 | Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia |  |
ARTICLE XXIV.
Parishes in Nansemond.—No. 2.
Having thus availed myself of the journal of Colonel Byrd, and
the report of Mr. Griffin concerning the Indian School, and Mr.
Anderson's account of the Church in North Carolina, I return to
the brief sketch of the Church in Nansemond. It was divided into
two parishes,—the upper and lower. The lower was sometimes
called Suffolk parish, although the town of Suffolk was in the
upper parish. All that I have yet learned of the Suffolk or lower
parish is, that there are two old brick churches in it, one on the
left and the other on the right bank of the Nansemond River, each
about ten miles from Suffolk. There is a valuable glebe attached
to them, which, being a private donation, has not been touched.
There is no minister in the parish.
The vestry-book of the upper parish dates back as far as
November 30th, 1743. At the first vestry-meeting there were
present Colonel Andrew Meade, Edward Norfleet, Lemuel Reddick,
John Gregorie, John Norfleet, Daniel Pugh, Jethro Sumner. In
the year 1744 Captain William Wright and Captain Williams
appear on the list, and the Rev. Mr. Balfour is minister. In the
year 1745 Mr. David Meade and Mr. Daniel Pugh take the places
of Colonel Andrew Meade and Colonel Daniel Pugh, the sons succeeding
the fathers. In this year the Rev. Mr. Balfour is arraigned
by the vestry for drunkenness, swearing, and other vices, and nothing
more is heard of him. In the year 1746 Henry Temple, Christopher
Norfleet, Miles Reddick, and Mr. Wimburn are vestrymen.
In this year a new brick church is ordered in Suffolk in the place
of the old one. In the year 1747 the Rev. Willis Webb is elected
minister, Richard Baker chosen vestryman, and a chapel at Holy
Neck ordered,—the minister to preach at Middle Chapel and
Somerton Chapel until the new chapel is built. In the year 1748
the order for a new church at Suffolk is renewed. It is to be a
handsome brick church, and David Meade and Lemuel Reddick
allowed to put up, at their own expense, galleries for their families.
Wm. Moore, Thomas Sumner, Messrs. Hunter and Rawles, Henry
Holland, and John Ashburn, vestrymen. In the year 1758 a
chapel is ordered at Mr. Norfleet's, like that at Nottoway. Richard
the year 1760 the Rev. Mr. Webb either died or removed, having
been minister without reproof for thirteen years. In the same
year the Rev. Patrick Lunan is chosen to preach at Nottoway
Chapel, Cypress Chapel, Holy Neck, and Suffolk Church, and the
Rev. Mr. Burgess assisted. In the year 1766 Jeremiah Godwin
was chosen vestryman, and the Rev. Mr. Lunan was presented by
the vestry to Commissary Robinson; and in the following year Mr.
David Meade and Thomas Gilgrist were ordered to prosecute the
case, and to apply to the Attorney-General and Mr. Wm. Waller.
This, and several other cases in different parishes, led Commissary
Robinson to write to the Bishop of London, stating the uncertainty
of the authority given to the Commissaries for the purpose of
discipline over the clergy. I presume that no change was made,
and this and other cases were left to be settled by the vestry as
they could; for we find that, though this Mr. Lunan did not preach
for the parish, he held the glebe until the year 1775, when he
relinquished all claim on glebe and parish for three hundred pounds,
paid in three annual instalments. In the year 1774 the Rev. Mr.
Agnew preached at Cypress Church and Suffolk, and the Rev. Mr.
Burgess at Holy Neck Chapel once a month. In the year 1775 the
Rev. Mr. Andrews is elected. Going back two years, we find that in
the year 1773 Mr. Lemuel Reddick resigned on account of age and
infirmities, having served forty years, and Mr. David Meade being
about to move from the county, having served twenty-seven years,
John Reddick and Andrew Meade were chosen in their room.
Walls Cooper, Willis Streaton, and William Pugh and Samuel
Cohoon appear on the vestry. In the year 1777 Mr. Andrew
Meade removed; and Jacob Sumner resigned. John Driver and
Christopher Roberts were elected. In the year 1781 John Brinkle
and John Coles were vestrymen. In the year 1785, according
to Act of Assembly, a new vestry was elected. There were six of
the Reddicks placed on it, and Richard Baker, Dimsey Sumner,
and John Giles, William King and Abraham Parker. Richard
Baker and Willis Reddick were appointed to attend the Episcopal
Convention to be held at Richmond, that year. The churchwardens
were directed to advertise for a minister. Meetings of the
vestry were also held in the years 1790 and 1791, when Henry
Harrison and Hardy Parker were chosen vestrymen. Thus
closes the journal. The misconduct of several of the ministers,
and several other circumstances, had combined for a long time to
bring the Church and religion to a sad condition.
On the journal of the Convention of 1785, the Rev. Arthur
Emmerson appears as the clerical delegate, and Willis Reddick,
Richard Baker, and Solomon Shepherd as lay delegates. In the
years 1790 and 1791 a Rev. Mr. Taylor appears on the journals
from Suffolk. In the year 1812 the Rev. Jacob Keeling's name
appears on the journal, he having been ordained by Bishop Madison,
but how long before is not known. The excellencies of this
simple-hearted and single-minded man are known to some now
living. During the latter years of his ministry he had much aid
from the Rev. Mr. Jones, of the adjoining parish in the Isle of
Wight, and the Rev. Mr. Wingfield, of Portsmouth. In process
of time the Rev. Mr. Disbrough became the minister of the parish,
and during the period of his ministry the present brick church was
erected. After his departure, the Rev. Aristides and the Rev.
Leonidas Smith rendered much service to the congregation while
engaged as instructors of youth in Norfolk. The Rev. Chauncey
Colton is its present minister.
Having thus presented the fullest sketch of the parish history I
have been able to get, I close, as in some others, with a notice of
some families which once belonged to it. Though there may be
others more deserving of notice, yet, as that of my own ancestors
is the only one known to me, I will be excused for saying something
of that. It is chiefly taken, even to the letter, from papers found
among the relics of the late David Meade, of Kentucky, eldest
brother of my father, who lived to be more than ninety years of
age, and was much addicted to the study of genealogy.
The family is traced by him to Thomas Cromwell, a blacksmith
of Putney, in Ireland, who was the father of Thomas Cromwell,
servant of Cardinal Wolsey, and his successor in the favour of Henry
the Eighth, but who, forfeiting that, was beheaded by his orders.
Oliver Cromwell was his nephew. One branch of this family was
the Everards, of Essex, from whom Richard Kidder, Bishop of
Bath and Wells, was derived, who, together with his wife, was
killed by the falling upon them of a stack of chimneys in a thunderstorm.
From him came the name of Richard Kidder, so frequent
in the family, and from the Everards the name of Everard, also
common in the family. The name of Oliver is also to be found in
it. The paternal ancestor of the family in this country, Andrew
Meade, was born in the county of Kerry and kingdom of Ireland
about the latter part of the seventeenth century. Tradition says,
that on leaving his native country he went first to London, and from
thence came to New York, where he, though a Romanist, married
there,)—a heterogeneous kind of union, less obnoxious to nature than
to bigotry, says Mr. Meade. Some five years after, he removed to
Virginia and settled in Nansemond county. It has never been
certainly ascertained whether he formally renounced the Catholic
faith, though he was for many years a representative of his county
in the House of Burgesses, judge of the county, and colonel of the
militia.[84]
He is said to have been a large, muscular man, of great corporal
strength, and rather hard-featured in the face, but of fine form.
He died in the year 1745, leaving a character without a stain,
having had the glorious epithet connected with it, The Honest.
One son and daughter were all the children which he left. His
son David Meade, and wife Susannah, afforded their posterity an
example of conjugal felicity which has been rarely equalled. The
God of Love was present at their first interview, and made them
feel the effects of his disposition at the same moment. But there
was a considerable lapse of time between their first meeting and
marriage. Her father was Governor Everard, of North Carolina,
then living with his family in Edenton, and was unwilling to leave
his daughter in the wilds of America when he should return home.
When about to sail,—the ship in which they were to embark lying
in Hampton Roads, then called Nansemond River,—there was no
other house at that time, convenient to the place of embarkation, at
which they could be well accommodated but Andrew Meade's.
To this they went; and, being detained some time by adverse winds,
or other causes, the earnest entreaties of a most affectionate father,
almost distracted at the thought of parting with his only son, (who
was determined to follow her,) at length prevailed, and they were
immediately married;[85]
and the daughter of Andrew Meade was
named Priscilla, and married a Mr. Wilson Curle, of Hampton, by
whom she had two daughters and not less than six sons.
David Meade had two daughters and five sons. His daughters
were Anne, who married Richard Randolph, of Curls, and Mary,
who married Colonel Walker, each of them leaving many children,
who are scattered over the land. The sons were David Meade, who
inherited the estate in Nansemond, married a Miss Waters, of
Williamsburg, then settled at Macox, in Prince George, then removed
to Kentucky, devoting his time and fortune to the improvement
of the seats on which he lived, and which were celebrated all
over Virginia and Kentucky. The others were R. K. Meade, aid
to General Washington, Everard Meade, aid to General Lincoln
and afterward raised to the rank of General, Andrew Meade, who
settled in Brunswick, and John, who died in his youth. The three
elder children were sent to England for their education, and placed
under the care of Dr. Thackery, the Principal of Harrow School,
and Archdeacon of Surrey. The celebrated Sir William Jones, Sir
Joseph Banks, and Dr. Parr were at that time among its scholars.[86]
As it is good sometimes to wander amidst ruins and graveyards,
I will take my readers for a few moments to the spot where my
ancestors lived and some of them died and were buried, and from
whence they will rise up on the great day. It stands on an eminence
about a mile back of the town of Suffolk. An avenue of trees led
from it to the church in Suffolk, through which the family, at the
sound of the bell, repaired to church. Andrew Meade, having made
a handsome fortune, first by the fur-trade with Indians up the
Roanoke in Virginia and North Carolina, and then by the lumber-trade,
built a large house on this spot for his residence, and storehouses
also, as he still carried on trade by a creek which came up
almost to his door. The mansion has long since been consumed by
fire, and the other houses mouldered into ruin. The estate has
passed into many hands since the last of the family parted with it.
But there was one spot which it was hoped would be spared until
the dissolution of the earth,—the graveyard,—so well was it guarded.
It was a small square lot, around which cedar-trees were planted so
thick that their bodies reached within one or two feet of each
other. A better enclosure, and one more likely to endure, cannot
well be imagined. I visited the place some years since for the first
every tree and converted them into stakes and firewood. The
stumps, however, were perfectly apparent. The graveyard was
thickly covered with grass, leaves, briers, and shrubs,—so much so,
that a friend and connection of the family who was with me could
with difficulty get a few yards into it, to search for some memorial
of the dead, for nothing of the kind appeared on the surface. The
corner of one slab, thickly covered with grass and mould, was all
that he could see or feel. We left the spot, convinced that a better
protection for the place and its monuments, whatever they were,
could not be provided, than that which they then had. But we
were mistaken. A few months since, I wrote to that same friend
and companion, saying that in view of this work which I am now
engaged in, I wished him to get some suitable hands with proper
implements, and remove all the trees, shrubs, briers, and rubbish,
so as to find out what was concealed by them. According to my
request, he went to the spot prepared to make the examination, when
to his surprise he found not a stump or shrub remaining, but only
a number of small fragments of tombstone about the spot, which
was now in the midst of a cultivated field, itself ploughed up and
cultivated. The names of Caruthers and Vail were all that could
be distinguished. That of Meade could not be made out on any
of the fragments. Perhaps no tombstone with that name was
ever there, although some of the family must have been buried
there.
I shall be excused for adding in this place some other particulars
concerning my father. He married, at the age of nineteen, Miss
Jane Randolph, of Curls, sister of Richard Randolph, who married
his sister, and aunt of John Randolph, of Roanoke, who
always called him Uncle Kidder. His wife was some years older
than himself, which called from the elder Judge Tucker some
humorous poetry, entitled Happy Dick, in which he condoles with
the younger ladies on James River upon their disappointment.
This wife lived but a few years, having several children during the
time, and leaving none behind. During his first marriage he lived
at Coggin's Point, in Prince George, the present possession and
residence of Edmund Ruffin, and which he sold during the war,
though, by means of the depreciation of money, he realized but
little from it. In Prince George he was a vestryman, but resigned
because the vestry would not discharge an unworthy clergyman.
He entered early into the Revolutionary War, being one of twenty-four
persons—among whom were James Monroe, George Wythe,
upon the arms and ammunition in Dunmore's house, in Williamsburg,
carrying the powder to the magazine, and dividing the arms
among themselves for safe-keeping and the service of the country.
In December of that year he was found at the battle of Great
Bridge, near Norfolk,—the first battle fought in Virginia. He had
raised a company, and was then serving as captain under General
Woodford. [See the account which he gives in the Bland Papers.]
He was soon taken into the family of General Washington as his aid,
and was the most active in reconnoitring, being a good rider and
having a fine animal,—the black mare so well known to the British
as well as American armies. [See Campbell's History of Virginia.]
He used to say that Hamilton did all the head-work for the General,
and he the riding, reconnoitring, and carrying orders on the field.
He was with Washington in all the great battles of the Revolution.
To him was committed the superintendence of the execution of
Major André, of which he always spoke with much feeling, saying
that he could not forbear tears at seeing the execution of so uncommon
and interesting a man, though he entirely approved the
order. At the close of the war he married the widow of Mr. William
Randolph, of Chattsworth, near Richmond, the brother of
Governor Beverly Randolph, of Cumberland, and Colonel Robert
Randolph, of Fauquier. She is mentioned in Campbell's History
as among the female contributors to the expenses of the war in a
time of great need. Her contribution was eight hundred dollars.
Perhaps this circumstance may have first attracted my father's
attention to her. When Washington was taking leave of some of
his aids, a circumstance occurred which showed his estimate of
their different characters. To Hamilton he said, "You must go to
the bar, which you can reach in six months;" to Laurens, something
as appropriate; to Colonel Meade, whom he then called by
his familiar name, "Friend Dick, you must go to a plantation in
Virginia; you will make a good farmer and an honest foreman of
the grand jury of the county where you live." And so it proved;
for he became a most attentive, successful, and, at first, hardworking
farmer, and was, while health permitted, always the foreman
of the grand jury of the old District Court of Frederick
county. He rejoiced as a citizen in those blessings which his military
services had helped to obtain, and often said that there was
no debt he so gladly discharged as the taxes levied for the maintenance
of our free and happy government. He never allowed a
tax-gatherer to come to his house in search of what was due, but
place. The same was true of all his debts. As infirmities of body
increased, the foundation of which were laid in his exposure during
the war, and he could no longer fell trees and maul rails with the
very few servants saved from the wreck of his estate, he still
laboured in other ways. A box of tools, imported from England,
stood in the corner of the old log dining-room, and a saddler's
bench during the winter season was on one side. All the helves,
rakes, cradles, gates, and plantation-gear were made by his own
hands; and so expert was he in the latter manufacture as to produce
a compliment from an old friend, that "a good saddler was
spoiled in the attempt to make a gentleman of him." Nevertheless,
he did not entirely discard books and politics, but sometimes
wrote an article for the press on some subject which deeply involved
our country's interests. Nor did Washington disdain to
consult with him as to the choice of officers when, in the near prospect
of war with France, he was called on once more to head the
armies of our country. The year before the death of Washington,
my father paid him a visit at Mount Vernon. They had not met
since the close of the war. The general was on his farm. They
met in one of the fields, near a pair of draw-bars. Each, recognising
the other, dismounted and shook hands over them, the General
insisting that he would pull down his own bars, and my father
that he would be his aid still.
My father survived but a few years. Several interesting obituaries,
in prose and verse, appeared at his death. From them I take
the following extracts. The first is from the pen of Mr. Robert
Page, of Janeville, Frederick county:—
"His virtues, though of that dignified kind which enforce respect, were
yet so tempered by gentleness and condescension that they never failed
to conciliate affection. In public life his conduct was such as to secure
the esteem and friendship of those accurate discerners of merit, Washington
and Hamilton. This speaks sufficiently his eulogium. His benevolence
was ardent, active, and disinterested; and one of his greatest pleasures
consisted in promoting the happiness and welfare of all around him.
The death of his friend, General Hamilton, made an impression of melancholy
on his mind, which, it is believed, was not obliterated until the
hour of his death."
The following is from the Rev. Mr. Wiley:—
Where justice held her steady way,
Where glow'd the flame of patriot zeal.
Is now a lump of inert clay
With pensive pleasure, to retrace
His form, the accents of his voice,
And every valued mental grace.
His social gayety, whose flow
Could pleasure ever new impart;
His candour, which could never bow
To veil in dark disguise the heart;
His goodness, active, ardent, great,
And prompt the sufferer's wants to aid;
These, whilst the pulse of life shall beat,
Will never from remembrance fade."
The last is from Mrs. Mary Page, of Pagebrook, Frederick
county:—
With choicest myrtle let his tomb be crown'd;
And ye, sweet nine, your plaintive tribute pay,
And o'er his virtues shed a milder ray.
In scenes domestic man is truly known;
In scenes domestic Meade forever shone.
His soul, unconscious of one narrow thought,
Of self regardless, did the thing he ought.
Where'er his form benignant bent its way,
Grim care soon vanish'd and each heart was gay.
At mercy's call he ever foremost press'd;
For meek-eyed pity sway'd his manly breast.
Hasten, fair nymphs of Frederick's peaceful plains;
Attend, fond youths, to breathe your mournful strains;
Votaries of Hymen, follow to deplore
That Meade, your pride and father, is no more.
But why, blest shade, should friends lament thy doom?
Joys celestial hover o'er thy tomb;
Thy Mary, purer than the snowdrop white,
Shall guide thine offspring to the realms of light."
I conclude this article by a brief reference to one individual
belonging to Suffolk parish, whom not to mention in its history
were an unpardonable neglect. In the history of Bruton parish,
Williamsburg, we have on the list of vestrymen and active members
of the Church the name of Prentiss more than once. Mr.
Prentiss, of Suffolk, was a worthy successor to the virtues of his
ancestors. To his persevering attachment to the Church of his
fathers during a long and dark period of almost despair, may be
mainly ascribed, under God, its continuance in Suffolk. A more
humble and conscientious Christian and more true-hearted Episcopalian,
a more honourable and courteous gentleman, a more
affectionate husband and tender father, was, and is, nowhere
they were trained, and will so do, we trust, to the latest generations.
Other members might, doubtless, be found among the Reddicks,
the Joneses, the Bakers, the Hallidays, and other families of the
parish of Suffolk, most worthy of special notice; but the writer has
not the necessary information for the purpose.
From his holding these offices, we may certainly conclude that he had renounced
it, since test-oaths were required of such officers, and he was reputed to be an
honest man. In this I am further confirmed by the fact, that the name of Colonel
Andrew Meade stands first on the list of vestrymen in the year 1743, when the list
I have commences. He was at Suffolk, and a hospitable entertainer, in 1728, as
Colonel Byrd testifies.
The case of David Meade and Susannah Everard had something so touching
in it as to give rise to some little novel or poem, but of which nothing remains but
uncertain tradition. David Meade is represented as rigid in his morals, and one
who could not tolerate vice. He was active in enforcing discipline against evil
ministers.
The talented and unhappy Dr. Dodd, of London, used to preach at Harrow to
the boys of that school. I have seen his sermons to them, and heard my father
speak of his eloquence. When he was executed, the boys of the school were either
sent or permitted to go. My father witnessed the scene. I may be permitted to
add concerning my father, that while at the school his teacher said of him that he
would never make a great scholar, but he will be what is much better,—vir probus.
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