University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE LXV.

Dettingen Parish, Prince William County.

This was taken out of Hamilton parish, which, in 1745, covered
all of what is now Prince William and Fauquier. It is supposed
to have been named after a town in Germany, called Dettingen,
near which the English gained a victory in the year 1743,—two
years before. The parish register having been destroyed in the
Clerk's office in Fauquier, as we shall hereafter see, we have no
record of the parish of Dettingen previous to the year 1745. All
that I can learn is that the Rev. Mr. Keith, the grandfather of
Chief-Justice Marshall, was the minister of Hamilton parish previous
to the division, and continued to be the minister of that part
called Hamilton after the division. My information concerning
Dettingen parish is derived from a vestry-book in the Clerk's office
of Prince William, commenced in the year 1745 and continued to
the year 1785. It commences with the following test, signed by
the vestry:—"We do declare that we do believe there is not any
transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in
the elements of bread and wine, at or after the consecration
thereof by any person whatsoever." It would seem that the
above was the only test subscribed in this parish, showing that
there was at this time some peculiar fear and detestation of Popery,
it being about the time of the last efforts in England in behalf of
the Pretender. Although a form of the subscription of vestrymen
was prescribed by Act of the Assembly, which was generally
used, the vestries did not always conform to it, but adopted several
different ones, as we shall show hereafter. The first minister of
this parish after its separation from Hamilton was the Rev. James
Scott, of whom we have already spoken as coming over to this
country by the invitation of his elder brother, Mr. Alexander Scott,
minister of the adjoining parish of Overwharton, in Stafford. How
long Mr. James Scott had been in America is not known. The
following resolution of the vestry shows that he was living in [OMITTED]
at the time of his election, and also the probability that he

was married at that time.[33] "Ordered, that the Rev. James Scott
be received into this parish on condition of his moving into it as
soon as a glebe and house is prepared." The following letters
from Governor Gooch and Commissary Dawson speak well in his
behalf.

In the above letter, Mr. Scott is said to have been long known
to the vestry of Dettingen parish. It is supposed that he was for
some years assistant or curate to his brother Alexander Scott in

Stafford, and was succeeded in that station by the Rev. Mr. Moncure.
A glebe was purchased for Mr. Scott on Quantico Creek, which
runs up the Potomac to Dumfries. It consisted of four hundred
acres of land, and was bought of Mr. Thomas Harrison, for one
hundred and thirty-five pounds sterling. So far as I have ascertained,
but few of the glebes cost that much, and when rented out,
as they often were, seldom brought more than twenty or thirty
pounds. Mr. Scott continued the minister of that parish until his
death in 1782, being minister of the parish for thirty-seven years.
He lived most of the time at his own estate of Westwood, the gift,
it is believed, of his brother. Before we proceed to make mention
of his successors in office, there are some things worthy of notice,
in relation to the parish, which had better be disposed of in this
place. There were two churches in the parish, between which the
services of the minister were equally divided. One of them was
very near Dumfries, the other near the two streams Broad Run and
Slater Run, and sometimes called by either name. At the time of
the division of the parish, there was an old and indifferent one
near Dumfries, which, in the year 1752, was sold for fifteen hundredweight
of tobacco, and a new one costing one hundred thousand-weight
was ordered. The contractor for it was a Mr. Waite, ancestor
to the worthy member and lay reader of our Church in
Winchester, Mr. Obed Waite. The church at Broad Run was also
contracted for in 1752. Both were of brick, and very substantial
ones. It has not been many years since the roof and walls of the
latter fell to the ground. Some remnant of the ruins of the former
may perhaps be seen near Dumfries at this time. I have often
seen them, when more abundant, in my travels through that region.
Dumfries itself, once the mart of that part of Virginia, the scene
of gayety and fashion, the abode of wealthy merchants from Scotland,
who named it after a city of that name in the mother-country,
is now in ruins, almost as complete as those of the old church.
Quantico Creek, through which the trade from Europe came, is now
filled up, while the pines have covered the spot where the church
once stood near its banks. Desolation reigns around. The old
court-house was fitted up some thirty-five or forty years ago for
worship, but that has long since been abandoned for want of worshippers.
A few years since I spent a night in the neighbourhood,
in a worthy Baptist family, and, while conversing on the past, the
lady of the family mentioned that she had in her possession some
things belonging to the old church, which she would be glad to put
into my hands, as she wished to be clear of them. After hunting for
some time amid the rubbish of the top-shelf of an old cupboard
standing in the room, she brought out two small, old, well-worn
pieces of church-plate, supposed to be those once used in the Old
Quantico Church. I still have them in my possession, to bestow on
some poor parish which will not be too proud to use them. There
were galleries in the church at Broad Run, one of which was allowed
to be put up by Mr. Thomas Harrison, provided it was done so as not
to incommode any of the pews below it. The others were put up
by the vestry and sold. The pews below were all common, though
doubtless taken possession of by different families, as is usual in
England. The old English custom (beginning with the Royal
family in St. George's Church at Windsor) of appropriating the
galleries to the rich and noble was soon followed in Virginia, and,
as we shall see hereafter, the old aristocratic families could with
difficulty be brought down from their high lofts in the old churches,
even after they became uncomfortable and almost dangerous. I find
an entry on this vestry-book concerning payment to the sextons
of these churches for making fires, which is the first of the only
two instances I have met with, and I am in doubt whether the payment
was for fire in the churches or vestry-rooms in the yard; for
I have never seen where provision was made for fires in any of the
old churches, either by open chimneys or stoves, if indeed stoves
were then known in the land. It was the same case in the old
churches in England, and still is in cathedrals to this day, and it
is no wonder that the latter are so cold, damp, and comfortless.
Very few, if any, of the country churches, even in New England,
were warmed by stoves when I travelled through it in the year 1819.
In this respect I think we have certainly improved on the customs
of our fathers. I think that in some other respects we have
advanced in liberality. Nothing was done gratuitously by any
member of the church. The lay readers were always paid one
thousand or twelve hundred weight of tobacco. Clerks received
about the same. No liberal gentleman gave his wine for the Communion,
as in latter days, but always charged for it. The annual
cost at each of the churches in this parish was four pounds for
twelve bottles of wine. One thing has struck me, in all the indentures
required of those to whom orphan or illegitimate children
were bound by the vestry, as speaking well for the times. The
masters were required to teach those who were bound to them "the
art and mystery of some trade," to "instruct them in the principles
of the Christian religion." Sometimes the catechism, Lord's
prayer, creed, and Commandments are specified, as also the doctrines
of the Episcopal Church. On the part of those bound, they
must "obey their masters, keep his secrets, not leave his house
night or day without leave, not embezzle his goods or suffer others
to do it, not play at cards, dice, or any other unlawful game, or
frequent taverns or tippling-houses." Whether these promises
were faithfully complied with or not, we are unable to say. We
shall see hereafter that, by the laws of the Assembly, the very same
things were forbidden the clergy,—viz.: cards, dice, and other unlawful
games; also taverns and tippling-houses and such places: but
they were disregarded by many. It is, however, a matter of rejoicing
to see such testimonies to good morals by those in authority,
and by legislative acts, even though contradicted by the conduct
of those who bear them. In the most corrupt ages of the Christian
Church the most wholesome laws are to be found and the best
forms of religion have been used. That God who has kept the
Bible pure through so many ages of darkness and corruption has
also, by civil and ecclesiastical legislatures and rulers, preserved
and handed down many most faithful expositions of its moral code.
Some faithful ones there have been in every age who have obeyed
these laws. I doubt not but there were some ministers in the
darkest age of the Church in Virginia who obeyed her canons, and
some masters and mistresses who fulfilled pledges to orphans and
poor unfortunates.

I now return to the history of the ministers of Dettingen parish.
At the death of Mr. James Scott, his son, the Rev. John Scott, was
chosen minister. His ministry was of short duration. He resigned
the following year on account of ill health, and died soon after.
There are some painful circumstances in the history of this minister;
and, as they have been misrepresented and made worse than they
really were, it is due to himself and posterity to make a correct
statement. Even in that there is much not only to be regretted,
but utterly condemned,—the spirit of the times affording no excuse
which should for a moment be entertained. From a letter in my
possession, I think it probable he was set apart for the ministry in
early youth. At the age of eighteen, however, he was engaged in
an affair which showed that he was ill qualified for it at that time,—
being destitute of all godliness,—however changed he may have been
afterward. He conceived that his father and himself had been insulted
and injured by the misrepresentations of one who, according
to report, was a most unworthy and dangerous man, and that it
was his duty to seek reparation by a resort to arms. He accordingly
determined to challenge, and applied to Mr. Bullett, his

brother-in-law, to be with him in the contest. Mr. Bullett dissuaded
him from the challenge in a letter, which I have in my possession,
and which contains some of the many unanswerable arguments
against duelling. Failing in his effort, he attends him to the place
of combat,—the end of Old Quantico Church, where the father of
young Scott had so often read the words of Jehovah from Mount
Sinai, "Thou shalt do no murder." The result was, that the second,
who had warned against the act, and who, it was supposed, had
gone in the hope of preventing the contest, was so treated by the
challenged man on the ground as to engage in a contest with him,
in which the other was slain. He was tried and unanimously acquitted
by the court upon the ground of self-defence. Mr. Scott
was obliged to fly the country, and, with his younger brother,
Gustavus, went to Scotland. I take the following account of him
while in Scotland, and after his return, from a letter written by one
of his descendants:—

To the above notice of Mr. Scott I add a report, which is not
improbable, that, at the time he was summoned before the Council
at Annapolis to give an account of his anti-American principles,
Robert Goodloe Harper, then a young lawyer, was called in to
examine him, and ever afterward spoke of him as the most talented
man with whom he had ever engaged in controversy. After the
resignation of the Rev. John Scott in 1784, the Rev. Spence
Grayson was chosen minister. How long he continued such we
do not know; nor can we say any thing concerning him or his
ministry,—though our impression is that he was a worthy man.
The vestry-records end with the year 1785. At the last meeting
vestrymen were elected under the new organization of the Church,
a delegate appointed to the Convention, and an order made to raise
funds for the support of the minister,—as nothing now remained
but the glebe, which was of little value. Although an order was
passed that the records of the vestry should be handed over by the
old clerk to the clerk of the new vestry, it fell into the hands of
the overseers of the poor; and, some blank leaves being left in the
vestry-book, the proceedings of the latter body were for a few years
recorded on them. In this way it happened that the vestry-book
came into the possession of the court. I have petitioned the court
to have it sent for safe-keeping to our fireproof library at the

Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church near Alexandria,
to which, I hope, many such documents will be transmitted. We
have no certain accounts of any successor to Mr. Grayson; but it is
confidently believed that the Rev. Thomas Harrison was the minister
for some years after Mr. Grayson's death, as his name appears in
the list of the overseers of the poor from 1792 to 1802, when it
disappears, and when he either probably died or resigned. I have
been unable to obtain any reliable accounts of Mr. Harrison. His
name is nowhere to be seen on any of the lists of the clergy which
I have. My old friend, Mr. Samuel Slaughter, of Culpepper, (now
eighty-eight years of age,) told me, during the last summer, that he
went to school to him in Culpepper when he was minister of Bloomfield
parish, and that he afterward moved over to Prince William.
He was the father of a numerous offspring of sons and daughters, who
became scattered over the land. The late Mr. Phil. Harrison, of
Richmond, was one of his sons, who are said to have been nine in
number. I became acquainted with one of the families many years
since near Dumfries. Its members were then preparing to move
to the South. On the first page of the vestry-book of Dettingen
parish, I find a leaf taken from the old Overwharton vestry-book
and fastened to the latter,—doubtless by Mr. Harrison,—in which
there is the following genealogy, taken from the parish record of
St. Margaret's, Westminster, and certified by Richard Gibson,
London:—

This last Thomas Harrison was, I suppose, the minister. There
was doubtless an intermarriage between the Powells, of Loudon
county, and the Harrisons, of Prince William, from which it comes
that the names Cuthbert and Burr are so often to be found in these
families. Whether all of the above were born in England, or some
of them in this country, I am unable to say. There was a Thomas
Harrison belonging to Broad Run Church, in Dettingen parish,
long before the Rev. Mr. Harrison appears in the parish, and may
have been his father. After the death of the Rev. Mr. Harrison,
the Rev. Mr. O'Neal officiated for a short time. He died after I
entered the ministry; but I never met with him. No clerical delegate,
and only one lay delegate,—Mr. Jesse Ewell,—ever appears in

the Conventions of Virginia from Dettingen parish. It only
remains that I mention, for the satisfaction of their posterity,
the lay readers and vestrymen of this old parish during the fifty
years of which the records testify. At Broad Run we find the
names of John Bryant, William Peyton, Joseph Sherman, James
Gray, George Carter. At Quantico Church, Mr. Thomas Machem
or Mitchem, John Peyton, Jeremiah Moore, lay readers. The
following are the names of the vestrymen of this parish during the
fifty years of its recorded proceedings:—Peyton, Rearser, Butler,
Deskin, Linton, Renno, Blackburn, Furguson, Ewell, Seale, Grayson,
Baxter, Whetlige, Fouchee, Rust, Roussan, Crump, Frogg, Harrison,
Wright, Bullett, Wickliffe, Bell, Copedge, Thornton, Elsey,
Betty, Eustace, Blackwell, Waggener, Nisbett, Kennor, Tibbs,
Triplett, Carr, Lee, Baylis, Buchanon, Bennett, Hoe, Alexander,
Fitzhugh, Kincheloe, Washington, Guatkin, M'Millon. The names
of Adie and Tompkins are mentioned as men of uprightness, to
whom the vestry and minister referred some important matters of
difference for decision. The Lees, Peytons, Blackburns, and Ewells
appear to have been most numerous and prominent in the vestries.

After a failure of all efforts for the resuscitation of the Church
in Dumfries, our attention was directed to the other parts of the
parish of Dettingen. The Rev. Mr. Steel, beginning in 1822, laboured
for some years with partial success, and built a small church
in the centre of the parish. The Rev. Mr. Slaughter followed him
in 1835, and preached with more success at Brentsville—the new
county seat—and at Hay-Market. The Rev. Mr. Skull succeeded
Mr. Slaughter at the same places. The Rev. Mr. Towles has now
for many years been faithfully and acceptably serving the parish.
A new and excellent stone church has been built at Brentsville;
and the old court-house at Hay-Market has been purchased and
converted into a handsome and convenient temple of religion. A
race-course once adjoined the court-house, and in preaching there
in former days I have, on a Sabbath, seen from the court-house
bench, on which I stood, the horses in training for the sport which
was at hand. Those times have, I trust, passed away forever.