THE CHURCH AT COALSMOUTH.
About twelve miles from Charleston, and lower down, the river
Coal enters into the Kanawha. At this place a number of Episcopal
families settled themselves from thirty to sixty years ago.
They attracted the attention of our first ministers in Kanawha,
and shared their labours. Among those families was that of Mr.
Philip Thompson, of Culpepper, son of the Rev. Mr. Thompson,
of St. Mark's parish, of whom we have given so good an account
in our article on Culpepper. His family, now reduced in numbers
by death and dispersion, have contributed largely to the support
of this congregation. The venerable mother, daughter of old
Mr. Robert Slaughter, of Culpepper, was loved and esteemed by
all who knew her, as one of the humblest and most devoted members
of the Church in Virginia. I have always felt my own sense
of the divine power and excellency of religion strengthened by every
visit made to her abode. She exchanged it some years since for a
better one above.
The following communication from Mr. Francis Thompson, who
has long been a lay reader of the Church, contains every thing of
importance in relation to the congregation at Coalsmouth:—
"Coals, February 24, 1857
"Right Reverend and Dear Sir:—
I hasten to give you an imperfect
account of the history of the Church in this neighbourhood; and, as there
are no records to refer to, I shall have to rely on an imperfect memory.
Morris Hudson, Elizabeth his wife, and their six children, nearly all married,
removed to this neighbourhood from Botetourt county, Virginia, in
1797, and were probably the first Episcopalians that settled in this neighbourhood.
They were both communicants of the Church. They came to
Virginia originally from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and were members
of Bangor Church,—an old church erected before the Revolution.
They removed to Botetourt county, in this State, during Bishop Madison's
time. The old patriarch, then in his eightieth year, (being uncertain
whether he had been confirmed in childhood,) received the rite of Confirmation
at your hands, on your first visit to this county, together with
several of his children. Some of their descendants still continue true to
the faith of their fathers, whilst others have wandered into other folds.
The next Episcopalians who settled here were my father's family, with
whose history you are well acquainted. They removed here in 1817.
My father died in 1837, in the seventieth year of his age. My mother
died the 8th of March, 1852, in the seventy-fifth year of her age.
"The first clergyman who visited us was the Rev. Mr. Page, who came
as a missionary, and was afterwards the pastor of the congregation in this
neighbourhood, and officiated generally throughout the county. He laboured
zealously for several years, and, I have no doubt, accomplished much
good. Had he remained, I think the Church would have been established
here on a firm foundation. I do not recollect the precise time of his coming
or leaving. The little brick church on the hill was erected in 1825,
(chiefly by old Mr. Hudson.) I think the Rev. Mr. Page preached in it
for some years. This church was used until 1835, when it was burned.
"The first vestry was P. R. Thompson, Davis Hudson, Jesse Hudson,
and others whose names I have forgotten. After Mr. Page left, we were
for some time without a minister, and the Methodists and Presbyterians
came in and gathered up the sheaves already bound by him, as many baptized
by him connected themselves with those Churches. The Rev. F. D.
Goodwin succeeded Mr. Page, and continued about two years. I think he
came in 1830 or 1831, and was followed by the Rev. Mr. Martin in 1833,
who remained in the county about five years, and gave place to Mr. Craik,
who preached for us occasionally for several years. Old Mr. West had
charge of this parish part of a year during Mr. Craik's ministry in Charleston.
After Mr. West left us, Mr. Craik still continued to preach for us,
until the spring of 1845, when the Rev. F. B. Nash was called to this
parish. He continued to labour zealously for several years. During his
ministry St. Mark's Church was built on a part of the lot given by my
father for a church and parsonage. The parsonage was built for Mr.
Martin, but was never occupied by a minister until Mr. Nash came. St.
Mark's Church was built in 1846, and shortly afterward St. John's in the
Valley. The congregation in Quay's Valley was first gathered by Mr.
Craik, and an old still-house converted into a place of worship. I think
he started a subscription-paper for St. John's before he left. There are
several communicants still living near this church, though they have never
had any services since Mr. Nash left, with the exception of one or two
sermons from Mr. Henderson, who continued here a short time. I was
licensed as a lay reader about thirty-two years ago, and have continued to
officiate in that capacity and as superintendent of the Sunday-school up to
this time. Our school last summer, and as long as the weather permitted
during the fall, was quite a flourishing one, numbering more than forty
scholars. We shall resume it on next Sunday, if the weather continues
good.
I remain, dear sir, your attached friend,
F. Thompson."
List of Persons who have acted as Vestrymen, (from memory.)
P. R. Thompson, Sen., Davis Hudson, Jesse Hudson, John Lewis, P. R.
Thompson, Jr., John P. Turner, Alexander Bradford, Dr. John Thompson,
Robert Simms, George Rogers, Alfred A. Thornton, Benjamin S. Thompson,
George W. Thornton, Francis Thompson.
We have no other church besides these on the Kanawha River,
though our ministers have had stations at the court-house in a
neighbouring county and at Buffalo in Kanawha county. At Point
Pleasant, besides the occasional visits of the Rev. Mr. Craik and
Mr. Henderson, the Rev. James Goodwin laboured several years in
the hope of building a church and raising up a congregation, but
was disappointed. Various circumstances have prevented the establishment
of a flourishing village on that most beautiful of all the
sites on the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, which, by their junction
there, concur to make it as convenient for trade as it is memorable
for the bloody battle with the Indians in which the family of Lewis
so signalized itself,—some of whose descendants still live upon the
spot and adhere to the Church of their ancestors.
