 | Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia. |  |
ARTICLE LXII.
Farnham and Lunenburg Parishes, Richmond County.
To do justice to the history of this county and these parishes,
we must go back to the time when they were a part of Rappahannock
county and Littenburne parish,—which they were from the
year 1653 to 1692,—when new counties and parishes were established.
But where are the vestry-books or county records from
whence to draw our facts? Of the former there are none. Some
few of the latter are to be seen in Tappahannock, the county seat
of Essex, where the archives of old Rappahannock county are
preserved.
At my request, a worthy friend—most competent to the task—
has searched these records, and though unable to specify who were
the vestrymen of the parish, yet, in giving the following list of
magistrates from 1680 to 1695, has doubtless furnished us with
the names of far the greater part of the vestrymen, if not the whole
of them, during that period. We cannot determine to which side of
the river they belonged, as both the county and parish were on both
sides. They are as follows:—Henry Aubrey, Major Henry Smith,
Captain George Taylor, Mr. Thomas Harrison, Colonel John Stone,
Colonel Leroy Griffin, Major Robinson, Colonel William Loyd, Captain
Samuel Bloomfield, William Fauntleroy, Samuel Peachy, William
Slaughter, Cadwallader Jones, Henry Williamson. My friend
adds that "the character and habits of the early settlers, so far as can
be ascertained from their wills and the records, indicate intelligence
and a high state of morals for the times." This section appears to
have been settled chiefly by those coming from the lower counties,—
the names of the principal men being those of families in the lower
country. There are some, however, whose names are rarely met
with in other counties; and there is evidence that they originally
settled here. They are such as Latane, Waring, Upshaw, Rowsee,
Rennolds, Micou, Roy, Clements, Young.
To the labours of another friend, on the other side of the river,
we are indebted for information gotten from the records of Richmond
as we have no vestry-book of that county, except that of North
Farnham parish, from the year 1787 to 1804. The first justices of
the peace were Captain George Taylor, William Underwood, Captain
William Barber, James Scott, Captain Alexander Swan. From
that time to the Revolution, the principal families in the county
were Stone, Glascock, Deane, Donaphun, Colston, Thornton, Travis,
Peachy, Tayloe, Conway, Brockenbrough, Gwin, Tarplay, Downman,
Slaughter, Parker, Sherlock, Davis, Robinson, Beale Smith,
Woodbridge, Heale, Barrow, Taverner, Barber, Griffin, Fitzhugh,
Fauntleroy, Gibson, Taliafero, Ingo, Bellfield, Tomlin, Grymes,
Metcalf, Newton, Barnes, Sydnor, Jordan, Hornby, Hamilton, Carter,
Mountjoy, Flood, Plummer, Beckwith. Of all these, my informant
says, a very few have descendants in the county at this
time who are called by these names.
According to the records of the court, he says, there were once
three parishes in the county,—North Farnham, Lunenburg, and St.
Mary's,—having separate ministers.
Of the three ministers mentioned on the records, from the year
1693 to 1742, the account is sad. The two first—John Burnet and
John Alexander—were always in court, suing or being sued. The
third—the Rev. Thomas Blewer—was presented by the grand jury
as a common swearer. A particular account is drawn from the
records of different families. From the votes on election-days, the
Woodbridges and Fauntleroys appear to have been at one time the
most popular. The Carters and Tayloes, of Sabine Hall and Mount
Airy, were active and useful men. The Chinns first appear in
1713. "From Raleigh Chinn," he says, "descended those model
males and females of that name who have served to give character
to our county in modern times." The McCartys were an ancient
family, springing from Daniel and Dennis McCarty, who are first
mentioned in 1710.
Having furnished this general account of individuals and families
from the court records, we proceed to give the information in our
possession concerning each of the parishes separately.
First, of North Farnham. This was established in 1693, when
Rappahannock county was stricken from the list of counties and
Richmond and Essex erected in its stead, and South Farnham
parish created in Essex. The first minister of this parish whom
we have on our lists—though there were doubtless many before—is
the Rev. William Mackay, who was there in 1754, and continued
respectability of the people, we have grounds for believing that he
was a worthy man,—although in a few years after his death, or
departure from the parish, it seems to have been in the most deplorable
condition, as we shall soon see. The Rev. John Leland, a
worthy minister from Northumberland, officiated statedly in Farnham
for some time after Mr. Mackay disappears. Then the Rev.
Thomas Davis, from one of the parishes of Northumberland, gives
them a portion of his time for two years. After this a considerable
interval occurred in which there was no vestry,—several efforts at
an election having failed. At length, a partial meeting having been
had, the following address was prepared:—
"Friends and Fellow Protestant Episcopalians:—
"Permit us, surviving members of the late vestry of this parish, to address
you and entreat you, for your own sakes as well as that of the rising
generation, to come forward on this occasion. Although our church, from
various causes, has been most woefully neglected for a season, we flatter
ourselves that the time is at hand when the members thereof—of whom
there are not a few—will throw off their lukewarmness and exert themselves
in the cause of that profession of Christianity handed down to us by our
forefathers, who—God rest their souls—left us a goodly fabric to assemble
in and pay our devotions to the Almighty Creator and Preserver of the
universe, as they had done,—although by our neglect it is mouldering into
ruins. The first step toward a reform is the appointment of trustees;
for, until that is done, our church must remain in that miserable condition
we see it. There is now a probability of procuring a minister to perform
divine service once a fortnight; but this cannot be done until there shall
be persons authorized to meet and consult on the ways and means of affording
him an adequate compensation for his services. Awaken, then, from
this fatal supineness. Elect your trustees, and they, we doubt not, will
make the necessary arrangements, in the accomplishment of which, aided
by your hearty exertions and concurrence, our church will be restored to
its former decency and rank as the temple of the living God.
"We are your Christian brethren and friends of true religion,
"Benjamin Smith,
"B. McCarty,
"Walker Tomlin,
"Richard Beale,
William Peachy,
John Sydnor,
John Fauntleroy,
Samuel Hipkins."
Great pains were taken to circulate this; and yet on the appointed
day less than thirty persons assembled, and half of these
after two o'clock, and so there was no election.[25]
Five or six of those
present agreed to appoint Whit-Monday for another meeting, and
successful, and they paid the minister four pounds ten shillings for
coming.
The vestry direct Mr. William Peachy to write to Bishop Madison
for a minister, to which the following answer was received:—
It would afford me great pleasure, could I give you an
assurance of being speedily supplied with a worthy minister. I sincerely
regret the deserted situation of too many of our parishes, and lament the
evils that must ensue. Finding that few persons, natives of this State,
were desirous of qualifying themselves for the ministerial office, I have
written to some of the Northern States, and have reason to expect several
young clergymen who have been liberally educated, of unexceptionable
moral character, and who, I flatter myself, will also be generally desirous
of establishing an academy for the instruction of youth, wherever they
may reside. Should they arrive, or should any other opportunity present
itself of recommending a worthy minister, I beg you to be assured, if
your advertisement proves unsuccessful, that I shall pay due attention to
the application of the worthy trustees of North Farnham.
"Your most ob't servant,
The Bishop, it seems, was as much troubled about getting a
meeting of the Convention as the friends of the Church in Farnham
had been to get an election of vestrymen. The following circular
will too surely establish that:—
It is, no doubt, well known to you that the failure
last May in holding a Convention at the time and place agreed upon was
matter of deep regret to every sincere friend of our Church. To prevent,
if possible, a similar calamity at the next stated time for holding Conventions,
the deputies who met last May requested me to send circular
letters to the different parishes, exhorting them to pay a stricter regard
to one of the fundamental canons of the Church. I fulfil the duty with
alacrity, because the necessity of regular Conventions is urged by considerations
as obvious as they are weighty. I need not here enter into a detail
of those considerations; but I will ask, at what time was the fostering care
of the guardians—nay, of every member—of the Church more necessary
than at this period? Who doth not know that indifference to her interests
must inevitably inflict a mortal wound, over which the wise and the good
may in vain weep, when they behold that wound baffling every effort to
arrest its fatal progress? Who doth not know that irreligion and impiety
sleep not whilst we slumber? Who doth not know that there are
other enemies who laugh at our negligent supineness and deem it their
victory?
"But, independent of these general considerations, there are matters
of the first moment to our Church, which require the fullest representation
have not failed on former occasions to send forward their deputies, as directed
by the injunction of the Church, need no exhortation on this subject.
The same laudable sentiments which have hitherto directed their conduct
will doubtless continue to produce a similar effect. But to those which have
been neglectful in making the necessary appointment of deputies, and in
supplying the means for their attendance, I address myself with peculiar solicitude.
Let me then, sir, through your agency, and, where there is no
minister, let me through the agency of the churchwardens or vestry, exhort
and entreat such parishes to be no longer unmindful of the interests of
their Church,—no longer to be languid and indifferent in what concerns
her essential welfare,—no longer to treat her injunctions with disrespect,—
but, on the contrary, animated by a warm and laudable zeal, and satisfied
how much the holy cause of religion must depend on wise and prudent
exertions, let them evince, at the approaching Convention, that they will
not abandon a Church which they cannot fail to love and to venerate so
long as piety and virtue shall continue to maintain the least portion of
influence in the hearts of men. Permit me only to add, that I feel a
confidence that this exhortation will not be disregarded, and that the next
Convention, which is to be holden on the first Tuesday in May next, will
manifest to the Church and to the world that the zeal of both clergy and
laity remains unabated. Such is the confidence and such the sincere
prayer of
In the year 1796, the vestry obtained the services of the Rev.
George Young, for one Sunday in three, (the other two being
engaged to the adjoining parish of Lunenburg,) agreeing to pay
him the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, besides the rent
of the glebe. In the year 1799, the Rev. John Seward offers his
services one Sunday in three, and receives two hundred dollars
with the glebe. Here the vestry-book ends, except an entry of an
election of vestrymen in 1802.
The following is a list of the vestrymen from 1787 to 1802:—
William Peachy, William Miskell, John Fauntleroy, John Sydnor, Leroy
Peachy, Griffin Fauntleroy, Thaddeus Williams, J. Hammond, Benjamin
Smith, Samuel Hipkins, Epaphroditus Sydnor, Jno. Smith, Walker Tomlin,
Richard Beale, Bartholomew McCarty, David Williams, Ezekiel Levy,
Charles Smith, Abner Dobyns, William McCarty, William Palmer, John
G. Chinn, Vincent Branham, W. T. Colston, George Miskell, Peter Temple,
J. M. Yerby.
If there were any other minister or ministers in this parish until
the Rev. Washington Nelson, in 1835, took charge of it in connection
with Lunenburg parish, of the same county, and Cople
parish, Westmoreland, we have not been able to ascertain the
fact. Under Mr. Nelson's charge the Old Farnham Church was
built at the court-house, by the side of whose walls his body is
interred. Mr. Nelson was succeeded in all his congregations by
the Rev. William Ward. The Rev. Mr. Coffin succeeded him in
Farnham and at the court-house, and continued about two years,
resigning them both in the summer of 1856.
CHURCHES IN NORTH FARNHAM PARISH.
Besides the one now standing, there was another about half-way
between it and the court-house, the foundation of which may yet
be seen. It was probably deserted at the time that North Farnham
Church was built; but when that was, cannot be discovered. We
have mentioned that among the families once prominent in this
parish—though now dispersed—were those of the Fauntleroys and
Colstons. To each of these, within a few miles of Farnham Church,
there were those unhappy receptacles of the dead, called vaults,
which were so common from an early period in the Northern
Neck. What the precise condition of the former is, we have not
heard, though we believe a bad one. As to the latter, the following
note, which I find among my papers, gives what I doubt not is
a true account:—
"The burying-place of the Colston family is on the Rappahannock River,
about seven miles from North Farnham Church. The vault is in a dilapidated
condition. It was originally arched over with brick. A number
of bones are exposed,—so much so, that with but little difficulty an entire
human frame could be collected.
The following account of Old Farnham Church in my report to
the Convention of 1838 will complete my notices of this parish:—
"My appointment next in order was at Farnham Church, which had
recently been so much refitted, that on this account—because it is believed
that none of the old churches were ever consecrated—it was on Tuesday,
the 20th of June, set apart to the worship of God, according to the prescribed
form. A considerable congregation assembled on the occasion,
when I preached,—the service having been read by the Rev. Francis
McGuire, and the deed of consecration by Mr. Nelson, the pastor of the
congregation. This church was first built more than a hundred years
ago, after the form of the cross, and in the best style of ancient architecture.
Its situation is pleasant and interesting,—being immediately on
the main county road leading from Richmond Court-House to Lancaster
Court-House.
"What causes led to its early desertion, premature spoliation, and
shameless profanation, I am unable to state; but it is said by the neighbours
not to have been used for the last thirty or forty years. Thus
deserted as a house of God, it became a prey to any and every spoiler.
graves of the dead was torn down and used for hearths, chimneys, and
other purposes, all the county round. The interior of the house soon sunk
into decay and was carried piecemeal away. For many years it was the
common receptacle of every beast of the field and fowl of the air. It was
used as a granary, stable, a resort for hogs, and every thing that chose to
shelter there. Would that I could stop here! but I am too credibly informed
that for years it was also used as a distillery of poisonous liquors;
and that on the very spot where now the sacred pulpit stands, that vessel
was placed in which the precious fruits of Heaven were concocted and
evaporated into a fell poison, equally fatal to the souls and bodies of men;
while the marble font was circulated from house to house, on every occasion
of mirth and folly,—being used to prepare materials for feasting
and drunkenness,—until at length it was found bruised, battered, and
deeply sunk in the cellar of some deserted tavern. But even that sacred
vessel has been redeemed, and, having been carefully repaired, has resumed
its place within the sacred enclosure. Although the doors of the house
had been enlarged, by tearing away the bricks, to make a passage for the
wagons that conveyed the fruits that were to be distilled into the means
of disease and death; although the windows were gone and the roof sunk
into decay,—the walls only remaining,—yet were they so faithfully executed
by the workmen of other days as to bid defiance to storms and
tempests, and to stand not merely as monuments of the fidelity of ancient
architecture, but as signals from Providence, held out to the pious and
liberal to come forward and repair the desolation. Nor have these signals
been held out in vain to some fast friends of the Church of their fathers
in the parish of North Farnham. At an expense of fourteen hundred
dollars, they have made Old Farnham one of the most agreeable, convenient,
and beautiful churches in Virginia. It should also be mentioned
that the handsome desk, pulpit, and sounding-board now to be seen in
Farnham Church were once in Christ Church, Baltimore, when the Rev.
Mr. Johns officiated in the same. They were a present from the minister
and vestry of that church; and few events could give more pleasure to
the congregation at Farnham than to see them again occupied by the
former tenant, and to hear from his lips, if only one or two of those impressive
appeals which have so often been heard from the same."
LUNENBURG PARISH, RICHMOND COUNTY.
The first information we have of this parish is from communications
made to the Bishop of London by the Rev. Mr. Kay, its
minister, between the years 1740 and 1750, as well as my memory
serves me, not having the documents before me at this time. A
most painful and protracted controversy took place between him
and a portion of his vestry,—especially Colonel Landon Carter.
Though the doors of the church were closed against Mr. Kay, such
was the advocacy of him by a portion of the vestry and many of
the people that he preached in the churchyard for some time. The
dispute appears to have been about the right of Mr. Kay to the
parish in preference to another who was desired by some of the
and Council, and from thence to the higher court in England.
The sympathy of the Commissary and the clergy appears to have
been with Mr. Kay. How it was finally settled in the English
courts does not appear, but we find Mr. Kay in Cumberland parish,
Lunenburg county, in the year 1754.[26] In that year the Rev. Mr.
Simpson becomes minister of Lunenburg parish, Richmond county.
How long he continues, and whether any one intervenes between
him and the Rev. William Giberne, who becomes the minister in
1762, is not known. The name and memory of Mr. Giberne have
come down to our times with considerable celebrity. The first
notice I have of him is in a letter to the Bishop of London, in which
he inveighs with severity on some things in the Church of Virginia.
On the Bishop of London's writing to Commissary Robinson concerning
them, the Commissary denies the charge in its fulness, and
says that it comes with ill grace from Mr. Giberne, who himself sets
an ill example, being addicted to card-playing and other things
unbecoming the clerical character.
All the accounts I have received of him correspond with this.
He was a man of talents, of great wit and humour, and his home a
pleasant place to the like-minded,—especially attractive to the
young. He lived at the place now owned by the Brockenbrough
family, near Richmond Court-House. He married a daughter of
Moore Fauntleroy and Margaret Micou. Her father was Paul
Micou, a Huguenot who fled from Nantes in 1711.[27]
In the following
communication from a friend in Richmond county there is more
particular mention of Mr. Giberne, in connection with some interesting
particulars about the two churches in Lunenburg parish.
"The church here, which I remember, was situated near the public
road, near our court-house, and was surrounded by large and beautiful
trees, affording a fine shade in summer to those visiting the church. The
ground was enclosed by a brick wall, which was finally overthrown by the
growing roots of a magnificent oak. Like most of the old churches in Virginia,
it was built of brick, finished in the best manner, and cruciform in
shape; the pulpit was very elevated, and placed on the south side at an
stones, square and smoothly dressed, and the pews with planks. They
were high at the sides and panelled, and better suited for devotion than our
churches at the present day. The church was claimed by an individual,
when in ruins, and the materials from time to time removed and used for
various domestic purposes.
"It was built, according to the recollection of an individual now living,
in 1737, and he remembers to have seen the date marked in the mortar,
`Built in 1737.' This building remained until about 1813, when its walls
were thrown down by the outward pressure of the roof, which had fallen
from decay. The Rev. Isaac Wm. Giberne was the pastor of this church.
He was an Englishman, and I think the nephew of the Bishop of Durham.
I ascertained the fact from an inscription in an old Prayer-Book, which
was in the possession of Mr. Giberne, and which after his death came into
my hands. It had belonged to her Majesty Queen Anne, and was used
by her in her private chapel: on her demise it was retained by her chaplain.
The inscription further stated it was intended to be presented to the
`Bodleian Library,' in which the Prayer-Books of two of the crowned heads
of England had been preserved.
"Mr. Giberne commenced his services in this church in January, 1762,
as we learn from the parish register, and continued to officiate in this and
the `Upper Church,' as it was called, until incapacitated by age. He was
a man of great goodness of heart and Christian benevolence, highly educated,
well read, and extensively acquainted with the ancient and English classic
writers.
"After an interval of some eight or ten years or more, Mr. Giberne was
followed in his pastoral duties by the Rev. W. George Young, an Englishman,
who, I believe, occupied the glebe in 1800 or 1802. I am unable to
learn how long he continued, but he removed, and the glebe, like many
others, was sold under an Act of Assembly.
"The silver vessels consisted of a massive silver tankard, goblet, and
plate. These remained in the keeping of our family until sold by a decree
of the Court. They were purchased by the late Colonel John Tayloe, of
Mount Airy, and by him presented to St. John's Church, Washington.
"The principal families attached to the old church here were the Carters,
Tayloes, Lees, (Colonel F. L. Lee, of Manakin,) Beckwiths, Neales,
Garlands, Belfields, Brockenbroughs, Rusts, Balls, Tomlins, &c.
"The `Upper Church,' as it was commonly called, situated in the upper
part of this county, has been long a ruin, the spot marked only by the
mounds of crumbling bricks. Mr. Giberne was the last minister who
regularly officiated in it. The families chiefly belonging to its congregation
were the Fauntleroys, Lees, Belfields, Beales, Mitchells, Jenningses,
&c. It would be impossible to ascertain at this time, I presume, when
this church was built.
"There was but one other church in `old times' in the county of Richmond:
it was Farnham Church, which continued in tolerable repair until
after 1800. I think in 1802 there was regular service in this church by
a Mr. Brockenbrough, a minister of the Church, a remarkably small man,
as I recollect him, so diminutive that he required a block in the pulpit to
stand on. He did not live at the glebe, but at Cedar Grove, the property
of a Miss McCall, and kept a grammar-school there. After this time the
church became dilapidated, and no service was performed in it; in truth,
it was completely desecrated, and served as a shelter for cattle, hogs, and
its magnificent oaks allowed to grace the place and to give their friendly
shade to the weary traveller who halted at the neighbouring tavern to refresh
himself and horse. When we look back on this period of infidelity
and heathenism in this county, when the old churches were pulled down
or permitted to fall to decay, when no religious instruction was to be found,
no declaration of the Gospel but by an itinerant preacher, little calculated
to awaken the slumbering people, we are led to wonder how the land
escaped some signal mark of divine vengeance,—that some calamity had
not overshadowed it to call its thoughtless and wicked inhabitants back to
the Christian fold.
"I have never heard what became of the sacred vessels belonging to
this church. The glebe was in the occupancy of Dr. Thomas Tarpley, a
well-educated and highly-polished man; how it came into his possession I
never knew,—probably by purchase at public sale."
After the Rev. Mr. Young, mentioned in the foregoing communication,
I know of no minister until the Rev. Washington Nelson,
in 1834 or 1835, who took charge of this parish in connection with
those of North Farnham and Cople. At his death the Rev. Mr.
Ward succeeded to all three of the parishes, and at his resignation,
a young man, whose name I forget, was minister of Lunenburg for
part of a year. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Coffin for two
years.
The most remarkable of the old seats in this parish, known to
the writer, are those of Sabine Hall, belonging to the Carters, and
of Mount Airy, belonging to the Tayloes. Having in a preceding
article given some account of the Carter family, which has so
abounded in the Northern Neck, I subjoin a brief genealogy of the
Tayloes, who have appeared on our vestry-books in the Northern
Neck from their first settlement to the present time.
In different vestry-books I find the name sometimes Kay and at others Key.
There may have been ministers of both names.
At the old Port Micou estate on the Rappahannock may still be seen the large,
heavy, iron-stone or black marble tombstone of this Paul Micou, the first of the
name who came into this country. By reason of its weight and the lightness of
the soil, it sinks every few years somewhat beneath the earth, but is raised up again
The inscription is as follows.—"Here lies the body of Paul Micou, who departed this
life the 23d of May, 1736, in the seventy-eighth year of his age."
THE TAYLOE FAMILY.
"William Tayloe, (probably Taylor at that day,) of London, emigrated
to Virginia about 1650. He married Anne, a daughter of Henry Corbin,
(who was settled in King and Queen county,) the ancestor of the Corbins.
John Tayloe, son of William and Anne, married Mrs. Elizabeth Lyde,
daughter of Major Gwyn, of Essex county. Their children were William,
John, Betty, and Anne Corbin. The first died young. John was the
founder of Mount Airy. Betty married Colonel Richard Corbin, grandson
of Henry Corbin. Anne Corbin married Mann Page, of Mansfield,
near Fredericksburg.
"The last-named John Tayloe, of Mount Airy, was a member of the
Council of Virginia, before the War of the Revolution, and was re-elected
with his colleague by the House of Burgesses during the progress of the
war. He died suddenly on the 18th April, 1779, leaving a large family.
He had twelve children, of whom eight daughters and one son survived
him. His wife was Rebecca Plater, sister of the Honourable Governor
Their eight daughters married,—1st, Elizabeth, to Governor Edward Lloyd,
in 1767, of Maryland; 2d, Rebecca, to Francis Lightfoot Lee, the signer
of the Declaration of Independence in 1769; 3d, Eleanor, to Ralph
Wormly, of Middlesex, in 1772; 4th, Anne Corbin, to Thomas Lomax,
of Caroline, in 1773; 5th, Mary, to Mann Page, of Spottsylvania, in 1776;
6th, Catherine, to Landon Carter, of Richmond county, in 1780; 7th,
Jane, to Robert Beverley, of Essex, in 1791; 8th, Sarah, to Colonel Wm.
Augustine Washington, of Westmoreland, in 1799.
"John, son of the foregoing John and Rebecca, third of the name, was
born in 1771, the only son in a family of twelve. In 1792 he married
Anne, daughter of Governor Benjamin Ogle, of Maryland. He died in
Washington in 1828. Their children were fifteen, of whom three died
young, and eleven (six sons and five daughters) survived their father.
Their mother died in 1855, at the unusual age of eighty-three. Five sons
and three daughters have survived her. Their eldest son, John, entered
the navy, and was distinguished in the battles of the Constitution with the
Guerriere and with the Cyane and Levant. After the first action the State
of Virginia presented him with a sword. He was captured in the Levant
by a British squadron whilst lying at Port Praya, Cape de Verde Islands.
He died in 1824 at Mount Airy, having resigned, shortly before, his rank
of lieutenant in the navy, to which he was promoted soon after his first
action. Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, the second son, resides in Washington.
Three other sons—William, Edward, and George—reside in Virginia,
and one in Alabama,—Henry Tayloe, an active member of the Church in
that State. John Tayloe, a grandson, resides at Chatterton, in the county
of King George."
From the earliest accounts of this family, they have been either
warm friends of the Church, or in full communion with it. Many
of the male members of the family have been active and liberal
vestrymen.
| Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia. | |