 | Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia. |  |
ARTICLE LXIII.
Parishes in King George County.
King George county was taken out of Richmond county in the
year 1720, at which time Richmond county extended as far on one
side of the Rappahannock as Essex did on the other, which was, I
believe, near the Falls of the Rappahannock or Fredericksburg.
It did not extend from the Rappahannock to the Potomac, as Westmoreland
and King George now do, for Westmoreland and Stafford[28]
extended along the Potomac, while Richmond and King George
lay on the Rappahannock. Formerly there were two parishes in
King George,—Hanover and Brunswick, lying along the Rappahannock,
the latter reaching up to the falls at Fredericksburg, for
we find Mr. W. Fitzhugh, of Chatham, opposite Fredericksburg,
representing Brunswick parish in the Conventions of 1785 and 1786.
In 1776, the boundaries of Stafford and King George were changed,
and each of them made to extend from river to river, instead of
being divided by a longitudinal line running east and west. At
this time St. Paul's parish, and part of Overwharton, formerly in
Stafford, were thrown into King George county, and that of Brunswick
parish into Stafford. There are, therefore, now in King
George, St. Paul's parish, on the Potomac side, and Hanover, chiefly
on the Rappahannock. In the parish of Brunswick there was
formerly a church some miles below Fredericksburg, whose ruins,
or the traces of whose foundation, may yet, I am told, be seen.
and in which I have preached at an early day of my ministry.
In Hanover parish there were, from 1779 to 1796, two churches,
—viz.: Strother's, between Port Conway and Oakenbrough, and
Round Hill, under the charge of the ministers of the parish.
Until the year 1777, Round Hill Church was in Washington parish,
Westmoreland, but certain changes in the boundaries of King
George and Westmoreland in that year threw Round Hill Church
into King George county and Hanover parish. As we have but
little to say of Hanover parish, we will say it at once. We cannot
ascertain the precise time of its establishment. It was in existence
in 1720, and probably established in that year, as King George
was then cut off from Richmond county. In 1753, we find on one
of our lists the name of William Davis as its rector. In the years
1773, 1774, and 1776, we find the Rev. William Davies. But in
the mean time the Rev. Mr. Boucher was the minister of the parish
for some years.
We have nothing on any of our lists, or in the vestry-book of
this parish, concerning this distinguished man, and for the plain
reason that we have no list or vestry-book covering the period of
his ministry in Hanover parish. He was ordained for this parish
in 1762, having been resident in Virginia since he was sixteen
years of age, and probably in that part of Virginia. He was an
intimate friend of General Washington, and, as has been stated in
the article on Caroline county, dedicated a volume of sermons to
Washington. He was selected by the General as a travelling-companion
and guide to young Custis, son of Mrs. Washington, when
it was contemplated that he should make the tour of Europe. The
following extract from a letter of General Washington on the
subject will at the same time explain the causes of the relinquishment
of this plan, and show the amiableness and sound judgment
displayed by him on the occasion. Mr. Boucher was the tutor to
young Custis at Annapolis, in the year 1771, when the letter was
written of which the following is an extract:—
"Upon the whole, it is impossible for me at this time to give a more
decisive answer, however strongly inclined I may be to put you upon a
certainty in this affair, than I have done; and I should think myself wanting
in candour, if I concealed any circumstance from you which leads me
to fear that there is a possibility, if not a probability, that the whole
design may be totally defeated. Before I ever thought myself at liberty
to encourage the plan, I judged it highly reasonable and necessary that
his mother should be consulted. I laid your first letter and proposals
before her, and desired that she would reflect well before she resolved, as
was, that if it appeared to be his inclination to undertake this tour
and it should be judged for his benefit, she would not oppose it, whatever
pangs it might give her to part with him. To this declaration she still
adheres, but in so faint a manner, that I think, with her fears and his indifference,
it would soon be declared that he had no inclination to go. I
do not say that this will be the case. I cannot speak positively; but, as
this is the result of my own reflections on the matter, I thought it but
fair to communicate it to you. Several causes have, I believe, concurred
to make her view his departure, as the time approaches, with more reluctance
than she expected. The unhappy situation of her daughter has in
some degree fixed her eyes upon him as her only hope. To what I have
already said, I can only add, that my warmest wishes are to see him prosecute
a plan, at a proper period, which I may be sure will redound to his
advantage, and that nothing shall be wanting on my part to aid and assist
him."
It seems that Mr. Custis preferred an early marriage to a European
tour, and so the matter ended.
We return from this digression to the other ministers of Hanover
parish. We have a vestry-book beginning in 1779, which shows
that in 1780 the Rev. Rodham Kennor (an old Virginia name) was
chosen its minister. In 1785, he resigned and removed to his farm
in Fauquier. The next year the Rev. John Low became its minister,
and continued until 1796, when he was allowed to preside in the
vestry till the end of the year, on condition that he would resign
at that time, which he did in a letter recorded in the vestry-book.
We know of no other minister being in this parish until its reorganization
and the election of the Rev. Mr. Friend, who has recently
left it. The following list of vestrymen from 1779 to 1796 will
show who were the leading friends of the Church in that parish.
Messrs. Piper, Woffendall, Kendall, Jett, Boon, Lovall, Marshall,
Kirk, Conway, Washington, Bernard, Johnson, Dade, Stewart,
Dishman, Flood, Oldham, Berry. Mr. Johnson was reader at
Round Hill Church, and Mr. Thornby at Strother's. Two orders
on the vestry-book serve to throw light on the manners of the
parish. One directs Mr. Ashton to try to procure four locks for
the glebe-house, evidently showing that there was difficulty and
uncertainty about it. This speaks well for the honesty of the
times, locks being so little used that they were hard to be gotten.
The other is not so creditable to the temperance of the times and
parish, as it directs that "forty pounds of tobacco be paid for two
quarts of brandy for burying a poor woman,"—that is, for use at
the funeral.
A few words will suffice for the history of the parish since the
year 1796. Some years since, a number of families in the upper
a neat brick church near the court-house, for which they secured
the partial services of the Rev. Mr. Friend, by which means a very
respectable congregation has been formed. As stated above, Mr.
Friend has recently resigned his charge.
Since writing the above, we have been indebted to the kindness
and diligence of one or two friends for some further information
concerning this parish, obtained from the old records of the court.
In the years 1725, 1727, and 1737, the names of the Rev. Mr.
Skaife, Mr. Edyard, and Mr. Mackay, appear on the record, though
it is not known with what parishes they were connected. The following
were the names of vestrymen between the years 1723 and
1779:—John Grimsley, James Kay, William Strother, Rowland
Thornton, Thomas Turner,[29]
John Furguson, Jos. Strother, Maximilian
Robinson, William Thornton, Joseph Murdock, Joseph Jones,
George Tankersley, George Riding, Thomas Vivian, Isaac Arnold,
Samuel Skinker, Harry Turner, Charles Carter, John Triplett,
Thomas Jett, Thomas Hodges, Richard Payne, Thomas Berry,
Horatio Dade, John Skinker, William Robinson, George Marshall,
John Washington, Townsend Dade, Robert Stith, Henry Fitzhugh,
Jr., Laurence Washington, Sen., John Pollard, William Fitzhugh,
Laurence Ashton, Thomas Hood, William Newton, William Bruce,
James Kenyon, John Taliafero, Joseph Jones, James Hunton, John
Taliafero, Jr. Whether all these belonged to Hanover parish I
think doubtful. In the year 1744, there is a suit in King George
Court in the name of Henry Downs and Zachary Taylor, (doubtless
the ancestor of our late President,) the churchwardens of St.
Thomas's Church, Orange county.
BRUNSWICK PARISH.
A short notice will suffice for Brunswick parish. This was also
in existence in 1720. In 1754 and 1758, the Rev. Daniel McDonald
was its minister. In the year 1786, we find the parish, or a
portion of it, included in Stafford county. It was no doubt taken
into it at the establishment of the new boundaries between it and
King George, in the year 1776. I have already mentioned that
there was a church a few miles from Fredericksburg, within the
parish of Brunswick. It was called Muddy Creek Church, and
about nine miles from Fredericksburg. Muddy Creek is now the
boundary-line between King George and Stafford. At a later
period, Lamb's Creek Church was the church of Brunswick parish.
The stepping-stone at the door bears the date of 1782, but the
church may have been built before that. From the records of the
court we find that a Mr. Anthony Hainy was churchwarden in this
parish as far back as 1734, and Mr. Charles Carter and John
Champe in 1739. Mr. Charles Carter was also vestryman in 1750.
ST. PAUL'S PARISH, KING GEORGE COUNTY.
Our authority for the earlier part of the history of this parish is
a vestry-book beginning in 1766, during the rectorship of the Rev.
William Stuart, who, according to the Rev. Robert Rose, was a man
of eloquence and popularity and high character.
There is also a register of the marriages, and of the births, baptisms,
and deaths of both white and black. Much of it is torn out.
Its first entry is in 1722. At that time, and long before, the Rev.
David Stuart was the minister. He continued to be so until his
death, in 1749, when he was succeeded by his son, William Stuart,
who was probably his father's assistant for some time before his
death. The son died in 1796. The earlier part of my mother's
life was spent under his ministry, and I have often heard her speak
in high praise of him. He was in bad health for some years before
his death. The following is his letter of resignation:—
I have been curate of this parish upward of forty
years. My own conscience bears me witness, and I trust my parishioners
(though many of them have fallen asleep) will also witness, that until age
and infirmities disabled me I always, so far as my infirmities would allow,
faithfully discharged my duties as a minister of the Gospel. It has given
me many hours of anxious concern that the services of the Church should
be so long discontinued on my account. The spirit indeed is willing, but
successor as soon as you can, that divine service may be discontinued no
longer; and at the end of the year the glebe shall be given up to him by
your affectionate servant,
It is most probable that the father's term of service was equal
to that of his son's; and if so, we should go back to near the beginning
of the century with the ministry of the two,—and that
would carry us to a period not far from that in which the first of
the Fitzhughs—Mr. William Fitzhugh—of this region wrote to
the Bishop of London urging him to send them a sober and pious
minister. Mr. Fitzhugh lived at Bedford, in what is now King
George but was then Westmoreland, and there was a church and
graveyard near his residence (Bedford) on the Potomac. A second
church was built near the present, and a few miles only from the
first. Before closing our notice of Mr. William Stuart, I must extract
from the record an entry which shows that, though he lived
some years after his resignation, his zeal for the Church did not abate:
though unable to preach, he was able and willing to give. When
a subscription was raised for his successor, Mr. Parsons, (the Establishment
being put down,) his name stands first on the list for ten
pounds,—no other exceeding three. The voluntary system was
then in its infancy, and only fifty-seven pounds were raised; but
this was as much as the most of the parishes paid their ministers
under the Establishment. Mr. Parsons was never admitted to
Priests' Orders: for what reason I am unable to say. It is not
wonderful that on this account the religious condition of the parish
should have rapidly declined, and at his death, in 1808, was in so
deplorable a state. The house of worship, which, at successive
periods from the year 1766, had been begun, completed, and repaired,
and become one of the best of the cruciform churches in
Virginia, was permitted to fall into ruins,—except its well-built
walls. In the year 1838, I gave the following account of a visit
paid to it many years before:—
"On Thursday and Friday, services were performed in St. Paul's
Church, King George county. I preached in the morning of each day,
and Mr. Nelson and Mr. Friend in the afternoon. Here I baptized three
children and confirmed two persons and administered the Communion.
About twenty-six years ago, (in the year 1812 or 1813,) the Rev. Mr.
Norris and myself visited this place together. St. Paul's was then in ruins.
The roof was ready to fall; and not a window, door, pew, or timber remained
below. Nevertheless, notice was given that we would preach there. A
rude, temporary pulpit or stand was raised at one angle of the cross, and
before the meeting a heavy rain had fallen, and the water was in small
pools here and there where the floor once was, so that it was difficult to
find a dry spot on which the attendants might stand. Such was its condition
twenty-six years ago, and thus did it continue for some years after,
until the Legislature granted leave to citizens of the county to convert it
into an academy. This being done, it was used conjointly as a seminary
of learning and place of worship. At length, the seminary being neglected,
and the house useless for purposes of education, as well as inconvenient for
public worship, the neighbours petitioned the Legislature to restore it to
its rightful owners and original purposes; which being done, it was converted
back again into a temple of God,—one part of it being divided
into three small rooms for the residence of a minister, and the other part—
three-fourths of the whole house—being handsomely fitted up for public
worship. It is now one of the most convenient and delightful churches in
Virginia."[30]
The following extract from the letters of a friend and relative
in King George, (Dr. Abraham Hooe,) who has long faithfully
served as vestryman of the parish, and who has carefully examined
its records, will complete our notice of it:—
"At a meeting of the vestry on the 19th of January, 1797, the resignation
was accepted by the following order:—`That the Rev. William
Stuart having resigned as rector of St. Paul's parish, and having petitioned
the vestry to appoint him a successor, we, the vestry of said parish, do
receive the Rev. John Parsons to officiate as Deacon agreeably to the
canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church.'
"Mr. Parsons survived until some time in 1808, as I learned. I suppose
it was subsequent to his death that the church went into ruins. Then
the glebes were sold, and the very life of the Church here seems to have
gone out. During the interval between the death of Mr. Parsons and
1817, you and others would occasionally come and minister to our fathers
and mothers, and afford them the opportunity of placing their dear children
in covenant with their God; and I believe the late Dr. Keith, of the
Seminary,—at that time a private tutor in the parish,—was in the habit
of lay-reading within the ruins. But these ruins were not only used for
occasional religious services; they were a resort (for shelter they furnished
none) for the beasts of the field as well as for the soldiers of the camp, and
furnished material for plunder to all the ruthless of the land. In mentioning
the kindness of those who would come among us, I cannot omit
to refer to that of the Rev. John McGuire, who had so often taken part in
seemed to be looked for with almost the same regularity as the stated
services of the Church, and with no less interest. On the 18th of May,
1816, a vestry was again organized, and Richard Stuart and Townshend
S. Dade, son and grandson of the late rector, Mr. Stuart, were appointed
delegates to the Convention to be held in Richmond, thus reorganizing
the parish after an interval of so many years. The vestry elected consisted
of Richard Stuart, Townshend S. Dade, Abraham B. Hooe, Langhorne
Dade, John J. Stuart, William F. Grymes, Cadwallader I. Dade,
and Charles Massey, Sen.; but not until the 11th of December, 1817,
were the services of a minister obtained. Then the Rev. Joseph R. Andrews,
also a private tutor in the neighbourhood, was elected as rector.
This gentle and godly man officiated in the Academy and, I believe, at
King George Court-House, as well as at Port Royal, for several years, when,
feeling himself called to the work of missions, (honoured of Heaven,) he
left his native land to find an early martyr's grave on the unfriendly shore
of Africa, and I have the pleasant recollection of having helped him to
pack his little all in my father's house.
"In 1822, the Rev. Josias Clapham was called to the charge of this
parish, and his last official signature on the vestry-book bears date May 3,
1824. How long subsequently he may have continued in charge does not
appear, and, being from home for several years about that time, I do not know
myself. He, however, preached in Washington parish, Westmoreland
county, and in a small meeting-house near Round Hill Church in this
county, for some years afterward, when he removed to Halifax county,
from which time his history is unknown to me further than to be able to
say I am sure he has received the reward of the righteous, for he was a
good man and a faithful and strict follower of his Lord and Master. Even
the days just spoken of were days of destitution with us; but, as in the
days of the ruins, so in those of our destitution, one and another minister
of our Church would once and again come to preach the word to us; and
none were more kind and true in so doing than the Rev. Charles Mann,
now of this diocese, but then rector of William and Mary parish, just
across the Potomac River, in Charles county, Maryland, the grateful recollection
of which kindness can only cease with the lives of those of us
who remember it.
"It was also customary in those days for the Methodists to have stated
appointments to preach at the Academy, as did occasionally the Baptists
and Presbyterians, up to the time of the Repeal Act restoring to us our
church. On the 11th of January, 1828, the Rev. Edward W. Peet, now
at Des Moines, Iowa, was chosen minister of the parish. He, I think, had
been at first, in 1827, sent to us by the Diocesan Missionary Society, and,
having been elected as above, he continued our minister until 1830, when
he resigned, to take charge of St. John's Church, Richmond, and was
succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Goldsmith, who was elected on the 20th of
August of that year. It was mainly owing to the exertions of Mr. Peet
that the restoration of the church to its former and rightful proprietors may
be attributed, as was certainly the new roofing of Lamb's Creek, mentioned
above. During his ministry there is reason to believe much interest in the
cause of religion was awakened among us, and from that time on, the
borders of the Church have been enlarged. The Rev. Mr. Goldsmith continued
in charge of our parish and of Lamb's Creek united, most of the
time until his resignation of the former in April, 1837; and it was during
of July following, the Rev. Charles Goodrich, Deacon, was chosen as rector
of this and Lamb's Creek Churches, and entered on his duties on the 1st
of October, 1837. Of his services among us I need only say his praise is
on all our lips, and the love of him fills all our hearts. He left us at the
end of a year for New Orleans, where he has been faithfully labouring in
his Master's cause. From October, 1838, to the fall of 1840, we were
without the regular services of the Church. Repeated unavailing attempts
were made to secure them, and in the mean time our kind and good neighbour,
the Rev. William Friend, as he always has done in our need, would
come among us and minister to us, as his convenience would allow or circumstances
might require. On the 26th of June, 1840, the Rev. John
Martin, now of Maryland, was elected, and continued as minister of this
parish and Washington parish, in Westmoreland, until July, 1844, when
he resigned, and was succeeded by the Rev. Lewis Walke, Deacon. Difficulty
in maintaining a minister in conjunction with other parishes having
become manifest, it was determined to endeavour to do so ourselves, and
Mr. Walke's services were obtained for our parish exclusively, and he
continued to officiate for us most faithfully until the summer of 1848, when
the parish was again vacant until the fall of 1851, when the Rev. B. B.
Leacock took charge of it, and we were favoured with his valuable services
for one year, when he resigned, owing to ill health, as well as with a view
to a mission to Africa, and was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph A. Russell,
our present rector. Of the glebes I can only say they were sold after the
death of the last incumbent, Mr. Parsons, and as much of the proceeds of
the sales as was needful were appropriated as before referred to,—the remainder
being now a fund in the hands of a board of school-commissioners
for the county, to aid in a system of education established under a late Act
of the Legislature. The earliest notice of the plate of this parish is an
entry on the vestry-book as follows:—`On the 4th day of June, 1802, the
following articles of church-plate belonging to this parish,—viz.: one large
silver can, a silver chalice and bread-plate,—were deposited in the care of
Mr. John Parsons, the then incumbent
" `Signed,
Townsend Dade, Warden.' "
These same articles of plate are now in possession of the parish,
and I am sure are familiar to you. They had been, at some period
prior to the above date, the gift of Colonel Henry Fitzhugh, of
Stafford, in this county, as appears from the following inscription
on each piece:—"Given by Henry Fitzhugh, of Stafford county,
St. Paul's parish, Gent., for the use of your church." There are
also a large Bible and Prayer-Book belonging to the parish. The
first has the following inscription in gilt letters on the back:—
"Given for the use of the church in St. Paul's parish, by the Rev.
Wm. Stuart, rector of the same, 1762." It is a Cambridge edition,
appointed by his Majesty's special command to be read in churches,
"Cum privilegiis," and its dedication is, "To our most high and
mighty Prince James, by the grace of God King of Great Britain,
France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, the translators of the
Christ." The inscription on the Prayer-Book is, "Presented to
St. Paul's Church, King George county, by Miss Jane S. Parke,
1831." Miss Parke was great grand-daughter to the Rev. William
Stuart, the former rector.
P.S.—Since the foregoing was written, the Rev. Mr. Russell has
left the parish, and the Rev. Mr. Stuart has taken his place.
The following is the list of vestrymen of this parish from the year
1720 to the present time:—
Richard Bernard, John Hooe, Richard Foote, Captain John Alexander,
Captain Baldwin Dade, Colonel Henry Fitzhugh, Jerard Fowke,
John Stith, Cadwallader Dade, John Stewart, John Alexander, Jr.,
Francis Thornton, John Washington, Thomas Pratt, Thomas Bunbury,
(Thomas Stribling, reader,) Henry Fitzhugh, Jr., Wm. Fitzhugh, Wm.
Fitzhugh, Jr., Samuel Washington, Laurence Washington, Townsend
Dade, in the place of Samuel Washington, who removed in 1770; John
Berryman, in 1771, in place of William Fitzhugh, removed out of the
county; Robert Washington, Andrew Grant, Robert Stith, W. G. Stuart,
William Hooe, Daniel Fitzhugh, Wm. Thornton, Wm. Stith, Henry Fitzhugh,
Robert Yates, Wm. Stork, Wm. Quarles, Thomas Short, Benjamin
Grymes, Thomas Washington, Rice W. Hooe, John B. Fitzhugh, John
Waugh, Langhorne Dade, William Stone, Henry A. Ashton, Charles
Stuart, J. K. Washington, Abraham B. Hooe, J. J. Stuart, William F.
Grymes, Charles Massey, J. Queensbury, Robert Chesley, Needam Washington,
Alexander Keech, Francis C. Fitzhugh, B. O. Tayloe, Thomas
Smith, Dr. Robert Parsons, G. B. Alexander, Henry Mustin, Gustavus
B. Alexander, Hezekiah Potts, T. L. Lomax, Jacob W. Stuart, Henry
T. Washington, Drury B. Fitzhugh, Benjamin R. Grymes, John T. Washington,
W. E. Stuart, M. Tenent.
An old African woman, who, in her youth, had been brought to Virginia and
piously brought up in some good family, near St. Paul's, and carried there every
Sunday and taught to join in the service, became so attached to the place and mode
of worship, that after the church was deserted of minister and people, and her
fellow-servants were all going to other meetings and joining in other ways of praying,
used regularly to go to the old place and sit upon one of the naked sleepers by herself,
for some time every Sabbath. Upon being questioned and perhaps ridiculed
for this, she said it did her more good to go to the old church and think over by
herself the old prayers she was used to, than to go into any of the new ways.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FITZHUGH FAMILY; ESPECIALLY OF THE
FIRST ANCESTOR, WILLIAM FITZHUGH.
The Fitzhugh family is a very ancient and honourable one in
England. Some of its members were high in office and favour
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The name is a combination
of the two names Fitz and Hugh. Sometimes one, sometimes
the other, would precede, until at length they were united in
Fitzhugh. The first who settled in this country was William Fitzhugh.
His father was a lawyer in London, and himself of that
profession. He settled in Westmoreland county, Virginia, when a
young man, and married a Miss Tucker, of that county. He was
born in the year 1650, and died in 1701. He left five sons,—William,
Henry, Thomas, George, and John,—between whom, at his
death, he divided 54,054 acres of land in King George, Stafford,
and perhaps Essex. His sons and their descendants owned the
and Boscobel in Stafford. He had one daughter named Rosamond,
who married Colonel Oberton, of Westmoreland, but died without
issue. His son William married Miss Lee, of Westmoreland.
Henry married Miss Cooke, of Gloucester. Thomas and George
married daughters of Colonel George Mason, of Stafford, and John,
Miss McCarty, of Westmoreland. From these have sprung all the
families of Fitzhughs in Virginia, Maryland, and Western New
York. The Rev. Robert Rose married Ann, the daughter of Henry
Fitzhugh, of Eagle-nest, in the year 1740. She lived to the year
1789, surviving her husband thirty-five years. There are some
things in the life and character of the father of this large family
of Fitzhughs worthy to be mentioned for the benefit and satisfaction
of his posterity. I draw them from his pious and carefully-written
will, and from a large manuscript volume of his letters, a
copy of which was some years since gotten from the library of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, by one of his descendants, and which is now
in the rooms of the Historical Society of Virginia.
It appears that he was, during the period that he exercised his
profession, an eminent and most successful lawyer, and published
in England a work on the laws of Virginia. He was much engaged
in the management of land-causes for the great landholders, whether
residing in England or America. He was counsellor for the celebrated
Robert Beverley, the first of the name, and who was persecuted
and imprisoned for too much independence. He transacted
business for, and purchased lands from, Lord Culpepper, when he
held a grant from King Charles for all Virginia. In all these
transactions he appears to have acted with uprightness and without
covetousness, for in his private letters to his friends he speaks of
being neither in want nor abundance, but being content and
happy; though before he died he acquired large tracts of lands
at a cheap rate. The true cause of this was his being a sincere
Christian. This appears from his letters to his mother and sister,
to whom he remitted pecuniary assistance according to his ability,
increasing it as his ability increased. The following brief letter to
his mother in the year 1694 will exhibit his filial and pious disposition:—
I heartily condole with you in your present sickness
and indisposition, which your age now every day contracts. God's grace
will make you bear it patiently, to your comfort, his glory, and your everlasting
salvation. I cannot enough thank you for the present of your
choice Bible. The money that you say you had present occasion for I
is doubled. Before I was ten years old, as I am sure you will remember,
I looked upon this life here as but going to an inn, and no permanent
being. By God's grace I continue the same good thoughts and notions,
therefore am always prepared for my dissolution, which I can't be persuaded
to prolong by a wish. Now, dear mother, if you should be necessitated
for eight or ten pound extraordinary, please to apply to Mr. Cooper,
and he upon sight of this letter will furnish it to you."
He adds a postcript to the letter, saying, "My sister died a true
penitent of the Church of England."
His sister had come over to America at his instance some years
before and married here, but died without children. Other letters
to his mother, who it seems was much afflicted with some troubles,
which are not mentioned, he writes in a very consoling manner,
bidding her regard her sorrows as from Heaven, and thanks her for
pious instruction of him. His habits were strictly temperate. In
writing to a friend who was much afflicted with the gout, he tells
him the secret of his freedom from it,—viz.: that he never was addicted
to the orgies of Bacchus, or to the adoration of Ceres or
Venus, never courted unlawful pleasures, avoided feasting and the
surfeit thereof, and bids him tell the physician this.
Mr. Fitzhugh was not merely a moral man, but a sincerely religious
man, beyond the measure of that day. He is not ashamed
in one of his legal opinions to quote Scripture as the highest authority.
He was a leading member of the Episcopal Church in his
parish. Through him presents of Communion-plate and other things
from English friends were made to the parish. Referring to the
unworthiness of many of the ministers who came over from England,
he communicated with his friends and with the Bishop of
London, asking that sober, reputable, and educated men might be
sent over instead of such as did come. All this appears from passages
in his letters to England. But, were there none of these
letters extant, the following extract from his will would testify to
his sound and evangelical views of our blessed religion.
Extract from the will of Colonel William Fitzhugh, of Stafford county,
Virginia, who died in October, 1701. He was the parent of the Fitzhugh
family in Virginia, and the patentee of Ravensworth:—
"At a court held for Stafford county, December 10, 1701. Present
her Majesty's Justices for said county.
"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Trinity in Unity,
Unity in Trinity, Three Persons and One God, blessed forever. Amen.
I, William Fitzhugh, of Stafford county, in Virginia, being by God's grace
bound for England, and knowing the frailty and uncertainty of men's lives,
and being at present in perfect health and memory, do now ordain, constitute,
former, or other wills, this 5th day of April, 1701.
"Imprimis: I recommend my soul into the hands of God, through the
mediation and intercession of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, hoping
by the merits of his death to have my sins washed away in his blood,
nailed to his cross, and buried in his grave, and by his merits and passion
to obtain everlasting life; therefore, now do bequeath and dispose such
estate as it hath pleased God to bestow in his mercy upon me, after this
manner following,
"After they have disposed of my body to decent interment, without
noise, feasting and drink, or tumult, which I not only leave to, but enjoin,
my executors, hereafter named, to see decently performed.
"Item: I give and bequeath to my eldest son, William Fitzhugh, all
these tracts of land following," &c. &c.
(Then follow the bequests to the various members of the family.)
It is evident that in the foregoing will there is much more than
the usual formal recognition of a God and future state. Here is
to be seen a true acknowledgment of the Holy Trinity, and an
entire reliance on the merits of the Saviour's death and the cleansing
of his blood, such as no orthodox divine could better express.
None can doubt but that the recorded sentiments and the consistent
life of this father of a numerous family must have had its
effect upon many of his posterity. I have known many, and heard
of others, who imbibed his excellent spirit, and not in Virginia only,
but in other States, to which they have emigrated. One there was,
too well known to the writer of these lines, and to whom for Christian
nurture and example he was too much indebted, ever to be
forgotten. A beloved mother was a lineal descendant of this good
man, born and nurtured on the soil which his economy and diligence
had bequeathed to a numerous posterity. To her example
and tuition, under God, am I indebted for having escaped the snares
laid for the youth of our land and for having embraced the blessed
religion of Christ. And if I may be permitted to single out one from
the numerous families of the name, it must needs be that one which
was nearest to me, and with which I have been most intimately
acquainted from my childhood up. The name of Mr. William
Fitzhugh, of Chatham, in the county of Stafford, as a perfect gentleman,
as a most hospitable entertainer, and a true son of Virginia
in her Councils, will not soon be forgotten. His name is not only
on the journals of our civil Legislature, but may be seen on the
ecclesiastical records of our Church, among those who were the last
to give up her regular assemblies and the hope of her prosperity
in her darkened days. Nor is it unlawful to proceed to some brief
notice of the two children who survived him. His son, William
a prospect for honour and usefulness as any young man in Virginia.
Twice only, I believe, did he appear in the legislative hall of our
State, and once in a Convention of the same; but such a promise
of political distinction was there given, that it could not but be
felt that a few years would find him in the higher Councils of the
land. It pleased Providence to interfere, and by a sudden and
early death to remove him from this earthly scene. Before this
decree of Heaven was executed, as if admonished of its coming, he
had, after pleading by his pen and voice for the American Colonization
Society, directed that all his slaves—amounting, I believe, to
about two hundred—should be prepared for, and allowed to choose,
Africa as their home.
But I must not lay down my pen, though the heart bleed at its
further use, without the tribute of affection, of gratitude, and reverence
to one who was to me as sister, mother, and faithful monitor.
Mrs. Mary Custis, of Arlington, the wife of Mr. Washington Custis,
grandson of Mrs. General Washington, was the daughter of Mr.
William Fitzhugh, of Chatham. Scarcely is there a Christian lady
in our land more honoured than she was, and none more loved and
esteemed. For good sense, prudence, sincerity, benevolence, unaffected
piety, disinterested zeal in every good work, deep humility
and retiring modesty,—for all the virtues which adorn the wife, the
mother, and the friend,—I never knew her superior. A husband yet
lives to feel her loss. An only daughter, with a numerous family
of children, also survive, to imitate, I trust, her blessed example.
Stafford is first mentioned among the counties in 1666, in the following manner.
It seems that, besides the private looms of weavers, there was required by Act of
Assembly a public one in each county, with certain exceptions:—"Provided that
the executing hereof in the counties of Rappahannock, Stafford, Westmoreland,
and Northumberland, who, by the newness of their ground, pretend themselves incapable
of making provision for the soon employment of a weaver, be respited for
fowre years after the date hereof." From this Act we may see what was the state
of the whole Northern Neck of Virginia in 1666, nearly sixty years after the first
settlement of the Colony. It either was not, or pretended not to be, able to support
one weaver at public expense. It is pleasing to think that there was a better state
of things as to religion, and that there were several ministers in the district at the
above-mentioned period.
The families of Tayloes and Turners are the most ancient with which I am
acquainted in the parish of Hanover. Of the former I have given some account in
my article on Lunenburg parish, Richmond county. The first of the Turners was
a physician who came to Virginia about 1650 or 1660, and settled in the very region
now occupied by his descendants, on the banks of the Rappahannock, in Hanover
parish. He left two sons, Harry and Thomas. The latter died young. Harry married
the only surviving daughter of Mr. Nicholas Smith, of "Smith's Mount," in
Westmoreland, by whom he became possessed of that estate, which he bequeathed
to his posterity, and which has gone by the name of the seat of the Turner family.
He and his wife Elizabeth are both buried there, as are also their parents. The
tombstones still remain and testify of them. Mr. Harry Turner left only one son,
Thomas, who married a daughter of Colonel William Fauntleroy, of Naylor's Hole,
in Richmond county, about the year 1767, and left a family of eight children,—four
sons and four daughters. The sons were Henry, Thomas, Richard, and George,—
the descendants of whom, as well as of the daughters, are dispersed throughout
the State; a number of them living in King George, where, as we have said, the
first ancestors settled.
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