1729, from which union sprang all the Amblers now living in Virginia. During the. thirteen years whiel elapsed between his arrival in Virginia and his marriage, Richard Ambler had aceumulated a very considerable fortune, which was greatly augmented by his wife's portion; for Mr. Jaquelin was unquestionably one of the richest, if not the very richest man then living in the Colony, and all his wealth had been inherited by him and brought to Virginia from England.

[See Chapter I, Volume I.]

It is probable that Mr. Richard Ambler inherited considerable property from his maternal unele, Mr. Burkadike, who was the first of the Ambler connection who came to Virginia, where he died.

Dr. James Dunlop Moncure says the following is on page 88 of John Jaquelin Ambler's manuscript:

In the year 1839, Philip St. George Ambler and Richard Cary Ambler went to Europe as well as their sister, Catherine Cary Moncure (the author's grandmother), and her daughter Sarah Ann Elizabeth. All returned to Virginia in October, 1840, except Philip St. George, who remained and made some enquiries about the Ambler family in England, which resulted in his writing the following letters to Virginia at the latter part of the year 1840, to his brother Richard Cary Ambler and his sister, Mrs. Gabriella B. Brooke:

LONDON, Nov. 1st, 1840. Fenton Hotel.

To Doctor Ambler.

MY DEAR BROTHER :- I cannot make my letter more acceptable than by continuing the history of my efforts to trace the connection between the English and American families which bear the name of Ambler. In answer to the letter addressed to the Misses Ambler mentioned in my letter to Catherine, I received one from their brother, the Rev. George Ambler, which I eopy :

WAKEFIELD, YORKSHIRE, October 13th, 1840.

SIR :- Yours of the 9th inst. from Worcester, addressed to my sisters, has been by them handed to me, with a request that I would write in reply. I am 64 years of age, a graduate of the University of Cambridge, a elergyman living in my native town upon my private means, am deseended from John Ambler of the City of York, who was sheriff of the

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county in the year 1721. I assume to be his solitary representative, all traces being lost of any living male person of my own name and family in England, since the death of my father 45 years ago. My great-grand- father, the aforesaid Jolin Ambler, had a son Richard, who followed the fortunes of a relative in Virginia. That son had a family of nine children, of which I happen to possess a list. Should your account be correct, you are descended from one of these children; and it might lead to a future correspondence, if you would favor me with a reply, and give me any particulars, respecting your grandfather's marriage, his name, and

PHILIP SAINT GEGRGE AMBLER Of St. Moor, Amherst Co., Va., and son of Col. John Ambler of Jamestown

the lady's name, and also those of the marriage of the seventh child (a son ), his christian name, and the name of the person he married. In letters which I have by me, the name of Fairfax is mentioned, of which possibly you may know something. There is a descendant of the said John Ambler, by female line, with whom it is perhaps my fault that I am not acquainted, who in addition to another dignity is at this moment one of Queen Victoria's most honorable Privy Council.

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As to the arms of the Ambler family, I know of none to which I can lay claim. In a book of coat-of-arms, I have seen those of some of the name of Ambler, described thus:

"Sable on a Fesse, or, between three pheon heads argent, a lion passant gardant gules."

I am, Sir, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,

GEORGE AMBLER.

In a subsequent letter from the same to the same, he says :

Yours of the 20th [20th October, 1840-J. D. M.] from Fenton's Hotel is so satisfactory, and fills my mind with such a flood of recollections, that l scarcely know how to begin by way of reply. The right Honourable Charles Shaw Lefevre, speaker of the House of Commons, is the son of C. S. Lefevre, Esq., many years member of Parliament for Reading, and previously Charles Shaw, Esq., Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Barrister at Law. His father, born in 1723, became after the year 1767, successively Vicar of Wormsley, Yorkshire, and Rector of Seaton, Rutland- shire, and died 1811 at 21 Queen Ann Street, West London; where he lived many years, and was buried in Marybone Church. The father of said Rector [namely, the Rev. George Shaw] was William Shaw, and his mother Mary Ambler, daughter of John Ambler, sheriff of the City of Ainsty of York in the year 1727. The said John Ambler was also father of Richard Ambler, who went to Virginia, and of George Ambler, my grandfather.

He concludes thus after inviting Philip St. George Ambler to come to see him :

I lost my only child, a daughter, who left a son, now eight years old (1840), named George Ambler. She married a man of the name of Steads, of the house of Steads and French at Lecds.

I have discovered the tie of blood connecting the English and American families. It is acknowledged, and I have documents to prove it, if it were not, etc., etc.

I am your affectionate brother, PHILIP ST. GEORGE AMBLER.

In a letter dated 23rd December, 1840, from Paris, Philip St. George Ambler goes on to say :

I proceed now to copy the last letter received from our kinsman, George Ambler. I prefer copying in full, because he writes far better than I do, because every part is interesting-and because in the event of accident to me or my papers, you will be in posssesion of all information I have collected :

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WAKEFIELD, YORKSHIRE, December 17, 1840.

MY DEAR SIR :- My father unfrequently referred to the subject of his relations in England, and I can but very indistinctly remember the substance of his conversations about them and the country they live in.

DR JAMES D. MONCURE

Of Williamsburg, Va., son of Henry Wood Moneure Superintendent of Asylum, Williamsburg, Va.

He spoke of his ccusins, John and Edward, who came to England for their education, but doubt whether he ever saw them, as they would quit England about the time he removed to Wakefield in 1753. His observa- tions, however, whatever they might amount to, made a great impression upon my youthful mind and have caused me to read with eagerness all

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publieations that fell in my way, respecting that part of the world, and its inhabitants, and I have scareely ever failed to enquire of every human being, supposed to come from North America, as to the part they came from, in the hope of hearing of my relations in Virginia. I have been successful only in two instances:

The first, in a newspaper of the date of 1807, where mention was made of the movement of the troops under the command of Major Ambler [Col. John Ambler, of Jamestown .- James D. Moncure.]

And next to the last leaf of the first volume of the life of Jefferson, two ladies of the name of Ambler [Mrs. Edward Ambler, and her daughter Sarah-J. D. M.] are spoken of as contributing valuable rings, or some such things to some great national objeet. [Here a passage is omitted, as it refers to steam navigation .- J. D. M.]

I am indebted to Mr. Shaw, the Reetor, for a list of the American part of the family, made out by Mr. Jaquelin Ambler, down to 1773. It states that Richard Ambler, born in 1688 [or 1690-J. D. M.], came to Virginia in 1716, and we once had amongst our archives a letter now lost, which gave an account of his succeeding about the year 1719, in con- sequence of the early and unexpected death of his uncle Burkadike, to the estates, and other valuable property of that gentleman in that Colony. I have but a faint recollection of the letter and its contents. I think it was not in the handwriting of Richard Ambler, which was large and round; but by whom written, or when dated, I do not remember. The paper had changed its eolor, and was something the worse for wear; but had been carefully preserved by some one. In the list ahove alluded to mention is made of the birth of your father, 1763.

Your account of the death of John, your grandfather's brother, may be eorreet. Mr. Shaw's account of it was this: His health had been declin- ing for some time, and in hope of improving it he was advised to go to Barbadoes. He arrived there just at the point of time when Bridgetown was destroyed by an accidental fire; lodgings were not to be procured, and the chilling dews of the elimate, to which he was unavoidably exposed, hastened his end. Mr. Shaw also informed me that your mele Jaquelin was Treasurer of the State.

Richard Ambler's uncle, Burkadike (sometimes written Bickadike), 1 am inclined to think, came from York, and was probably the first of our relations who settled in Virginia in 1694. My grandfather's brother, Richard, was the person who followed his fortunes, and they were probably each in his turn general merchants. The correspondence between us and his descendants seems to have ecased about 1776. I presume it is the family of Jaquelin, which connects us with the County of Kent.

[ The rest of the letter refers to efforts made to procure an introduction to Speaker Lefevre, with whose father George Ambler was not on pleasant terms .- J. D. M.] He concludes thus :

I fully intend accompanying you to York in June or July and pointing, that may be worth your notice, in that ancient city.

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Mrs. Ambler begs her best compliments, and my sisters their kindest respects. I remain, dear sir,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEORGE AMBLER.

P. S .- I saw Mr. Lefevre in June last. He is a fine looking gentleman, and so is his father.

[Philip St. George Ambler goes on to give an account of a futile effort to meet Mr. Lefevre. Mr. P. St. George Ambler's letter indicates that he failed because his republican friends pre- vented him from pursuing his usual course in such matters .-- J. D. M.]

The Church plate of Monumental Church is as follows :

The massive baptismal basin placed in the Antique Marble Font for the service of baptism is very old, and was used in the old Chmureh of Jamestown, where our fathers planted our first church in America. It is of English manufacture and solid silver. By the terms of the gift, this eurious shape of the basin can never be ehianged. The old Church at Jamestown is gone, nothing remains but the base of the ruined tower; but Monumental Church holds a silver link which connects the present with the hoary past.

A mahogany case has been made for it, of proper size, and at present (July, 1905) it is kept in an iron safe, in the vestry-room of the church.

I must give a portion of a letter received from one of the descendants of Edward and Martha Jaquelin :

MOUNDSVILLE, W. VA., June 9, 1904.

M'lle Louise Peequet du Bellet,

DEAR COUSIN :- When my little girl was baptized, I sent to Richmond for water taken from the Jaquelin font, to be used on the occasion. I believe quite a good deal is realized by selling water which has been . placed in the above mentioned font. The charge is only a dollar a bottle, and proceeds devoted to the church.

MRS. CHARLES RUSSELL OLDHAM.

All the windows in the Monumental Church are memorials; the upper window in the southwest commemorates the zeal and piety of Mr. George D. Fisher and his two sons, Robert H. and Edward H. Fisher, for many years prominent in the work of the church; the window above the gallery on the southeast side represents "Moses the Lawgiver," and stands to the memory of the great Chief Justice, John Marshall.

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THE MONUMENTAL CHURCH.

The Monumental Church was in process of building during the years 1812-13-14, when it was completed in the early part of 1814. It is located on what was called, a hundred and sixteen years ago, "The Theatre Square."

The second theatre was burned to the ground on the night of . Thursday, December 26, 1811. On that fatal night the theatre was filled with the most brilliant representatives of Virginia's social, political, and intellectual life. Two plays were to be enacted, namely, "The Father or Family Feuds," to be followed by "Raymond and Agnes."

During the second play the scenery took fire from a chandelier. Laughter and applause were hushed at the alarming ery of "Fire."

A holocaust of horror followed. Seventy-two strieken men, women, and children were burned to ashes. Among them was the Governor of the Commonwealth. Their names are on a monu- ment in the south portieo of the church.

Public sentiment ealled for a suitable monument to those who perished, and pious thought suggested the erection of "The Monu- mental Church," which was finally eonseerated to God "to be forever devoted to the saered purpose of divine worship."

Our forefathers attended the church: Col. John Ambler, his wife and children; Chief Justice Marshall and family. His name is still on his pew, and his granddaughters, Misses Anna and Emily Harvie, are devoted workers of this church. On the records, names of the family are found to this date [July, August, ete., 1905].

I, Louise Pecquet du Bellet, enjoyed the privilege of visiting this ehureh, June, 1904.

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CHAPTER II

LETTERS OF MRS. EDWARD CARRINGTON AND EXTRACTS FROM A SERMON BY REV. JOHN BUCHANAN.

Elizabeth Jaquelin Ambler, b. March 11, 1765; d. February 15, 1842. Married, first, William Brent, Esq., who soon died; second, Col. Edward Carrington, and died without issue, February 15, 1842. Mrs. Carrington was a member of Monumental Church, Richmond.

Colonel Carrington entered early into the army of the Revolu- tion, and afterwards served his country in the American Congress. He was a great favorite of Washington, and endeared himself to Generals Green, Marion and Sumpter, while rendering important services in the Southern campaign, as their letters amply show.

Mr. and Mrs. Carrington were on a visit at Mount Vernon not long before General Washington's deatlı.

In one of Mrs. Carrington's letters to her sister, Mrs. Fisher, she describes the chamber of a Virginia lady.

After speaking of the hearty welcome given them by the General and his lady, and the extension of the retiring hour of the former from nine to twelve on one night, when he and Colonel Carrington were lost in former days and scenes, and in the com- pany of Pulaski and Kosciusko, she comes to Mrs. Washington, who spoke of her days of public life and levees and company as "her lost days":

Let us repair to the old lady's room, which is precisely in the style of our good old aunt's-that is to say, nicely fixed for all sorts of work. On one side sits the chamber-maid, with her knitting; on the other, a little coloured pet, learning to sew. An old, decent woman is there, with her table and shears, cutting out the negroes' winter-clothes, while the good old lady direets them all, incessantly knitting herself. ' She points out to me several pairs of nice coloured stockings and gloves she had just finished, and presents me with a pair half done, which she begs I will finish and wear for her sake. It is wonderful, after a life spent as these good people have necessarily spent theirs, to see them, in retirement, assume those domestic habits that prevail in our country.

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If the wife of General Washington, having her own and his wealth at command, should thus choose to live, how much more the wives and mothers of Virginia with moderate fortunes and numerous children! How often have I seen, added to the above mentioned scenes of the chamber. the instruction of several sons and daughters going on, the churn, the reel, and other domestic operations, all in progress at the same time, and the mistress, too, lying on a sick-bed. There are still such to be found, though I fear the march of refinement is carrying many beyond such good old ways.

Mrs. Carrington writes thus of the religious character of her mother :

Often when a child have I listened to my mother's account of her early devotion to her Maker, heard her describe how, at the age of thirteen, deprived of earthly parents, she, with pious resignation, turned her heart to God, and, in the midst of a large family sought a retired spot in the garret, where she erected a little altar at which to worship. There, with her collection of sacred books, she gave her earliest and latest hours to God. Her character, in the opinion of her giddy companions, was stamped with enthusiasm. But who would not wish to be such an enthusiast? In after years, she made it her meat and drink to do the will of God, and never, in one instance, do I recollect her to have shrunk from it: Her whole life was a continued series of practical Christian duties, and her example can never be effaced from the hearts of those who knew her.

The following is an extract from a letter to Mrs. Fisher, part of which was given in Chapter I :

As a great mark of favor, I was permitted at the age of fourteen to accept an invitation of our aunt A. in Hanover. Before I finished my journey, I received a letter from my father, telling me he now considered 1 had arrived at an age when I might, in some degree, be left to myself. "Remember, my child,"-these were his words-"this is the first time you have left the- wing of tender parents; it behooves you to be watchful over your conduct; to be affable and courteous to all around you. Much de- pends upon your first entrance in the world; but, above all, never neglect your daily duty to your Great Benefactor. He demands your warmest gratitude."

This was the first time he ever called my attention to religious duties. No doubt, he felt perfectly satisfied with what our mother did for us in this particular, but his own constant example was of itself sufficient and of far greater weight than precept. Never did man live in more constant practice of religious duties; early and late we knew him in the performance of them. It was his daily habit to spend his first and latest hours in prayer and meditation. Every Sunday that his church was open he was the first to enter it, and often would be almost a solitary male at the table of God. [Most of the men were engaged in war.]

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It is not remembered whether he considered days of fasting as necessary, but his frequent abstinence led us to believe that he felt the necessity for it, and perhaps his constitution also induced him often to practice it .; nevertheless, he was never religiously gloomy. His temper was not gay, but his seriousness was generally the effect of a continual devotion to business and a remarkably reflecting mind. However, there were seasons when he enjoyed society and would often use exertions to amuse his young friends. The company of children, when quiet and playful, was delightful to liim, and I have often known him to seek it, to avoid those of larger growth; with them he used to say he always found innocence.

Benevolence in its utmost extent marked the character of our much loved father through every period of his life, and the pecuniary sacrifices for it made by him are beyond calculation. His secret charities have often been repeated in my ears from grateful lips that dared not, from delicacy for his feelings, repeat them abroad.

From your affectionate sister, E. J. C.

There was living in Richmond a poor Scotch clergyman named John Buchanan, whom he invited to make his house his home until he should be able to support himself. The invitation was accepted. The excellent Parson Buchanan lived with him till he died, officiated when he was consigned to the grave, and preached his funeral sermon, from which the following extract is made :

And when can we more seasonably apply to these duties than when we are warned by the loss of our friends to remember our latter end, and apply our hearts unto wisdom? We have, my brethren, been lately paying the last sad tribute to a departed brother. He whose loss we now lament had passed the fifty-fifth year of his age without a blemish to his reputa- tion, without an enemy, with numerous friends. Adored by his family, he has almost consoled them for his loss by the conviction that he has not gone too early for himself, and that he was mature in character, notwithstanding the constant exposure of an official man to the displeasure of others by the impartiality of his conduct. Even those who went away from him unindulged in their applications were satisfied by a confidence in the purity of his motives.

His public career, for nearly twenty years, was a series of testimony to his truth. Drawn from the peaceful walks of private life into public action, with but a solicitation or a wish previously expressed, he was chosen by the Legislature to their important offices during the Revolution and since the peacc. His last, that of treasurer, presented for thirteen years to malice, envy, or enmity, had they existed against him, an annual opportunity for gratification. And yet was he annually re-elected, because he had unremittingly shown his fitness for the office. His fatal disorder

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put human nature on the rack, but he bore his agonies with every firmness of which human nature was capable, cherished, strengthened and animated by the divine glow of Christianity, and foreseeing, with a smile, the pros- pect opening to his view. The poor scarcely knew the hand from which they so often received relief. And those who were his dependents could not but own how much their condition was softened by the kindness of their master. To this fair transcript of his character, drawn by one who knew him well, but in his public and private life, I might from a fourteen years' knowledge of him (ten whereof I spent in his family) add many private traits which characterize him as the good man and sincere, pious Christian. I could set before you innumerable instances of kind attention and kind solicitude to alleviate the distresses, bear the infirmities, provide for the wants, nay even anticipate the wishes of her to whom he was united. Of the constant care and unremitted assiduity of the fond but judicious parent, training up his own children, as also the fatherless, and those who had none to guide and direct them in the path of religion and virtue, not merely by daily precepts, but by what is infinitely more efficacious, by daily example, conscientiously discharging that most important of all trusts, and securing their temporal as well as eternal interests. I might bear honourable testimony to his being as tender of the reputation of another, repelling every report circulated by envy or malice against his neighbor's fame, and like "Christian. charity, thinking no evil." I might adduce repeated proofs of his delicacy and purity of manners and conversa- tion, and of his temperance and self-government.

He may, however, have been thought by some too reserved and too much of a recluse, and that he separated himself more than was necessary from scenes of cheerful and innocent sociability. But it may be truly said that his greater enjoyment was in his family and the private circle of his friends, whenever the state of his health would permit, and that he was sufficiently conversant in the world to present to it a fair model of integrity and a constant attention to his duties as an officer, though not enough to be seduced and contaminated by its follies and vices.

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Some prominent Virginia families, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Pecquet du Bellet, Louise, 1853- Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Lynchburg, Virginia : J.P. Bell Company Number of Pages: 836

Author: Pecquet du Bellet, Louise, 1853-
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lynchburg, Virginia : J.P. Bell Company
Number of Pages: 836