Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia

This parish was erected in 1692. It was called South Farnham
to distinguish it from one in Richmond county, on the north
side of the Rappahannock, called North Farnham.

There were two churches in this parish, called Upper and Lower
Piscataway. The first minister of the parish of whom we have
any account was the Rev. Lewis Latane, a Huguenot, who came
to this country and settled in this parish in the year 1700. He
must have taken charge of the parish very soon after his arrival,
as a letter from Governor Spottswood to the vestry of South
Farnham — found among his papers, and bearing date 17th December,
1716—speaks of Mr. Latane as having been the minister
of the parish for nearly sixteen years. This letter is in relation
to an attempt on the part of the vestry to displace Mr. Latane,
and severely reprehends their conduct, and threatens to interpose
the authority of the Governor if persisted in. It must have been
abandoned, as appears from the journal of a Mr. John Fontaine,
who, travelling from Williamsburg through this region of country,
heard Mr. Latane preach at the parish church, as he called it, in
1717, and speaks of his sermon and himself in high terms of commendation.
This was the year after the date of the letter referred
to. Mr. Latane seems to have been a quiet man, moving
on in the even tenor of his way, but feeling keenly the injustice
done him by his vestry. The opposition to him was not on the
ground of immorality or ministerial unfaithfulness or inefficiency,
but on account of his dialect, to which Mr. Latane thought they
ought now to have become accustomed. He felt aggrieved that,
after preaching for them so many years, the objection should be
made at so late a day. An anecdote connected with this matter
is related of him, which seems to be characteristic of the man.
He was riding with one of his parishioners, when the subject of his
removal was talked over by them. The other expressed his sorrow,
but thought it better on the ground that Mr. Latane's sermons
were rendered unintelligible by his foreign brogue. Before
separating they came to the minister's gate. "Go by," he said,

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"and get something to drink;" which was readily agreed to.
This he said to prove him. "Now," said the minister, "you can
readily understand me when I tempt you to do wrong, but you
can't understand me when I counsel you to do right."

How long he continued to officiate in the parish church cannot
be ascertained. No records of the parish pertaining to the church
are to be found, even after diligent inquisition made. The proceedings
of the vestry of South Farnham, in relation to the work
of processioners who were appointed by the vestry under authority
and by direction of the court of Essex, have been found; but they
only show who were the ministers and who the vestrymen of the
parish at each meeting for that business. The first meeting was
held in 1739, when the Rev. William Philips was present. Nothing
but the name of this person can be gathered from this or any other
source. He is mentioned as being present at subsequent meetings
up to 1744.

An interval of eight years occurs, and the Rev. Alexander Cruden
appears in 1752 and continues until 1773. There is no one living
in the parish who can remember any thing of Mr. Cruden. Vague
tradition represents him as having been a fine preacher in his day.
Nothing is known as to his piety. He was a native of Aberdeen,
Scotland, as is believed, and returned to that country during the
Revolutionary War. He must have relinquished his charge two
years before the war commenced. There was no minister in the
parish from that time till 1792, when the Rev. Andrew Syme,
of Glasgow, Scotland, came to the village of Tappahannock as
tutor in the family of Dr. John Brockenbrough, and preached in
the churches of South Farnham. He received a small salary
raised by voluntary contribution. What were the fruits of his
ministerial work: whether the scattered sheep were collected
and their drooping spirits revived, or the tide of infidelity which
was then rising and afterward spread over this region was
stayed by his labours, does not appear. Being the first minister
after the Revolution, he doubtless had many difficulties to
contend with, and his usefulness must have been lessened by
his school. He removed from Essex to Petersburg in 1794.
More than twenty years elapsed before there were again any regular
services in the parish. The Rev. Mr. Mathews, of St. Anne's
parish, Essex, the Rev. Mr. Carter, of Drysdale parish, King and
Queen county, and the Rev. Mr. Krew, of Middlesex county, officiated
in South Farnham for the rites of baptism, marriage, and
burial, when sent for by the few remaining followers of the Episcopal

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Church. When regular services were again resumed, it was
under the ministry of the Rev. John Reynolds, in 1822, who came
to this country from England a Wesleyan Methodist and afterward
entered the ministry of the Episcopal Church. He was
called by the two parishes of Essex united. The parishes continued
so under the ministry of the Rev. J. P. McGuire, who was
called to the rectorship of St. Anne's and South Farnham parishes
in 1825. When he resigned, in 1852, the parishes were each able
to support its own minister. During the dreary interval in the
history of the Church in South Farnham parish referred to, the
influence of the Church had waned until it seemed almost lost.
That it should be revived, humanly viewed, seemed more improbable
than that it should become extinct. It was "the Lord's
doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." The few remaining
friends were now without minister or temple. Both churches in
the parish had been destroyed,—one being pulled down, the other
burned. The feeling of hostility to the Church engendered by
the establishment under the Colonial Government, and transmitted
from generation to generation, was greatly increased in this
vicinity by the imprisonment of some of the Dissenting ministers,
—a proceeding which was unjustly identified with the Episcopal
Church. This feeling, at its height when the influence of the
Church was at the lowest, joined with the stronger feeling of
rapacity, led, as may be supposed, to wholesale plunder of the
churches and church-property. The destruction in this parish
has been complete. Nothing is to be found but the durable materials
of which the buildings were made. The bricks may be recognised
where seen; but they are nowhere found except in other
buildings. The flagstones, too, from the aisles, may be seen in
walks and in hearths; but not a whole brick, much less one upon
another, nor a piece of timber, is to be seen where the temples of
the living God stood. The monuments of the dead were not even
spared in the general depredation. These were dragged from their
resting-places and made into grindstones, and may still be identified
by parts of the original inscriptions.

As mentioned, no vestry-book is to be found belonging to the
parish, no Bible, Prayer Book, font, nor Communion-table; and
the strange fact can only be accounted for by supposing that they
shared one common ruin with the churches.

One of these buildings was preserved from destruction by a
worthy old gentleman who is said to have watched, with his
servants, night after night, to protect the house of God. When

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he died, the work of destruction went on, nor ceased till nothing
was left to tempt the cupidity of the plunderers. The other was
spared, to meet, if possible, a worse fate. The bricks and nails
were the most tempting materials in this house; and, as the
readiest way to obtain these was to fire the building, this was
done accordingly. But the first attempt to burn it was unsuccessful;
the fire, after burning for a time, went out of itself. No
one of sensibility could see this house of God as it then stood—
charred and blackened by fire, hacked by axes, and otherwise
injured by Vandal hands—and not have his feelings deeply
moved. But this condition did not suffice the spirit that was bent
on its destruction. It stood a short time longer, was again fired,
and burned to the ground. It had been a noble structure of the
kind, must have been one of the oldest Colonial churches, and, until
within a few years of its destruction, had much of venerable grandeur
in its appearance. Having, up to the time of its destruction,
so far withstood the influence of three natural elements, and a
still worse and more cruel in the bosom of man, with no guardians
left but the venerable oaks which had watched over it in better
days, and were still stretching out their arms toward it as if to
afford help in its fallen state, it was an object of peculiar
interest. Few indeed must have been the friends then to ask,
"Who saw this house in its first glory, and how do ye see it now?"
or they had not had so soon to take up the lamentation, "Our holy
and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned
up with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste." But
there was "a remnant, according to the election of grace," who
"sighed for the abominations" they could not prevent, mourned
over the desolations of Zion, "who took pleasure in her stones,
and favoured the dust thereof." They were as the "two or three
berries on the top of the uppermost bough" left after the vintage.
But they were "mothers in Israel," and nourished a seed for the
future Church. The glebe belonging to the parish, together with
the plate belonging to both churches, was sold, and the fund accruing
invested for the support of the parish poor. The fund
yields about one thousand dollars per annum. The plate was
massive, and sold, at a sacrifice, for some three hundred or four
hundred dollars.

The glebe was a donation from Rev. Lewis Latane, the first
minister of the parish. Had this plea been urged, after proper
steps to establish it,—as might have been done in the bar of the
sale,—it had no doubt been prevented. The following are the

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names of persons who constituted the vestry of South Farnham
parish from 1739 to 1779:—

"Hon. John Robinson, Captain Nicholas Smith, William Roane, Mr.
William Covington, Isaac Scandrith, John Vass, Captain William Dangerfield,
Alexander Parker, Abraham Montague, James Reynolds, Captain
Francis Smith, Mr. Henry Young, James Webb, John Clements, John
Upshaw, Henry Vass, James Mills, William Montague, William Young,
Thomas Roane, Samuel Peachy, Merriwether Smith, Archibald Ritchie,
John Richards, James Campbell, William Smith, James Edmonson, Newman
Brockenbrough, John Beal, John Edmonson.

"The Rev. Lewis Latane fled from France to England after the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes, in October, 1685, and remained there until
the year 1700. He was ordained Deacon, September 22, and Priest, October
18, of that year; reached Virginia, March 5, 1701, and took
charge of the parish of South Farnham, April 5 of that year. He was
married once before he came to this country, and twice afterward. His
third wife, of whom alone any thing is known, was Miss Mary Dean, a
relative and protégé of Mr. William Beverley, of Blandfield, in Essex
county, and of the adjoining parish of St. Anne's. Mr. Latane died in
1732, leaving a widow, and one son named John, and five daughters. In
his will we have the following characteristic trait of him:—`My will is,
that whatsoever I am justly indebted to any person be duly paid by my
executor; and whereas Mrs. Phœbe Kater, in her last will and testament,
disposed of such things to my daughters C., P., and S., as were not
in her power to give, my will is that none of my said daughters shall have
any of the said legacies paid them. But, if any of them shall be so refractory
as to insist on having any of the said legacies paid them, then I
give to each of my said daughters twelvepence, in full of all the legacies
hereafter in this my will to them given and bequeathed.' "

Faithfully have the descendants of this upright and conscientious
man followed the example of his integrity. Perhaps there is no
instance to be found in Virginia, where a whole family have been
more remarkable for truth and fidelity in all their dealings and
character. John, his only surviving son, married a Miss Mary
Allen. William, his only surviving son, married a Miss Ann
Waring, leaving a large number of sons and daughters. His
daughter Lucy, third in descent from Mr. Latane, married Mr.
Payne Waring, of Essex, so well known as the zealous and liberal
friend of the Church in that county and in the diocese, and father
of the present Mrs. Richard Baylor. His son Henry, now seventy-three
years of age, has several children who are members of the
Church, one of whom is preparing for the ministry. His daughter
Mary married Mr. John Temple, one of whose sons is the minister
of Old South Farnham parish at this time, and one of whom died at
the University in the year 1829, a model of piety and all excellence.
A brief tribute is due to his memory. In the year 1829,

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a most pestilential and fatal disease broke out in the village of
Charlottesville and at the University. Nine of the students in the
latter fell victims to it, and among them young Temple. Being
invited by the authorities of the University to improve that most
afflictive dispensation, I prepared and delivered a discourse, which
was published. From it I extract the concluding sentences, which
will show in what high esteem young Temple was held:—

"Is there upon earth a sight so interesting as that of a young man, at
a seat of learning, in the midst of temptation, surrounded by other youths
of widely-differing sentiments, yet steadily holding on `the even tenor of
his way,' resisting pleasure, avoiding evil communication, acting from religious
principle, and not ashamed to call himself by the name and seal
himself with the seal of Christ? Have you seen none such, my young
hearers? Amidst all your young associates, was there not one who loved
his Saviour, one whom you all loved, all esteemed, whom you could not but
love and esteem, and who was a witness to the truth of that which I have
spoken to-day?

"Was young Temple less beloved by you all because young Temple was
a Christian, because a portion of his Sabbaths was spent in teaching the
young and ignorant, because the Bible was his daily study? And, when
death was sent to summon him away, was he less happy? Which one of
you present, now in your own mind hostile to religion and in your conduct
furthest removed from it, but would, if called to die, rather be as
young Temple was, than as you now are?"

The following documents explain themselves:—

"At a Council held at the Capitol, the 23d day of January, 1716, present
the Governor and Council.

"On reading at this Board a representation from Mr. Commissary Blair,
setting forth that the vestry of South Farnham parish, in Essex county,
have taken upon them to suspend Mr. Lewis Latane, their minister, from
the exercise of his ministerial office, without any previous accusation or
conviction of any crime; and that the said vestry have also prohibited
the performance of divine service in the said parish, by causing the church-doors
to be shut, and praying the consideration of this therein, and the
order of the vestry for suspending Mr. Latane being also read, it is the unanimous
opinion of this Board that the said vestry have no power to turn out
their minister in the manner they have done; and, therefore, it is ordered
that the churchwardens cause the doors of the church to be opened, and
that the said Mr. Latane be permitted to exercise his ministerial functions
therein, until he be legally tried and convicted of such crime as renders
him unworthy to be continued, for which there are proper judicatures to
which the said vestry may apply, if they have any thing to charge him
with. And it is further resolved, that in case the said vestry shall refuse
to pay their minister, in the mean time, his salary due by law, that proper
measures be taken for obliging them to do him justice.

"(Copied.) Wm. Robertson, Clerk of Council"

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Letter of Governor Spottswood to the Churchwardens and Vestry of
South Farnham Parish in Essex.

"Williamsburg, December 17th, 1716.

"Gentlemen:—I'm not a little surprised at the sight of an order of
yours, wherein you take upon you to suspend from his office a clergyman
who, for near sixteen years, has served as your minister, and that without
assigning any manner of reason for your so doing. I look upon it that
the British subjects in these Plantations ought to conform to the Constitution
of their mother-country in all cases wherein the laws of the several
Colonies have not otherwise decided; and, as no vestry in England ever
pretended to set themselves up as judges over their ministers, so I know
no law of this country that has given such authority to the vestry here.
If a clergyman transgresses against the canons of the Church, he is to
be tried before a proper judicature; and though in this country there be
no Bishops to apply to, yet there is the substitute of the Bishop, who is
your diocesan, and who can take cognizance of the offences of the clergy;
and I cannot believe there is any vestry here so ignorant but to know that
the Governor, for the time-being, has the honour to be intrusted with the
power of collating to all benefits, and ought, in reason, to be made acquainted
with the crime which unqualifies a clergyman from holding a
benefice of which he is once legally possessed. In case of the misbehaviour
of your minister, you may be his accusers, but in no case his
judges; but much less are you empowered to turn him out without showing
any cause. But your churchwardens, ordering the church to be shut
up, and thereby taking upon them to lay the parish under an interdict, is
such an exorbitant act of power, that even the Pope of Rome never pretended
to a greater; and if your churchwardens persist in it, they will
find themselves involved in greater troubles than they are aware of.

"By the small number of vestrymen present at the making the late
order, and the dissent of several that were, I apprehend the turning out
of Mr. Latane, and what has followed on it since, to be the effect of some
sudden heat, and therefore I am willing to believe that, upon cooler deliberation
in a full vestry, you will think fit to reverse that order, and give
your minister the opportunity of a fair trial, if you have any thing to
accuse him of, which is what every subject ought to have before he is
condemned. But if, contrary to my expectations, you persist in that unwarrantable
way you have begun, I recommend to your inquiry what success
a vestry who took upon them the like power met with at Kichotan,
(Hampton) But I hope, without obliging me to exert that authority his
Majesty has intrusted me with, in this case you will rather choose to be
reconciled to your minister, which will be more for the quiet of your parish,
and much more obliging to,

"Gentlemen, your most humble servant,

A. Spottswood."

University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE XXXV.

Parishes in Essex County.—No. 1. South Farnham.

Letter of Governor Spottswood to the Churchwardens and Vestry of South Farnham Parish in Essex.

Letter of Governor Spottswood to the Churchwardens and Vestry of
South Farnham Parish in Essex.