University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE LXXII.

Parishes in Frederick County.—No. 2.

After the death of Mr. Balmaine, the Rev. Mr. Bryan officiated
for a time at Winchester, Bunker's Hill, and Wickliffe, in the capacity
of assistant to myself, for a few years. He was followed by
the Rev. Mr. Robertson as assistant in Winchester alone. After a
few years he resigned and went on a mission to Greece. In the
year 1827, Christ Church, Winchester, was organized into a separate
parish, to be called the parish of Frederick, Winchester, with
the Rev. J. E. Jackson, minister. Mr. Jackson was one of three
worthy brothers of most respectable parentage in Tutbury, England,
all of whom ministered in the Church of Virginia and elsewhere in
this country. The Rev. J. E. Jackson was the father of the Rev.
William Jackson, who recently died so enviable a death in Norfolk.
He was a most diligent and faithful pastor, preaching the true
doctrines of the Gospel. Under his careful supervision the present
excellent church and parsonage were built. In 1842, he resigned
and moved to Kentucky. He was succeeded in 1842 by the Rev.
Mr. Rooker, who resigned in 1847. Its present rector, the Rev.
Cornelius Walker, succeeded Mr. Rooker. In May, 1834, another
division of Frederick parish took place, when Wickliffe, including
Berryville, was organized. The Rev. Mr. Jackson had been my
assistant in that part of the parish for two years before this. The
Rev. Mr. Rice had preceded him in that capacity. The Rev. Mr.
Shiraz followed Mr. Jackson. Its next was the Rev. Richard Wilmer,
who was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Peterkin. Its present, the
Rev. Mr. Whittle. This parish has recently been subdivided, and
the Rev. Mr. Powell, who was disappointed during the last year in
going to China, is the minister of that part which includes Wickliffe
Church. Another offshoot was also made from Frederick parish many
years since, in the neighbourhood of Middletown, where a parish
was organized and a neat brick church built in the village, under
the auspices of the late Strother Jones, the families of Hites, and
others. It has had mainly to depend on the occasional services of
the ministers in Winchester. The Rev. Mr. Bryant and the Rev.
Mr. Irish were each for some time settled among them, and in none

of our congregations have more zeal and liberality been displayed,
according to numbers and means.

Having thus spoken of the five different divisions of Frederick
parish, after itself had been reduced by Acts of Assembly, I proceed
to mention the new churches built since the Revolution, in
addition to those at Winchester and Middletown, already alluded
to. Among the first things done by the vestry of Frederick, after its
reorganization in 1787, was the adoption of measures for the building
of a stone chapel where it was designed to erect that one which
failed, through the disagreement of the people and vestry, just before
the Revolution,—viz.: where that called Cunningham's Chapel
stood. The land having now come into possession of Colonel
Nathaniel Burwell, the same two acres for a church and burying-ground,
which were offered by Colonel Hugh Nelson before the
war, were now given by Colonel Burwell, and the present stone
chapel ordered to be built in 1790. At what time it was completed
does not appear, but probably in the same year. After the revival
of our Church in Virginia commenced, a stone church was built
at Wickliffe, Mr. Tredwell Smith and General Thomas Parker being
the most active agents. A strenuous effort was made to have it a
free church, which I earnestly opposed, and offered to insure from
elsewhere as much as was pledged by other than Episcopalians. It
was ascertained that not more than fifty dollars, out of the two or
three thousand dollars which it cost, would be subscribed by other
than Episcopalians, and the plan was dropped. This church was
badly executed, and after a time the present excellent one of brick
was built under the superintendence of Mr. Jaqueline Smith, and
in a great measure at his expense. The ground on which it stood
had been given by the family of Williams, who, with their ancestors
in the Northern Neck of Virginia, had ever been staunch friends
of the Church. After some years the church at Berryville was
built on ground given by Mr. John Taylor, who owned the farm of
which it was a part. The building of this church was delayed for
some years by the attempt to have it placed on some basis which
would make it common to all denominations. Effort after effort
was made to effect it on this plan, without success. At length, when
the friends of the scheme acknowledged its failure, I addressed the
congregation in favour of an Episcopal church, and succeeded at
once. In the year 1834, it was found that the old chapel was too
small and inconvenient for the increasing congregation, and it was
therefore determined to erect another and larger one, in a more
central and convenient place, in the vicinity of Millwood, on ground

given by Mr. George Burwell, of Carter Hall. Such, however, was
the attachment of many to the old chapel that funds for the latter
could not be obtained, except on condition of alternate services at
the chapel. From year to year these services became less frequent,
until at length they are now reduced to an annual pilgrimage, on
some summer Sabbath, to this old and much-loved spot, except
when services are held for the servants, or death summons the
neighbours to add one more to the tenants of the graveyard.[50]

My remarks on the old parish of Frederick, and some of its
branches, will be brought to a close by a brief reference to a spot
of all others most sacred to many now living as the depository of
all that was mortal of those most dear to us,—the burying-ground
which lies at the foot of the hill on which still stands the old stone
chapel. Ever since its appropriation to this purpose, it has been
the graveyard of rich and poor, bond and free, those who lived near
it, and the stranger from afar who died near it. It is called the
Burwell graveyard, not merely because the land was given by one
of that name, but because it is the resting-place of a far greater
number bearing that name than any other. It has recently been
enlarged and a portion of it divided into lots and the whole enclosed
with a strong stone wall. The vestry have also proposed the raising
and vesting in stock the sum of one thousand dollars for the perpetual
preservation of it and the old chapel which overlooks it.
Both of them stand in the immediate angle of two public and
much-frequented roads, and the passing traveller may see old and
venerable trees overshadowing many tombs, younger ones of perpetual
verdure more recently planted, green hillocks, covered with
grass and ivy, high headstones and large marble slabs, marking the
place of interment and designating the names of those whose remains
are beneath, and now and then a pillar, either for young or
old, rising above the other memorials. To this place, for more
than sixty years, have I been travelling, either borne in the arms
of others, or as a mourner, or as officiating minister. To it, at no

distant day, I expect to be carried, and from it I hope to see arise
the bodies of some of the truest saints of the Lord, unto whom, in
the adjoining temple, I was privileged to preach the blessed Gospel
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

A brief notice of the family of Burwells, so many of whom lie
buried there, and of one other individual mentioned in the vestrybook
as the friend and defender of the Church, and whose body
was interred among his relatives, is all that I shall further say in
connection with this spot. The early genealogy of this family I
take from Henning's Statutes at Large, Campbell's History of Virginia,
and the tombstones at Carter's Creek, in the county of
Gloucester. The first of the name in this country was Major Lewis
Burwell, of Carter's Creek, in Gloucester county, Virginia, who
died in 1658. His wife was a Miss Higginson, whose father signalized
himself in the wars with the Indians. He had two sons,—
Nathaniel and Lewis. Nathaniel married a daughter of Robert
Carter, commonly called King Carter, by whom he had three sons
and one daughter. The daughter was named Elizabeth, and married
President Nelson. His sons were Lewis, Carter, and Robert
Carter. Lewis was either father or grandfather of that Lewis
Burwell who was President of the Council in 1750. Carter married
Lucy, the daughter of John Grymes, and settled at the Grove, near
Williamsburg. He was the father of Colonel Nathaniel Burwell,
who moved to Frederick and built Carter Hall. The third son,
Robert Carter, settled in Isle of Wight, and was the father of Nathaniel
Burwell, of that county, and of Fanny, the first wife of
Governor Page. His son Nathaniel was the father of Robert Carter
Burwell, who moved to Frederick, of Mrs. Philip Nelson, and of
their three sisters, Jane, Fanny, and Ariana, who died unmarried,
and lie with their brother in the Burwell graveyard. The second
son of the first of the Burwells was, as we have stated, Major
Lewis Burwell. His first wife was Abigail Smith, heiress of Nathaniel
Bacon, who was for many years President of the Council,
and near relatives of Bacon the rebel. Hence the name of Bacon,
in the Burwell family. By this marriage, he had four sons and
six daughters. His second wife was the widow of the Hon. William
Cole, and came from Nansemond county, by whom he had
two sons and three daughters. He died in the year 1710, leaving
only three sons out of the six, and six daughters out of the nine.
He lived at King's Mill, or somewhere near, either in York county
or James City. His son Lewis built a large house at King's Mill

and improved the place at great expense, also purchased other lands
around, and a tract in the Isle of Wight; on account of which, in
1736, he obtained leave of the Assembly to dock the entail of a
tract of land in King William and dispose of it. Of his numerous
descendants, and of those of the other branches, we can only say
that we find them settled in King William, Lancaster, Nansemond,
Isle of Wight, and then moving to Frederick, Berkeley, Botetourt,
Richmond City, and other places. The father of those settled in
Botetourt we read of as an active member of the vestry in King
William. Wherever they have gone, they have retained their attachment
to the Church of their fathers, and some have entered its
ministry.

I shall be excused for adding to the above a piece of family
history connected with that of a high public functionary of Old
Colonial Virginia, which may serve to cast some light on the state
of society and of the Church at the close of the first century of our
settlement. The second Lewis Burwell, as we have seen, had nine
daughters, one of whom completely upset what little reason there
was in Governor Nicholson of famous memory. He became most
passionately attached to her, and demanded her of her parents in
royal style. Neither she, her parents, or the other members of the
family, were disposed to comply. He became furious, and for years
persisted in his design and claim. All around him felt the effects
of his rage. The father, brothers, Commissary Blair, and the Rev.
Mr. Fowace, minister of some parish near Williamsburg, were the
special objects of his threatened vengeance. To the young lady
he threatened the life of her father and brothers if she did not
yield to his suit. This caused a friend of his in England to write
a letter of remonstrance, in which he says, "It is not here as in
some barbarous countries, where the tender lady is dragged into the
Sultan's arms, just reeking with the blood of her nearest relatives,
and yet she must strangely dissemble her aversion." To Commissary
Blair he declared that "he would cut the throats of three men if
the lady should marry any other but himself,—viz.: the bridegroom,
the officiating minister, and the justice who issued the license." The
Rev. Mr. Fowace, in a letter to the Lord-Commissioners in England,
complains, among other things, of being assaulted by Governor
Nicholson one evening on his return from a visit to the family, (the
Major being sick,) and ordered never again to go to this house without
leave from himself. It seemed that the Governor was jealous
of him. Besides abusive language and other indignities, he pulled

off the minister's hat, as being disrespectful to him even on horseback.
Such was the conduct of the Governor to him in this and
other respects that the Council and some of the clergy united in a
petition to the Crown for his removal, which was granted. All this
and much more is on record in the archives of Lambeth Palace,
copies of which are before me. What was the subsequent history
of the young lady who, like another Helen, was the innocent cause
of so much strife, is not told. Even her Christian name is not
given. I need not say that if a Governor of Virginia under our free
system should assume such royal airs, the case would be much more
speedily and easily disposed of by the lady, the parents, and the
minister.

I promised to conclude this article with some mention of a gentleman
whose name was on the vestry-book and whose body was
interred in the old graveyard. That person was Mr. Edmund
Randolph, a distinguished lawyer of Virginia, who was often employed
by the vestries as their counsellor. Such was the case with
the vestry of Frederick parish. Mr. Edmund Randolph was the
son of Mr. John Randolph, once Attorney-General of the State, but
who, at the breaking out of the war, preferred the royal to the republican
cause, and went to England with his family. His office
was given to his patriotic son Edmund Randolph, who figured so
largely, as the defender of his country, in the councils of the
State and of the nation, and the zealous supporter of the Church
against all which he believed to be assaults upon her rights. Young
Edmund Randolph was adopted by his uncle Peyton (who had
no children,) and espoused the same side, both as to the Church
and State, with the uncle, and was for a time the Secretary of State
under General Washington. He was educated at Williamsburg,
soon after Mr. Jefferson, Governor Page, and other distinguished
men of Virginia. It was a period of growing infidelity at that
college, and Mr. Randolph was for a time somewhat tinctured with
it, as he himself told me toward the close of his life. I can never
forget the manner in which he described the effect of a little flattery
from one of the leaders of the new school, for some doubts expressed
by him as to the truth of Christianity or of some of its doctrines.
That leader patted him on the head, calling him a promising youth
for the utterance of so independent a thought. The pressure of
that hand, he said, was felt for a long time afterward. But he
happily escaped the infidelity which soon deluged the State, and
joined Mr. Peyton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Judge Pendleton,

Governor Page, and others, in defending the Church and
religion. He was not only engaged by different vestries in special
cases, as in the parish of Frederick, but was counsel for the whole
Church in that great question of the constitutionality of the law
which took away the Church property, and which was lost to the
Church by the sudden death of Judge Pendleton. Mr. Randolph
informed me that he had read that opinion and decision which was
drawn by Judge Pendleton, the President of the court, and, as I
think, that it was among his papers. Since his death I have repeatedly
inquired for it, but was informed that neither among his
papers nor those of Judge Pendleton was it to be found. It has
always been said that the document was in the pocket of Judge
Pendleton when he was suddenly struck dead on the morning of
the day on which it was to have been used. The latter days of
Mr. Randolph's life were spent chiefly at his son-in-law's, Mr.
Bennett Taylor's, of Frederick county. I saw him during this
period, and conversed with him on religious subjects, in which he
seemed to take a deep interest. McKnight's Commentary on the
Epistles came out about this time, and Mr. Randolph, who had probably
never been much conversant with such books, became passionately
fond of it, and sometimes talked of preparing and publishing
some selections from it, or an abridgment of it, that others might
enjoy the pleasure he had experienced in some of its elucidations
of Scripture, which seemed to him, to use his own language, like a
new revelation on some dark points. Mr. Randolph died at Carter
Hall, the seat of Colonel Nathaniel Burwell, of Frederick county,
and lies buried in the old graveyard by the side of Mrs. Taylor
and her husband. I close by referring in anticipation to a topic
which at some later stage of this work I purpose to notice more
fully. I have said above that the time of Mr. Randolph's residence
at William and Mary was one of growing infidelity. I was not
aware until lately that infidelity was of so recent an origin in
Virginia. In the year 1723 the Bishop of London addressed a
circular to all the clergy of Virginia, with a view of ascertaining
the state of religion in all the parishes. Among the questions
was the following:—Are there any infidels in your parish? Invariably
the reply was, none but the Indians and negroes. An
infidel among those who had been brought up in the Christian
faith was an unhappy being not then known in Virginia. The
great deep of the French Revolution had not then begun to be
broken up. Even France was not then infidel. I could scarce
believe those uniform responses of the clergy of Virginia, registered
as they are in the archives of our Mother-Church, and copies of
which are before me, until I came to another record of a somewhat
later date, which tells of the introduction of the first infidel book
which came over to Virginia. It was entitled, "A Plain Instruction."
The fact is communicated to the authorities in England, by
a letter or letters from the authorities here, as a most dreadful one.