Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia.

This name was doubtless given to it at an early period, and after
the first of the Washingtons; though we see nothing of its first
establishment in the Acts of Assembly. The Bishop of London
sends a circular to its minister in 1723. The Rev. Laurence De
Butts was its minister in that year, and had been for the three preceding
years. The parish was thirty miles long and five wide,
extending only half-way across the Neck at that time. There
were two churches in it. He administered the Communion three
times a year, and two quarts of wine had been used at one time.
Mr. De Butts preached also, during the week, at St. Stephen's
Church, Northumberland county, at Farnham Church, Richmond
county, and in Cople parish, they all being vacant at that time.
The glebe of four hundred and fifty acres was bequeathed to the
parish for the better maintenance of a minister and schoolmaster,
and the vestry gave it entirely to him on condition that he would
provide one to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, which he had
done. What has become of this glebe we know not. We find in
the old county records the name of another minister in Westmoreland,
about this same time,—the Rev. Walter Jones. He may have
ministered in some other parish, or been a private teacher, and been
merely summoned as a witness. We have no record of any minister
in Washington parish after this until the year 1754, when the
Rev. Archibald Campbell appears on one of our lists.

Of him and his family I have something special to say. Our
lists of clergy show him to have been the minister of Washington
parish from the year 1754 to 1774,—a period of twenty years.
During most of that time Round Hill Church (afterward in Hanover
parish, King George county, by a change of the boundary-line
in the two counties) was connected with Pope's Creek Church, in
Washington parish, and Mr. Campbell was minister of those
churches. I have something to say about the former of these
churches which has a bearing on the date of Mr. Campbell's ministry
and first coming to this country.

In my report, in the year 1838, of a visit to this region in the

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preceding year, I thus speak:—"In passing from Westmoreland to
King George county, where my next appointment was made, the
traveller may see, immediately on the roadside, the last vestiges of
an old church called `Round Hill Church.' A few broken bricks
and a little elevation made by the mouldered ruins are all now left
to say, Here once stood a church of the living God."

Within the last few months I spent a night at the hospitable
house of Colonel Baber, near whose outer gate the old church
stood. On learning that there was an old tombstone still to be
seen among the ruins, I determined to search for it. In the morning,
on our way to St. Paul's Church, Colonel Baber's son, Rev. Mr.
Dashiel, and myself, dismounted and made our way to the spot
through the thick pines and cedars with which it was overgrown.
After considerable search we discovered the end of a large tombstone,
the greater portion of which was covered over with the roots
of trees, moss and leaves. After clearing away the two latter, we
made out the inscription, as follows:—"Here lies Rebecca, the wife
of the Rev. Archibald Campbell, minister of Washington parish,
who died the 21st of March, 1754." "Here also lies Alexander,
their child." Now, as it is well known that he had another son
by the name of Alexander, an eminent lawyer of Virginia, the one
buried beneath or near this stone may have been born and died
some years before this, and so Mr. Campbell's ministry be carried
back a number of years before 1754, his second son Alexander
being born before that time. If this be so, and it be also true
that the Rev. Mr. Campbell kept a school in Westmoreland,—as tradition
says, and of which there is no doubt,—it may also be true,
as tradition further reports, that General Washington and Thomas
Marshall, father of the Chief-Justice, and perhaps Colonel Monroe
and Mr. Madison, all of whom were born in this region, may at one
time have been scholars of Mr. Campbell. General Washington
was born in 1732, and until his sixteenth year was much in Westmoreland.
It is only necessary that Mr. Campbell's ministry and
school should have commenced five or six years before the death
of his wife, to render this a probable thing. I introduce the report
in order to elicit either confirmation or rejection. Of the history
of this branch of the Campbells of Virginia I have obtained the
following statement. Two brothers, Archibald and Alexander,
emigrated to Virginia some time before the war. Archibald settled
as a clergyman in Westmoreland, and Alexander as a merchant in
Falmouth. At the breaking out of the war, Archibald took part
with the Americans, with the Washingtons and Lees, his parishioners,

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while Alexander preferred the British side of the question,
and returned to Scotland. The youngest son of Alexander was
born in Glasgow, in 1777.[22]

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The sons of Archibald were Archibald, Alexander, and John.
Archibald inherited the property of his father in Westmoreland,
consisting of two seats, the one called Pomona, the other Campbellton,
at the last of which the father lived and kept his school.
It is now the summer residence of Mr. Laurence Washington. The
other sons, Alexander and John, were eminent lawyers. Alexander
married a Miss Fitzhugh, of King George, who at his death married
the Rev. Dr. Kollock, minister of churches in Princeton, New York,
Charleston, (South Carolina,) and lastly in Savannah. An only
daughter, by her first husband, married Judge Wayne, of the Supreme
Court. The last son, John, was a lawyer in Westmoreland,
and represented the county in the Legislature, and the parish in
one of our Conventions. His daughters were Eliza, who married
Mr. Leland; Emily, who married Robert Mayo; Sarah, who married
Landon Berkeley; Louisa, who married John Mayo; and
Octavia.

After the disappearance of Mr. Campbell from any of our records,

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we have no account of any minister in Washington parish
until the year 1785, when the Rev. Francis Wilson serves it for
one year. In the year 1796, the Rev. John O'Donnell appears
once in a Convention. We have none after this until the year
1822, when the Rev. Josiah Claphan appears in Convention, with
Mr. John Campbell, son of the Rev. Mr. Campbell, as lay delegate.
Mr. Clapham continued its minister for some years, performing
his duties piously and faithfully, and with as much energy as his
bodily infirmities would allow of. After a considerable interval, we
find the parish again supplied by the services of the Rev. William
McGuire, who served it in connection with Cople parish. Within a
few years past, a new parish has been taken from Washington parish,
by the name of Montross, in which a new church has been built,
while another, by the name of St. Peter's, has been built at Oak
Grove. We are much indebted to the labours of the Rev. William
McGuire for both these new churches. The Rev. Mr. Tuttle was
the minister of Washington parish for one year, since which time
the Rev. Mr. Chesley has been settled there.

THE OLD CHURCHES IN WESTMORELAND.

There were three of these,—the Round Hill Church, Pope's
Creek Church, and one at Leeds, on the Rappahannock. Pope's
Creek Church lay immediately on the road from Westmoreland
Court-House to King George. The following notice of it is taken
from my report to the Convention of 1838:—

"It was near to this church that General Washington was born. It
was in this that he was baptized. Here it was that he received those
early impressions of religion which, instead of being effaced by age, seemed
to grow with his growth and strengthen with his strength. The proofs
of this have been abundantly furnished in the `Religious Opinions and Character
of Washington,' by the Rev. Mr. McGuire, a work recently published,
and for which the writer deserves the thanks of every friend of Washington,
of religion, and of our country. I have said that this church is now
in ruins, and I would add, that about twenty-six years ago, [1812,] when
I was in Deacon's Orders, I remember to have been in it, with the Rev.
Mr. Norris, an early and beloved associate in the ministry, at which time
it was beginning to decay in the roof; but there was a large congregation,
and twenty-eight children were brought forward for baptism. It was the
first service which had been performed in it for a long time, and from that
period it continued to decay, until a few years ago it was set on fire in
order to prevent injury, from the falling of the roof, to the cattle which
were accustomed to shelter there."

It ought to be added that so attached were the citizens of the

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county to this old building, that the excuse for its destruction by
fire was not readily admitted. Indeed, so indignant were they,
that it was brought before the grand jury and the court. The
result, however, was the acquittal of the party. It has now been
twenty years since the above-mentioned visit, and I have often
within that time passed the same spot, at each time perceiving the
disappearance of all that was old, and the rise and growth of what
was new. Trees and shrubs have been growing up over and around
the old site, rendering it more difficult each year to the passing
traveller to find out where Old Pope's Creek Church once stood.
I should not myself, in a recent visit, have been able to discover it,
but for the aid of a friend who was with me. I could not but ask
myself and that friend if it were not possible that a simple but durable
monument—say a pillar a few feet high—could be placed on the
roadside, with the name of Pope's Creek Church upon it, to inform
posterity that on that spot stood the church of the Washingtons, the
Lees, the Paynes, and others. It is said that the Legislature intends
to have an enclosure around the birthplace of Washington and the
burying-place of his ancestors, which are near at hand; and surely
some individual or individuals would take pleasure in marking the
spot where God was worshipped by so many, and where the remains
of not a few were interred, although no tombstones have preserved
their names. Among those whose bodies were deposited around
this church is to be numbered the Hon. Thomas Lee, (the father of
Richard Henry Lee and a noble band of brothers and sisters,) the
owner of Stratford, for whom it was rebuilt by the Queen, after
being consumed by fire, who held the first offices in the Colony
under several Governors, and whose commission as Governor reached
Virginia in 1756, just after his death. I take the following inscription
from his tombstone, which I saw some years since, lying
against the wall of the family vault at Stratford:—

"In memory of the Hon. Thomas Lee, whose body was buried at
Pope's Creek Church, five miles above his country-seat, Stratford Hall,
in 1756."

Of Mr. Lee some account has been given in the sketch of the
Lee family in the article on Northumberland county.

LEEDS OR BRAY'S CHURCH.

This church stood on the Rappahannock, at the outskirts of the
place called Leeds. It was of brick. The ruins of it are yet to
be seen, apparently hanging on the bank of the river. It has

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undergone many changes of late years since it was deserted as a
house of worship, having been used as a tavern, stable or barn, and
been altered so as to suit the different purposes to which it has been
applied. Leeds was once a place of note in this part of Virginia.
It was doubtless named, either by the Fairfaxes or Washingtons,
after the town of Leeds, in Yorkshire, near which both of their
ancestral families lived. This in Virginia was a place of much
trade in tobacco and other things. Its shipping was very considerable
at one time, and it gave the promise of being a town of no
small importance, but, like many other such places in Virginia, as
Dumfries, Colchester, Warren, Warminster, it failed to fulfil the
expectations excited. For one thing it deserves to retain a lasting
place in the history of the American Revolution. As Boston was
the Northern, so Leeds may be called the Southern cradle of American
Independence. This was the place where, with Richard
Henry Lee as their leader, the patriots of Westmoreland met,
before any and all others, to enter their protest against the incipient
steps of English usurpation. At this place did they resolve
to oppose the Stamp Act, nor allow any citizen of Westmoreland
to deal in stamps. This is a true part of the American history.

ROUND HILL CHURCH.

Of this we have said something in our mention of the Rev. Mr.
Campbell. In the following communication from my brother,
Bishop Payne, of Africa, further notice of it will be found, together
with interesting accounts of his own family. One of these at my
first visit to Pope's Creek Church promised one hundred dollars
for its repairs,—a large sum for those times.

"In the summer of 1833, after leaving Williamsburg, I visited a great-uncle,
Captain William Payne, a venerable old gentleman, (grandfather
of Richard Payne, of Warrenton,) residing near Warrenton. He was
dressed in short pants, had served in the Revolution, and was a fine specimen
of the old Virginia gentleman. Finding me interested in the history
of our family, he took down from his library a copy of Smith's History of
Virginia, and in the index showed me the names of our ancestors to whom
King James gave patents of land in Virginia. They were Sir William
Payne, John Payne, and Richard or Thomas, I forget which. Sir William,
he said, never came to America, but the other two brothers did. One of
these brothers, as I learned from him, and his daughter,—my cousin,—Mrs.
Scott, of Fredericksburg, settled in the country about Lynchburg, and
from him descended Mrs. Madin, (Polly Payne.) The other—John Payne
—settled between the Potomac and Rappahannock, probably in or near that
which was to be the great city Leedstown. My grandfather, John
Payne, whom you saw, I think died when I was six or seven years old,

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but I recollect him distinctly as dressed in the old style, like Uncle William.
His residence was at the old family-stead called, when I knew it,
the Red House. It is immediately in the rear of Bunker's Hill, (Henry
Taylor's place,) and three miles from Leedstown. His estates—subsequently
divided between my father and his brothers, Daniel, George, and
daughter Elizabeth—were on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, and
partly in Richmond county. My third great-uncle, Richard, whom I remember
well, settled in Culpepper, and his descendants, (except one son,
William,—Episcopalian,—who married old Parson Woodville's daughter,
and removed to Columbus, Mississippi,) Methodists, are now to be found
in Culpepper county.

"When in Alexandria, Mr. Dana showed me in the vestry-books of
Christ Church the name of William Payne associated with George Washington;
and one of the cross-streets in Alexandria, near the head of King,
I noticed, still bears the name of `Payne Street' Learning that this family
emigrated to the West, when in Lexington I made inquiries about them,
and soon found multitudes of most respectable people in and about Lexington
and Frankfort bearing this name. They are Presbyterians. Mr.
Berkeley, the Episcopal minister, subsequently introduced me to Dr.
Payne, of Lexington, who said at once, `We are doubtless the same family,'
and he and all his relatives about there were descended from Washington's
contemporary and associate, William Payne, of Alexandria. He told me
with a spirit of too much self-complacency—as I told him—that this was
the same William Payne who knocked down General Washington in Alexandria
for insulting him. But he replied quickly, "Oh, no! he was right.
For General Washington the next day sent him an apology, instead of a
challenge as his friends had anticipated."

"Of the ecclesiastical and theological views of my father and grandfather
I know but little. I think you told me that the latter gave you proof
that he clung to `the old Church' and eschewed all others. I am inclined
to think, from circumstances which I can remember, that my father was
like-minded. I found among his books `The Theological Repertory,' with
whose history you are familiar; and one of the few things that I can remember
about him well was his holding long and late discussions with the
Methodist ministers who in 1823-25 began to preach in the neighbourhood
and occasionally to visit my father's house. My father was a teetotaller,
very thoughtful,—I will hope, a religious man, though of this I cannot be
certain. My mother, however, from my earliest recollection I know was,
but she did not make a profession of religion until after my father's death,
nor until my eldest sister (now dead) made a profession among the Methodists.
This circumstance leads me to think my father's influence prevented
my mother from uniting herself before with the Methodists,—though the
only representative of the Episcopal Church in the neighbourhood was our
poor friend, Mr. Clapham.

"The last baptism by a Church parson in our family was that of brother
William. I infer it was one of the old sort, as his godfather was any thing
but a pious man, and thought his duty to his godson quite performed after
he had given him a yoke of oxen.

"I have said I was born in the White Oak Swamps about one mile from
the Potomac. This was my father's residence for two or three years after
his marriage, being convenient to his estate on the Potomac. But it proved
so unhealthy that he purchased one of the old glebes in the Pine Forest,
on the ridge between the Potomac and Rappahannock, seven miles from

166

the former, and three from the nearest point of the latter. Here eight
of us were reared in most remarkable health. From this glebe to the
Old Round Hill Church, or rather its remains,—for it was demolished
before my earliest recollection,—there was in my childhood one of the most
beautiful roads I ever saw. It led for several miles in a direction perfectly
straight, under an avenue of beautiful oaks. It was called `the Parson's
Road,' and was no doubt the road by which the parsons travelled to the
Round Hill Church. By-the-way, have you ever ascertained or written
the history of this said Round Hill Church? It was situated on a beautiful
and commanding knoll, near old Machodoc Meeting-House, which
superseded it, and in which Mr. Clapham was wont to officiate before his
removal from King George to Loudon. But, as I have said, nothing of
it but some fragments remained at the time of my earliest visits to the
neighbourhood.

"I have given you all that occurs to me of my family history of interest.
Should you wish to make further inquiries, I would refer you to my
cousin, Mrs. Scott, of Fredericksburg, and through Cousin Richard Payne,
of Warrenton, to his father and Mrs. Scott's eldest brother, Daniel Payne,
who resides in the neighbourhood of Warrenton. He is called the Frenchman
of our family, and should you ever meet with him you will find
him very agreeable and fond of talking, and on no subject more than that
about which I have been writing."

THE WASHINGTON FAMILY.

It is agreed on all hands that, about the year 1655, two brothers,
John and Laurence Washington, came over to Virginia and settled
in Westmoreland county. In all the histories which I have seen
of the Washington family there is not another word said of Laurence
Washington, except that he and his brother came together
and settled at the same place. While the descendants of John
Washington, in all their branches, are minutely described in genealogies
and histories and biographies, doubtless in a great measure
because the great Washington was one of them, Laurence Washington
was forgotten and lost sight of as though he had never been.
I have met with persons who could not trace their connection with
General Washington or his first ancestors, yet were certain of some
connection with the family, but never thought of inquiring whether
their descent is not from the other brother. In a recent visit to
Tappahannock, the county seat of Essex county, (where are the
records of the old county of Rappahannock, which from 1653 to
1692 embraced all that lay on each side of the Rappahannock
River for some miles up to the Falls above Fredericksburg,) in
searching in an old record of wills, I found that of this same Laurence
Washington. Although he may have settled near the Potomac
with his brother John, he must have removed into Rappahannock
county, for his will is there recorded. He may have done

167

this without moving many miles from his brother, as Westmoreland
county and Washington parish were only about five miles wide, and
Rappahannock county and Littenburne parish were about the same
width, the one lying on the Potomac, the other on the Rappahannock
River. I have also obtained, by the help of a friend, the
will of Mr. John Washington, which was recorded at Westmoreland
Court-House, and whose original is still there in an old book of
wills, though in a somewhat mutilated form. That they were the
two brothers is evident from the fact that they mention each other
in their wills. Both of the wills are made in the same year,—that
of one on February 26, 1675; that of the other on September 27,
1675. The one is proved the 10th of January, 1677, and the other
the 6th of January of the same year, at an interval of only four
days, so that it is probable they died in a few days of each other.
There is something so pious in the language of these wills, that I
make no apology for introducing a portion of them. Without any
means of ascertaining which was the elder of the two, we begin
with the will of John Washington:—

"In the name of God, Amen. I, John Washington, of Washington
parish, in the county of Westmoreland, in Virginia, gentleman, being of
good and perfect memory, thanks be unto Almighty God for it, and calling
to remembrance the uncertain state of this transitory life, that all flesh
must yield unto death, do make, constitute, and ordain this my last will
and testament and none other. And first, being heartily sorry, from the
bottom of my heart, for my sins past, most humbly desiring forgiveness
of the same from the Almighty God, my Saviour and Redeemer, in whom
and by the merits of Jesus Christ I trust and believe assuredly to be saved,
and to have full remission and forgiveness of all my sins, and that my soul
with my body at the general resurrection shall rise again with joy."

Again he repeats the same sentiment, hoping "through the
merits of Jesus Christ's death and passion to possess and inherit
the kingdom of heaven prepared for his elect and chosen." He
directs his body to be buried on the plantation upon which he
lived, by the side of his wife and two children. He then proceeds
to distribute his property, which he says it has pleased God to give
him "far above his deserts." After dividing a number of landed
estates between his second and surviving wife and his children,—
John, Laurence, and Anne,—and also his property in England, he
directs that a funeral sermon be preached and no other funeral
kept, and that a tablet with the Ten Commandments be sent for to
England and given to the church. I think, also, that he directs
four thousand-weight of tobacco to be given to the minister, though

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of this I am not certain, some words being lost. He leaves one
thousand pounds to his brother-in-law, Thomas Pope, and one
thousand pounds and four thousand-weight of tobacco to his sister,
who had come or was coming over to this country. He makes his
wife and brother Laurence his executors. From the above it would
seem that, great as were his military talents, being commander-in-chief
in the Northern Neck, high as he stood in the Government,
so that the parish was called after him, and large as was his property
in England and America, he was also a sincerely pious man, and
in his will emphatically testifies to those great Gospel principles
which are so prominent in the Church of his fathers.

In the will of his brother Laurence there is the same spirit of piety.
After the usual preamble, he says, "Imprimis: I give and bequeath
my soul unto the hands of Almighty God, hoping and trusting,
through the mercy of Jesus Christ, my one Saviour and Redeemer,
to receive full pardon and forgiveness of all my sins, and my body
to the earth, to be buried in comely and decent manner by my executor
hereafter named: and for my worldly goods, I thus dispose of
them." To his daughter Mary Washington (by a former wife in
England) he bequeathed his whole estate in England, both real
and personal, to be delivered immediately after his death, together
with a ring and other articles. To his loving son John he left all
his books and part of his plate, the other part to his daughter Ann,
when they should be of age or marry. His lands are divided between
his wife and the two children—John and Ann—by her. A
farm called West Fales, which lay on the south side of the Rappahannock,
which once belonged to Captain Alexander Fleming, and
which came to him by his wife, was to be sold for his debts. It is
probable that his second wife was a daughter of Captain Fleming.
He leaves his wife executrix of the estate, but provides that in case
of her death or neglect to be the guardian and overseer of his
children, his loving brother John Washington and loving friend
Thomas Hawkins should be. In a codicil written at the same time,
he leaves that part of the land on which he then lived, and which
came to him by marriage, to the sole disposal of his wife. It is
probable, from the above, that he lived on the north side of the
river, in what is now Westmoreland. From the foregoing particulars,
some other than myself may be able to ascertain the maiden
name of his wife, and who, if any, are the descendants of his three
children, as it is more than probable they had descendants.

169

THE WASHINGTON FAMILY SEAT AND VAULT.

I recently paid a visit to the old family seat of the Washingtons,
which is sometimes said to be on Pope's Creek, and sometimes on
Bridge's Creek, near the Potomac. The farm lay between the two,
which are about a mile apart, near their junction with the Potomac.
The family mansion lies near Pope's Creek, and the vault where
the dead were deposited near Bridge's Creek. The latter appears
to have been favourable to a rich growth of cedars, and may have
been chosen for this reason. Or it may be that one of the two
brothers first settled there. The estate is still in the family, or in
the possession of one intermarried with the family. Some years
since it was owned by Mr. John Gray, of Travellers' Rest, near
Fredericksburg, who either repaired one of the outhouses or a wing
of the old one, or built a small house for his overseer out of the old
materials. The brick chimney is all that remains of the Washington
mansion,—the birthplace of General Washington,—except the
broken bricks which are scattered about over the spot where it was
built. The grandson of Mrs. General Washington, Mr. Custis, of
Arlington, some years since placed a slab with a brief inscription
on the spot, but it is now in fragments. I was happy to hear that
a bill had passed one branch of our Legislature, appropriating a sum
of money for enclosing this spot, as well as the vault in a neighbouring
field nearly a mile off. I also visited that spot, which no
one can look upon without distress and even disgust. The condition
of all such vaults as were once common in some parts of Virginia,
especially in the Northern Neck, must after the lapse of time be
necessarily thus distressing and disgusting, like the sepulchres of
old when filled "with rottenness and dead men's bones." The
vault where so many of the Washington family are interred is in an
open field and unenclosed. A small space around it is covered with
grass, briers, shrubs, and a few small trees. Itself can only be
distinguished by the top of the brick arch which rises a little above
the surface. The cavity underneath has been very properly filled
up with earth by Mr. Laurence Washington, one of its late proprietors,
to prevent the bones of the dead being taken away by visitors,
who had begun thus to pillage it. Not far from the vault there was
a large slab lying on the ground, with the name of one of the family
and two of his children. There were also fragments of another.
It is to be hoped that the Legislature will resolve on putting a
permanent enclosure around this also.

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THE VAULT OF THE LEES AT STRATFORD, IN WESTMORELAND.

In the preceding sketch of the Lees, by Mr. William Lee, of
London, there is mention made of a loss by fire sustained by his
father, Thomas Lee, of Stratford, and of a present to him by Queen
Caroline. This establishes the source from whence came the means
of building the present most durable building at that place, which
for the thickness of the walls and the excellency of its architecture
is not surpassed, if equalled, by any in Virginia.[23] It has sometimes
been called the Governor's House, probably because its
owner and builder, Thomas Lee, was commissioned as Governor,
though he did not live to act in that capacity. The cemetery
was not built by him, as he was buried at Pope's Creek Church.
I have been assured by Mrs. Eliza Turner, who was there at
the time, that it was built by General Harry Lee. The cemetery
is much larger than any other in the Northern Neck, consisting
of several apartments or alcoves for different branches of the
family. Instead of an arch over them there is a brick house, perhaps
twenty feet square, covered in. A floor covers the cemetery.
In the centre is a large trapdoor, through which you descend by a
ladder to the apartments below. I went down into it some years
since, when nothing was to be seen but the bones of the deceased,
which were scattered over the dirt floor. I was informed that it
had sometimes been filled with water, and that then the bones and
skulls of the deceased might be seen floating upon the surface,—at
any rate, if stirred up with a pole, as was sometimes done. The
entrance to this house has of late years been almost prevented by
a thick growth of young aspens and briers. I am happy to state
that it is the purpose of the present proprietor to fill up the vault,
take down the brick walls and convert them into a mound over the
place, and on the top of the mound to have the tombstone of old
Thomas Lee fixed in some immovable way.

Some mournful thoughts will force themselves upon us when
considering the ruins of churches, of mansions, and of cemeteries,
in Westmoreland. By reason of the worth, talents, and patriotism
which once adorned it, it was called the Athens of Virginia. But
how few of the descendants of those who once were its ornaments

STRATFORD HOUSE, WESTMORELAND

171

are now to be found in it! Chantilly, Mount Pleasant, Wakefield,
are now no more. Stratford alone remains. Where now are the
venerable churches? Pope's Creek, Round Hill, Nomini, Leeds,
where are they? Yeocomico only survives the general wreck. Of
the old men, mansions, churches, &c. we are tempted to say,
"Fuit Illium, et ingens gloria Dardanidum;" and yet we rejoice
to think that new ones have taken their places, in some respects
better suited to present times and circumstances. Those who, in
the general defection, have remained to the Church, are exerting
themselves to repair the waste places; and we trust there awaits for
Westmoreland a greater glory than the former.

[23]

An American writer says there were once a hundred rooms in this house. A
view of the engraving of it will show how untrue this is. Even including the basement
and the large hall, there are not more, I think, than seventeen, and never were
more. Another says there were one hundred stalls for horses in the stable,—almost
equally untrue.

[22]

This youngest son was none other than the celebrated poet Thomas Campbell.

In a letter from a friend who is much interested and deeply versed in such matters,
there is the following passage:—"Of the Campbells I can say nothing more
than you have related at this moment, except perhaps that lawyer Campbell was
a most eloquent man, and that Campbell, a brother of the poet, married a daughter
of Patrick Henry. This I will inquire into. As Patrick Henry himself was descended
on the mother's side from the stock of Robertson the historian, and is in
that way a relative of Lord Brougham, so his descendants are connected with the
poet Campbell, thus showing a connection between our great orator and one of the
greatest politicians and one of the sweetest poets of the age."

The following extract from a letter of one of Mr. Campbell's grandsons throws
additional light on the history of the family.—"I will now give you some facts
that I have been able to gather in reference to him and his descendants. Parson
Campbell came to Virginia previous to the year 1730. He resided at the glebe
near Johnsville, in what was then Westmoreland but now King George county.
He preached at Round Hill Church, and probably at Pope's Creek Church. A road
leading a part of the way from the glebe to Round Hill Church still goes by the
name of the Parson's Road. It was said to have been cut through the forest for
Parson Campbell's use. Parson Campbell was twice married. His first wife died
soon after her marriage. His second wife was a sister of the Rev. William Stuart,
of King George County. By this marriage there were three sons,—Archibald,
Alexander, and John: the two last-mentioned were distinguished lawyers. Archibald,
my grandfather, left a daughter and two sons. Frederick, the elder son, was
a lawyer. He inherited an entailed estate in Scotland, and died in Europe. Ferdinand,
the second son, was formerly Professor of Mathematics in William and Mary
College, and died near Philadelphia. Alexander was twice married, and left two
daughters, one of whom died unmarried: the other is the wife of Judge Wayne,
of the Supreme Court. John was also married twice, and left several children.
Parson Campbell was from Scotland. He was related to the Stuart and Argyle
families of that country, and was the uncle of Thomas Campbell the poet. In
addition to the performance of his ministerial duties, he also taught a school. It is
said that he had among his pupils Madison, Monroe, and Chief-Justice Marshall.
The Rev. William Stuart studied theology under his direction. Parson Campbell
died leaving a considerable estate."

The following letter, having been received since the foregoing was published in
the "Southern Churchman," corrects some inaccuracies and furnishes additional
information.

"Bishop Meade,

"Newstead, March 20, 1857.

"Rev. and Dear Sir:—In perusing the brief sketch given by you of the Campbells
of Virginia, my mother discovered some inaccuracies, which it gives us pleasure
to correct as far as we can do so. She says that her grandfather (Archibald
Campbell) married twice. Of the history of his first wife, whose name you saw on
the tombstone at the Round Hill Church in King George, she knows very little, as she
survived but a very short time after marriage, leaving no descendants. The second
wife, who was her grandmother, was a Miss McCoy, daughter of William McCoy, who
was the pastor of North Farnham parish, Richmond county, in the year 1754, but
whose name you incorrectly spell, in your article on that parish, McKay. This William
McCoy married a Miss Fitzhugh, of Marmion, King George,—a woman distinguished
for her eminent piety,—and our grandmother was a daughter by that marriage. The
school which you speak of was established after his last marriage, for the benefit of
his own sons, Archibald and Alexander. My grandfather, who was John, being an
infant at the period of his death, was baptized by him on his death-bed. My mother
thinks she has heard that Chief-Justice Marshall, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe,
were taught by him, with her uncles Archibald and Alexander. She does not think
that the school was established early enough to admit the belief of Colonel Marshall
or General Washington's having been pupils of his. To the property acquired by
my mother's grandfather in Virginia, he gave the name of Kirnan, after a family
seat in Argyleshire, Scotland. Campbellton was the residence of my grandfather.
Alexander married his cousin, Miss Fitzhugh, of Marmion, and had only one daughter
by that marriage, whose name was Lucy: she lived in my grandfather's family until
the period of her death, which occurred within a few years past. Mrs. Wayne
was by a second marriage. The other brother, Archibald, married Miss Hughs, of
Maryland, and had two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Frederick, inherited
a large entailed estate in the island of Bute, in Scotland, from the Stuarts, who
intermarried with the Campbells, and he took the name of Frederick Campbell
Stuart with the estate. The second son, Ferdinand, was Professor of Mathematics
in William and Mary, under the administration of Drs. Smith and Wilmer. The
daughter, Anna Campbell, married Dr. Tennant, an eminent physician of Port
Royal: she died not many years since. Her children were Washington, who was a
physician; Mercer, who married Miss Grymes, of King George; Susan, the first
wife of Dr. John May, of Westmoreland; Maria, who married Thomas Hunter, of
Fredericksburg; and Lucy, who married his brother, Taliafero Hunter. Mrs.
Tennant lived and died a very consistent member of the Episcopal Church, and
her children are all members of it. We give this information in compliance with
your request that mistakes might be corrected.

"Yours very respectfully,

Eliza C. Leland."

University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE LXI.

Washington Parish, Westmoreland.