 | The history of Truro Parish in Virginia, |  |
The Genesis of Truro Parish
Among the prominent features in the physiognomy
of Eastern Virginia are the great rivers
which run from the blue mountains and pour their
streams into the bosom of the "Mother of
Waters," as the Indians called the Chesapeake
Bay. Along these rivers, which were then the
only roads, the first settlers penetrated the wilderness.
This explains the seeming anomaly, that
the first Parishes and counties often included both
sides of broad rivers, it being easier to go to Court
and to Church by water, than through forests by
what were called in those days "bridle paths."
Hence Parishes were often sixty or more miles
long and of little breadth. The space between the
rivers was called "Necks." Among the most historic
of these was the Northern Neck, which included
all the land between the Potomac and the
Rappahannock rivers from their head springs to
the Chesapeake Bay. This was the princely plantation
of Lord Fairfax. Within this territory were
the seats of the Fairfaxes, Washingtons, Masons,
McCartys, Fitzhughs, Brents, Alexanders, Lewises,
Mercers, Daniels, Carters, Dades, Stuarts,
Corbins, Tayloes, Steptoes, Newtons, Browns,
families too many to mention, who dispensed an
elegant hospitality at Northumberland House,
Nomini, Stratford, Chantilly, Mount Airy, Sabine
Hall, Bedford, Albion, Cedar Grove, Boscobel,
Richland, Marleborough, Woodstock, Gunston,
Belvoir, Woodlawn, Mount Vernon, etc. Beginning
at Lancaster, county was taken from county,
Parish from Parish, as the population of each
passed the frontiers, until in 1730 Prince William
was taken from Stafford and King George Counties,
above Chappawansick Creek and Deep Run,
and along the Potomac, to the "Great Mountains."
This became also Hamilton Parish; which Parish,
by an Act of the General Assembly passed at the
Session of May, 1732, to take effect the first of the
following November, was divided into two Parishes
"By the river Ockoquan, and the Bull Run,
(a branch thereof,) and a course from thence to the
Indian Thoroughfare of the Blue Ridge of Mountains,"
(Ashby's Gap.) All that part of Prince
William lying below the said bounds was to retain
the name of Hamilton, "And all that other part of
the said county, which lies above those bounds,
shall hereafter be called and known by the name
of Truro." The Parish was named after the Parish
in Cornwall, in England, which is now the Diocese
of Truro.
Such is the genesis of the Parish of Truro,
which extended along the Potomac from the
what are now the Parishes of Truro, Cameron,
Fairfax and Shelburne.[1] Within this territory
there were three churches. Occoquan, William
Gunnells, and a chapel "above Goose Creek."
The present writer has been so fortunate as to
find the old Vestry Book of Truro Parish; so long
lost to the public eye that even Bishop Meade
said he could "hear no tidings" of it and was constrained
to construct his sketch of the Parish from
such facts and traditions as he could gather from
other sources and from his own rich personal
knowledge. It is now possible for the first time
to authenticate its history by its own records,
which are continuous from 1732 to 1785, when the
civil functions of the Vestries were devolved by
law upon the Overseers of the Poor. This book
also contains a record of the proceedings of the
Overseers of the Poor from 1787 to 1802, thus
handing down the names of persons, many of
whom had been Vestrymen of the Church.
The Vestry Book opens with a recitation of the
Act of the General Assembly instituting the Parish,
the election of the Vestry and the proceedings
of their first meeting. The Act of Assembly prescribed
that the Sheriff of the County should summon
the freeholders and housekeepers to meet and
elect so many of the "most able and discreet persons
of Vestrymen in the said Parish twelve and no
more." Which order being complied with, "Five
of the Vestrymen elected, to witt, Charles Broadwater,
Richard Osborn, John Lewis, Gabriel
Adams, and Edward Emms, together with Denis
Mc.Carty, John Heryford, and Edward Barry,
having taken the oaths appointed by law, and Subscribed
to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline
of the Church of England, took their
places in the Vestry accordingly." The first Vestry
met on November 7th, 1732, with the above gentlemen
present. Edward Barry was nominated for
Clerk, and "the question was put whether the said
Barry should enjoy the place or not, which was
carried in the said Barry's favour. And he was
thereupon sworn, and took his place accordingly."
He was ordered to "provide paper & books for the
minutes and orders of this Vestry, and that he be
paid for the same at the laying of the next parish
levy." John Heryford and Edward Emms were
chosen Churchwardens for that year, and "were
sworn accordingly." At the next meeting of the
Vestry, held March 26, 1733, John Sturman and
Giles Tillett were added to the Vestry, and there
were present also Francis Aubrey and William
Godfrey, not previously mentioned. It was "Ordered,
that the Churchwardens give publick notice
to workmen to appear at the next Vestry to be
held for this parish to agree for the building of a
in this parish." At the meeting on April 16, 1733,
Michael Ashford took the oaths and subscribed the
test as a Vestryman. An agreement was made
with the Rev. Lawrence De Butts to preach three
times a month for one year, "at Occoquan Church,
the new Church, or William Gunnell's, and at the
Chappell above Goose Creek,[2] for the sum of
eight thousand pounds of tobacco clear of the
Warehouse charges and abatements,—And the
said De Butts doth further agree to and with the
Vestry aforesaid, that in case he fails, or is by the
weather prevented to preach at any of the places
aforesaid, any of the times aforesaid, tobacco shall
only be levied for him in proportion to his service."
Mr. De Butts seems to have been a bird of passage.
From 1721 to about 1728 he was Minister
of Washington Parish in Westmoreland County,
where he had two churches, and also officiated during
the week in the neighboring Parishes of St.
County; and Cople, Westmoreland, when they
were vacant. In 1731 he was employed in St.
Mark's Parish, Culpepper County, at 500 pounds
of tobacco a sermon, and now is in Truro for one
year.[3] At the expiration of this engagement he
seems to have preached eight sermons in the Parish,
for which he received 245 pounds of tobacco
per sermon, and then he disappears from the
record, having, we believe, gone to Maryland.
1733, June 9th, Mr. Richard Blackburn agreed
with the Vestry to build a Church at the Cross
Roads near Michael Reagan's, "Forty feet in
length, two and twenty feet wide, and thirteen feet
pitch, to be weather boarded, covered, and all the
inside work perform'd and done after the same
manner the work upon Pohick Church is done, for
the sum of thirty-three thousand five hundred
pounds of tobacco." William Godfrey and Michael
Ashford were "to take care that the work upon
the Church be well and sufficiently done and performed."[4]
12th. October: Jeremiah Bronaugh,
were chosen Vestrymen in the room of several deceased
members, and qualified and took their
places accordingly. Joseph Johnson was chosen
"Reader at the new Church and the Chapell above
Goose Creek," to receive 1300 pounds of tobacco
"provided he does his duty in his office." In the
Parish Levy for this year provision is made for
2500 pounds of tobacco to Capt. Francis Aubrey
towards building the chapel above Goose Creek,
and the next year the same amount, and in 1735,
4000 pounds for finishing said chapel.
1734, 11th. May; James Baxter was chosen a
Vestryman and qualified. Ordered that Edward
Emms, the upper Churchwarden, give notice to
Capt. John Colvill to appear at a Vestry to be held
at Pohick Church on the 4th. of June next, to
take the oath of a Vestryman, if he shall think fit
to accept of the office." Jeremiah Bronaugh, John
Farguson and James Baxter were appointed to
view the land offered for a Glebe by William Godfrey,
French Mason, William Hall, George Harrison,
and Burr Harrison, and any other land that
shall be offered by any other person, and to report
to the Vestry. On the 4th. of June John Colvill
Gent. was sworn and took his seat as a Vestryman.
There is a note on the margin here signed "C.
Colvill appears to have been a 13th Vestryman.
This is noted because when a Burgess for this
County he promoted ye dissolution of the Vestry
as illegal,—himself the only illegal Vestryman."
John Heryford offered to sell 300 acres of land,
"Scituate, Lying and being upon Accotink, and
near the plantation of David Jones," for a Glebe,
for 12000 pounds of tobacco. It was ordered that
the land be laid off at the cost of said Heryford,
and that John Sturman provide Deeds of Lease
and Release for conveying the land sold to this
parish for a Glebe. The Churchwardens were ordered
to receive of Wm. Godfrey 5000 pounds of
tobacco he had assumed to pay to this parish for
the parish of Hamilton.
"At a Vestry held for Truro Parish on the 23d.
day of 7ber, 1734,—Whereas John Colvill Gent.
one of the members of this Vestry, is in a short
time bound for Great Brittain, and hath promised
us that he will use his interest to procure a discreet
and Godly Minister of the Church of England,
to come over and settle in our said parish.
And further that he will accommodate any such
person with a free passage hither, on board any
of his ships, if he is ready to come in any of them,
and will accept of the same. We do therefore
hereby impower and desire the said John Colvill
to negotiate the said affair in our behalf, either by
making application to his Grace the Lord Bishop
qualified as aforesaid in his private capacity, who
shall be willing to come over and settle here. And
we do agree to accept of, and provide for him, in
as full and ample manner as the law of this Colony
directs." Signed by the Churchwardens and the
five additional Vestrymen present.[5]
1734. Oct. 11th. After the expiration of the
year for which the Rev. Mr. De Butts had been
employed he seems to have preached occasionally
in the Parish, for at a Vestry of this date provision
was made for paying him 1970 pounds of tobacco
"for preaching eight sermons." Payment was
also ordered for Mr. Catesby Cocke for "Clerks
Fees," to John Trammell for "grubing a place for
the Church," to John Massey for "keeping a house
for the minister to preach in," and to the Churchwardens
"to buy tarr for the Churches." The
salary of "each Reader in this parish" was fixed for
the next year at 1000 pounds of tobacco.
1735. Nov. 18th. "Augustine Washington
gent. being this day sworn one of the members of
this Vestry, took his place therein accordingly."
"C. G." interlines this note: "A. W. a fourteenth
Vestryman, father to L. W. the other Burgess
when Truro Vestry was dissolved."[6]
Payment was ordered to Catesby Cocke, for recording
deeds and copies of the lists of tithables
in the Parish,[7]
168 pounds of tobacco; to Edward
Barry, Clerk of the Church, (Pohick,) and Vestry,
1500 pounds; to Samuel Hull, Clerk of the
Chapel above Goose Creek, and Joseph Johnson,
Clerk of the new Church, 1000 pounds each,
and to Oliver Roe, Sexton at Pohick, 300
pounds.
"At a Vestry held for Truro Parish the 19th.
day of August, 1736,—Mr. Charles Green, being
recommended to this Vestry by Capt. Augustine
Washington as a person qualified to officiate as a
Minister of this Parish as soon as he shall receive
orders from his Grace the Bishop of London to
qualify himself for the same. It is therefore ordered
by this Vestry, that as soon as the said
Green has qualified himself as aforesaid, he be received
and entertained as Minister of the said Parish.
And the said Vestry do humbly recommend
the said Charles Green to the Right Honorable
Thomas Lord Fairfax for his Letters of recommendation
and Presentation to his Grace the said
| Jeremiah Bronaugh, Church Warden. | |
| Denis Mc.Carty | Willm. Godfrey |
| August. Washington | James Baxter |
| Richd. Osborn | Edward Barry |
| John Sturman | Thos. Lewis." |
October 11th. The Vestry met and made the
usual appropriations for the officers of the Church
and for the support of the poor. They also made
a bargain with the Rev. John Holmes to officiate
in the Parish, in these words:—"Ordered that the
Revd. Mr. John Holmes be received and entertained
in this Parish, as Minister thereof; and that
he be provided for as the Law directs." Further,
it was "Ordered that the Reverend Mr. John
Holmes Minister of this Parish preach six times
in each year at the Chappell above Goose Creek;
and it is also ordered, that the Sundays he preaches
at the said Chappell the sermon shall be taken
from the new Church." At the bottom of the page
is the following note, signed Cha. Green;—"The
Levity of the Members of the Vestry is worth
notice, They applyed to Collo. Colvill & entered
an order, 23d. Sept. 1734 for him to procure them
a Clergyman from England. By the order on the
other page they gave Cha. Green a title to the
Psh. when ordained, and he had scarcely left the
country when they received Mr. John Holmes
into the parish as appears by the above order.
any orders, & recd. contrary to Law."
This note was made after Mr. Green became
Rector of the Parish. The foregoing entries are
the only evidence of the connection of Messrs.
De Butts and Holmes with the Parish. These
facts were unknown to Bishop Meade, who never
saw this record. This book also reveals the fact
that the Rev. James Keith, of Hamilton Parish,
the Grandfather of Chief Justice Marshall, also
officiated in this Parish, when it was without a
minister. At this very Vestry an order was entered
to pay the Rev. Mr. James Keith 10,544
pounds of tobacco for services rendered.
On the 12th of April, 1737, a long contract with
minute specifications is recorded with William
Berkeley for building a "Mansion house" on the
Glebe, with kitchen, barn, dairy, meat house, and
all other appurtenances to a well furnished country
residence. The specifications as to the quality
of the timber, the style of the work, etc., would
be a suggestive and profitable study for modern
Vestrymen. The cost of the buildings was to be
36,500 pounds of tobacco. Berkeley's bond, to
Jeremiah Bronaugh and Thomas Lewis, Church
Wardens, with Lewis Ellzey, Hugh West, George
Harrison, and John Minor as bondsmen, and Val.
Peyton, Abraham Saintclare and Joseph Cash as
witnesses, is also recorded in the Vestry Book. At
the same time an agreement was made with John
Church after the same manner the yard about the
Church at Pohick is paled in, (only the pails to be
sawed,) to make good and sufficient shutters for
the windows of the said Church, and to make and
erect two good and substantial horse blocks," for
3000 pounds of tobacco.
These are Colonial Parishes. Those of more recent foundation
in the same territory are Johns, Upper Truro, McGill, and. a part
of Meade.
Occoquan Church, which Dr. Slaughter could not identify, was
none other than the old Pohick Church, which stood about two
miles from the ferry over the Occoquan at or near Colchester. When
this Church was built is not known, but it was first an "Upper
Church," or Chapel-of-Ease, in Overwharton Parish. When Hamilton
Parish was formed, January 1, 1730, it was ordered that the
freeholders and housekeepers meet "At the Church above Occoquan
ferry" to elect their Vestry, "above" meaning1 up the Potomac.
When Truro was set apart two years later this Church falls again
in a new Parish. After the year 1733 the name Occoquan disappears
and that of Pohick is substituted. The Church stood until
superseded by the new or present Pohick in 1774.
"William Gunnell's Church" was probably a temporary, or perhaps
a rented, building, and may have been situated not far below
Difficult Run, as the Gunnells owned land in that vicinity. It disappears
after the building of the "Church near Michael Reagan's,"
and may be considered the first Falls Church. The location of the
"Chapel above Goose Creek" is not known. It was still unfinished
at this time, being completed in 1736.
Paul Leicester Ford, in "The True George Washington," supposes
that this Mr. De Butts officiated at the baptism of Washington.
It is most improbable that such was the case. George Washington
was born in Washington Parish, Westmoreland County. February
11th, 1731–2 (Old style,) and was baptized the third of April
following, according to the record in the family Bible. Mr. De
Butts had left Westmoreland several years before, and was now
officiating in Truro Parish.
This was known as the "Upper Church" until 1757, when the
name "Falls Church" is first applied to it in the Vestry Book, probably
to distinguish it more clearly from the Church in Alexandria.
The Church was apparently built on land to which no title had been
acquired, for in 1746 the Church Wardens were directed to pay
John Trammel fifty shillings sterling for two acres of land at the
Upper Church, and on the 19th of March of that year Trammel
made them a deed, now on record at the Clerk's office at Fairfax,
conveying two acres—"where the upper Church now is, to be laid
off in such manner as the Vestry shall think proper, to include the
said Church, churchyard and spring, and all appurtenances to the
said premises.
Nothing more is found in the Vestry Book in regard to this
effort to procure a minister from England. Doubtless it was fortunate
for the Parish that the plan, for some reason, miscarried.
Father also of George Washington, who inherited Mount Vernon
from his brother, Lawrence Washington, the Burgess here indicated.
A11 male persons of the age of sixteen years or upwards, and
also negro, mulatto and indian women of like age, ("except tributary
Indians to this government,") were "tithable" or chargeable
for county and parish levies. But the Court or Vestry, "for reasons
in charity," could excuse indigent persons from payment, and this
was frequently done. In 1733 there were 676 tithables in Truro.
Ten years later there were 1,372. This indicates the growth of the
population. The Parish Levy varied widely year by year, the average
being about 34 pounds of tobacco per poll.
| The history of Truro Parish in Virginia, | |