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"There is much that is curious, at least, connected with the Lynnhaven
country, besides what immediately pertains to the old church, of which
nothing now remains but the mound which hardly marks the spot. I
need not enter into the details, however.

"The church itself was probably built by the earliest settlers in this
region, upon a flat surface about half a mile from Little Creek, which
then ran east and west in a narrow channel, separated from the Chesapeake
or Lynnhaven Bay by a sand-beach about a quarter of a mile wide.
The creek communicated with the bay through an inlet about thirty yards
wide, and distant from the church some three or four miles. The people
living on Little Creek were profitably engaged in the business of seinehauling;
but the profits were much reduced by the distance they had to
go by water through the inlet to the bay shore, where the seines were

hauled. To go and return by water required six miles, whilst to reach
the fishery across the sandy beach was hardly half a mile; and the people,
to remedy this objection, gathered their hands together, and, with their
field-hoes, opened a trench across the beach wide enough to admit the
passage of a canoe, not dreaming of any consequences beyond their immediate
object. The moment, however, the trench was opened, the
waters of the bay, probably piled up by an easterly wind from the Atlantic,
rushed through the sandy beach, opening what is now the mouth of
Lynnhaven, and passed through the lower lands of the neighbourhood,
not stopping until they had run beyond what is now known as London
Bridge, about five or six miles, and forming in their mad career the present
beautiful Lynnhaven River, which varies from a quarter to three-quarters
of a mile in width. This invasion of the waters carried away
nearly the whole of the burying-ground attached to the church, which it
left standing on the bank of the new-formed river, and divided the church
from the glebe-land, which now lies on the eastern side of the river, and
is still claimed and owned by the vestry of Lynnhaven parish; although
the overseers of the poor, it is said, are seeking to possess themselves of it.

"It was many years after this event that the old Donation Church, in
its neighbourhood, was built. This, in its turn, has been abandoned to
the beasts and bats; though still a strong, commodious house, built of
English brick. As to the remains of the Lynnhaven Church, they are
covered with large trees and are scarcely discernible; but the writer of this
note has, within the last forty years, seen the bones of the buried parishioners
protruding from the sides of the bank of the river, and the tombstones
strewed along its shores. In 1819, Commodore Decatur and another
eminent person still living were bathing there, and in the middle of the
river were enabled, by feeling with their toes, to decipher the names of
those whose graves they had covered before the waters of the bay had
carried away the churchyard. These stones are now many of them at the
bottom of the stream; but, although the water is not more than five or six
feet deep, they are so covered with sand and marine shells that it would
be difficult to recover them. The stones which fell and were left on the
shore have long since been taken away by the fishermen and broken up
for killicks, or anchors for their small boats, and for other purposes."

"The only parish-record known in this county commences the 20th of
November, 1723, on which occasion were present the Rev. James Tenant,
minister; Major Max'n Boush, churchwarden; and the following-named
gentlemen, who composed the vestry:—Colonel Edward Moseley, Captain
Henry Chapman, Mr. Wm. Elligood, Captain John Moseley, Mr. Charles
Sayer, and Captain Francis Lund. It appears that Mr. Tenant had been
the minister for some time before; but when he entered upon his duties,
or when he ceased to perform them, does not appear upon the record. Nor
is it known whether he died in the service of the Church or not. Nothing
is said of him after the 3d of November, 1726, on which day his
last account with the parish was settled, showing that his regular salary
had been sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco.

"Mr. Jas. Nimmo is mentioned as being the clerk of the Brick Church
and lower chapel, Mr. Andrew Peacock being the clerk of the upper one.

"At the first meeting, say November 20, 1723, the parish is made debtor
to Captain Hillary Moseley, for quitrents of glebe-land, which shows that
the church was then in possession of the glebe, which is frequently mentioned
throughout the record. On the 15th September, 1724, Major Maximilian
Boush and Mr. John Cormick are mentioned as churchwardens,
and the names of Solomon White, John Bolithor, Captain Anthony Walke,
Captain Robert Vaughan, and John Bonney, are mentioned as constituting
a part of the vestry. At this meeting, a resolution was passed for building
a new wooden chapel on the eastern shore of the county; and, on the
7th July, 1725, an order was passed that Captain Robert Vaughan, one
of the vestry, should employ persons to repair the chapel at Machipungo,
showing that a brick church and two chapels (one on the Eastern Shore,
and one in Pungo, or Machipungo) were then in possession of the Episcopalians
of Lynnhaven parish, which seemed to embrace the whole county
of Princess Anne.

"On the 2d February, 1726, about nine months previous to the settlement
of Mr. Tenant's account, already referred to, Mr. Nicholas Jones,
minister, was engaged to preach in the Brick Church and Eastern Shore
Chapel once every month, and he was allowed four hundred pounds of tobacco
for each sermon; and with this engagement he appears to have complied
until the 18th October, 1728.

"The Brick Church, already mentioned, was very old at that time, and
in a dilapidated state, as appears from the frequent orders passed by the
vestry for repairing it, and from the fact that it was given up to be used
as a school-house on the 2d March, 1736, as appears by the record. It
was the same church, no doubt, which stood on the western bank of Lynnhaven
River, on what was then called Church Point, which point has been
washed away by the encroaching tides, leaving nothing scarcely to designate
the spot where the church stood, the graveyard which was annexed
to it being now entirely under water at high tide.

"On the 3d June, 1728, Mr. James Nimmo was employed, on a message
to the Governor, for removing Mr. Thomas Bayly, who (contrary to
the desire of the vestry) insisted on being the minister of the parish; and
it is supposed that Mr. Nimmo succeeded, after a second application to the
Governor, as no further notice is taken of it. At this time, the names
of Christopher Bourroughs, Major Anthony Walke, Major Henry Spratt,
and Mr. George Kempe, are mentioned as forming a part of the vestry.

"On the 7th January, 1729, the Rev. Richard Marsden was engaged
to preach once every month, at the church and chapels, and he continued
to do so until the 14th November, 1729, the same year when the Rev.
Henry Barlow was engaged as the regular minister; and he continued to
perform the duties until the 14th October, 1747, (about eighteen years,)
after which he is not mentioned.

"On the 29th November, 1732, Mr. James Nimmo and Mr. William
Keeling were engaged as clerks to the church and chapel for one year,
and to receive one thousand pounds of tobacco each. On the 3d November,
1733, an order was made that Colonel Anthony Walke, Captain
Francis Lund, and Captain Jacob Elligood, or any two, agree with Peter
Malbone on terms to build and finish the new church near the ferry.

"On the 25th of June, 1736, the vestry (having given up the Old Brick
Church, on the 2d March of the same year, to be used as a school-house,

which has been already stated) received from the contractor and builder,
Mr. Peter Malbone, the `New Church,' near the ferry, as it was then
called, but which has been better known since as the `Donation Church,'
probably from the circumstance of its being very near the farm donated
to Lynnhaven parish by Parson Dickson. From the above date, say 25th
June, 1736, the services were regularly performed by Mr. Barlow in the
new church, until the close of his ministry in 1747.

"On the 13th July, 1748, the Rev. Robert Dickson being minister, the
following new names appear among the vestry:—Major Nathaniel Newton,
Mr. Joseph Gaskin, James Nimmo, Major Thomas Walke, and John
Whitehead.

"The Rev. Robert Dickson continued to discharge the duties of minister
until the 23d February, 1776,—nearly twenty-eight years,—at a salary of
sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco, which had been paid to the regular
ministers who preceded him.

"When Parson Dickson died is not known exactly, but his will was
admitted to record on the 14th February, 1777, in which he gives to the
parish a farm, on certain conditions, which farm, within a few years, has
passed into the hands of the overseers of the poor, the glebe referred to
having been sold within the last three or four months.

"There appears to have been no regular minister after Mr. Dickson
until 1785, and the church and chapels were much neglected.

"At a meeting of the vestry on the 22d November, 1779, the sum of
twenty pounds was allowed Anthony Fentress for taking care of Pungo
Chapel. This chapel has not been used by the Episcopalians for a great
many years, and is now entirely out of repair.

"On the 28th March, 1785, a new vestry was elected, (under an Act
of Assembly, passed the previous session, dissolving the former vestries
throughout the State,) when the following names appear as composing the
new vestry,—viz.: Anthony Walke, Edward H. Moseley, John Ackiss,
James Henley, William White, John Cornick, Joel Cornick, and Francis
Lund; and, on the 6th May, 1785, the Rev. James Simpson was inducted
minister of the parish, and continued to officiate until May, 1788, when
he formally resigned, having given notice of his intention to do so about
four months previously.

"On the 3d July, 1788, the Rev. Anthony Walke was inducted minister,
and continued to discharge the duties until the 10th of October, 1800,
when he formally resigned. Some new names appear here among the
vestry,—viz.: John Hancock, Peter Singleton, Cason Moore, and Dennis
Dawley.

"On the 1st November, 1800, the Rev. Cornelius Calvert, Jr., was inducted
minister, but served a short time only, as an entry on the book
shows that there was no minister in the parish on the 18th July, 1801.

"On the 11th August, 1803, the Rev. George Halson was inducted
minister, and discharged his duties as such until the close of the year
1805.

"At this time, the names of John Smith, Erasmus Haynes, James Robinson,
Thomas Lawson, George D. Corprew, John James, and William
Boush, appear as composing the vestry.

"The parish was then without a regular minister for some years, being
served occasionally and irregularly by ministers from Norfolk.

"On the 28th November, 1821, the Rev. Robert Prout was elected
minister, and served until about the year 1824. Thomas Hoggard, John

Thorougood, Henry Keeling, and William Shepherd, having been elected
to fill vacancies in the vestry.

"On the 7th May, 1838, the Rev. D. M. Fackler was elected, and
served as minister until the 8th November, 1841.

"On the 11th May, 1842, the Rev. John G. Hull was elected, but,
being in very delicate health, only continued to discharge the duties of
minister until the 11th March, 1843, when he resigned. By his influence,
however, a neat little brick church was built in Kempsville, called
`Emanuel Church,' which was consecrated by Bishop Meade, on the 27th
November, 1843. Since its erection, no services have been performed in
the `Donation Church,' which would now require $1200 or $1400 to put
it in order.

"On the 1st November, 1846, the Rev. Henry C. Lay was elected
minister, who served but a few months.

"In July, 1848, the Rev. Lewis Walke was elected minister, and continued
to discharge the duties about four years.

"Nothing of consequence appears upon the record since that time. It
closes with a notice of a meeting held in March, 1856, when William P.
Morgan, John S. Woodhouse, Solomon S. Keeling, A. G. Tebault, and
William C. Scott, qualified as vestrymen by subscribing their names in due
form."