University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE LXIX.

Fairfax Parish, Fairfax County.

The town of Alexandria was at first called Hunting Creek
Warehouse, sometimes Bell Haven, and consisted of a small establishment
at that place. Its growth was encouraged by successive
Acts of the Legislature, establishing semi-annual fairs and granting
certain privileges to those who attended them. In the year 1762,
it was enlarged by the laying off of numerous lots on the higher
ground, belonging to Dade, West, and the Alexanders, after which
it improved rapidly, so that at the close of the last or beginning of
the present century its population was ten thousand, and its commerce
greater than it now is. So promising was it at the close of
the war, that its claims were weighed in the balance with those of
Washington as the seat of the National Government. It is thought
that, but for the unwillingness of Washington to seem partial to
Virginia, Alexandria would have been the chosen spot, and that on
the first range of hills overlooking the town the public buildings
would have been erected. Whether there had been any public
worship or church at Alexandria previous to this enlargement of
it, and the great impulse thus given to it, does not appear from
the vestry-book, though it is believed that there was. But soon after
this, in the year 1764, Fairfax parish is established, and measures
taken for the promotion of the Church in this place. The vestrybook
commences in 1765. At that time there were two churches
in the new parish of Fairfax,—one at the Falls, called, as the present
one is, Little Falls Church; the position of the other—the
Lower Church—is not known. It may have been an old one at
Alexandria.

Among the first acts of the vestry was the repairing of the two
old churches in the parish, at a cost of more than thirty-two thousand
pounds of tobacco. In the year 1766, it is determined to
build two new churches,—one at the Little Falls, very near the old
one, and one in Alexandria, to contain twenty-four hundred square
feet, and to be high-pitched so as to admit of galleries. Mr. James
Wrenn agrees to build the former, and Mr. James Parsons the other,
for about six hundred pounds each. A most particular contract is

made for them. The mortar is to have two-thirds of lime and one of
sand,—the very reverse of the proportion at this day, and which accounts
for the greater durability of ancient walls. The shingles were
to be of the best cypress or juniper, and three-quarters of an inch thick,
instead of our present half-inch ones. Mr. Parsons was allowed to add
ten feet to the upper part of the church on his own account, and to pay
himself by their sale, on certain conditions. He commenced his
work, but was unable to finish it. It lingered for some years, until,
in 1772, Mr. John Carlisle undertakes it, and completes it in 1773.
The ten pews are now sold, and General Washington, though having
just been engaged in the erection of Mount Vernon Church, which
was finished the same year, and having a pew therein, gives the
highest price for one in Christ Church, which was occupied by him
and his family during his life, and has been by some of his name
and family ever since. The gallery was not put up until the year
1787, at which time the pews were balloted for. The steeple is of
modern construction. A gallery never was erected in the Little
Falls Church. The following notice of my visit to this church in
1827 will tell something of its history:—

Mr. Henry Fairfax was the grandson of the Rev. Bryan Fairfax,
of whom we shall soon speak as the minister of this church. He
inherited the generous and disinterested spirit of his grandfather.
It was chiefly at his expense that the church was repaired, and by
his liberality the minister supported, when another than the professors
was employed. Being a graduate of West Point, he felt
that he owed his country a debt, which could only be discharged by
engaging in the late Mexican war, and, in opposition to the wishes
and judgment of his friends and relatives, raised a company for that
purpose; but scarcely had he reached the scene of action before he
fell a victim to the climate, leaving a devoted family and congregation
to feel and mourn his loss.

While on the subject of churches, it may be as well to mention
that at a more recent date a neat frame church has been built at
Fairfax Court-House, under the auspices of the Rev. Mr. Lockwood,
who for some years officiated there as well as at the Falls
Church. The Rev. Templeman Brown had officiated at the Falls
Church and at the court-house for some time before Mr. Lockwood's
ministry, and has again been serving them for a number of years,
since Mr. Lockwood's relinquishment.

We proceed now to such notices as we possess of the ministers
of Fairfax parish. For these we are indebted to the vestry-records.
The Rev. Townshend Dade was ordained for this parish by the Bishop
of London in 1765, and entered upon his duties in the following
year or perhaps sooner. It is more than probable that he was the
son of Mr. Townshend Dade, who appears on the list of the first
vestry, or of Mr. Baldwin Dade, who was a vestryman at a later
date, and owner in part of the land on which Alexandria was built.
We are sorry to be unable to make a favourable report of the Rev.
Mr. Dade. In the year 1768, the vestry discuss the question of
examining into some alleged misconduct of his, and decide against
it, five members entering their dissent from the decision. In the
year 1777, a committee is appointed to wait upon him to know why
he neglects his congregation. Some months after, the committee is
enlarged and directed to take further steps. The result was his

resignation and relinquishment of the glebe and rectory. In the
same year the Rev. Spence Grayson is a candidate for the parish,
but the Rev. Mr. West, probably from Maryland, is preferred. He
continues until February of 1779, and resigns. The Rev. David
Griffith, then chaplain in the army, and formerly minister of Shelburne
parish, and well known to the people, is elected, though he
does not appear on the vestry-book as minister until October, 1780.
He continued to be its minister until his death in 1789. Of him
we shall speak more fully after our brief notice of the succession
of the ministers of this parish. The Rev. Bryan Fairfax succeeded
him in 1790. He was ordained deacon in 1786 by
Bishop Seabury. Mr. Bryan Fairfax had been a vestryman of
the parish and delegate to the Virginia Conventions for some
time before this. Whether it was that his health was delicate
from the first, or whatever was the cause, he wished an assistant
in the parish, and the vestry passed an order allowing him to
invite the Rev. Mason Locke Weems, or any one else whom
he might choose, to act as such. Mr. Fairfax made a very
different selection, and called the Rev. Bernard Page, giving
to him all the emoluments of the parish. Mr. Page was very decidedly
of the then rising evangelical school in the Church of England,
and a very zealous preacher of its doctrines. I doubt not but
that Mr. Fairfax sympathized with the principles of that school. In
a sermon of his which I have published, he sets forth the doctrine
of salvation by grace through faith in Christ in such a way as was
not common in that day. In the year 1792, he resigns his charge
in a letter stating his reasons, which is not entered on the record,
though the most flattering letter of the vestry, regretting their loss
of him, is. I am not aware how long he lived after this. His residence
during the latter years of his life was at a place called Mount
Eagle, a short distance beyond the Hunting Creek Bridge. He
was the father of the late Ferdinando Fairfax and Thomas Fairfax,
the latter of whom inherited his empty title of Lord Fairfax, also
of the late Mrs. Charles Catlett, by a second marriage. I am not
aware of other children, though there may have been. I have, in
another place, stated that he endeavoured to dissuade his friend
and neighbour, General Washington, from the war with England.
The General, in his letter to him, deals most gently and respectfully
with him. He was the son of his old friend and neighbour, George
William Fairfax, of Belvoir, and the brother of the wife of Lawrence
Washington, elder brother of the General. The Rev. Mr.
Fairfax acted with such prudence, if he did not see cause to change
his sentiments, as not to forfeit the friendship of Washington and
of the patriots in Fairfax parish, but was, as we have seen, chosen
to be their minister. He has left behind him many worthy adherents
to our Church, though some few have varied from it. At the
resignation of Mr. Fairfax the Rev. Thomas Davis was chosen. He
continued its minister until 1806, when he removed to Hungar's
parish, on the Eastern Shore, where he died. Mr. Davis had
ministered in various places throughout Virginia, and, though a man
of temperate habits and correct life by comparison with too many
of our clergy, was not calculated by his preaching or conversation
to promote the spiritual welfare of any people. He was succeeded
by the Rev. Mr. Gibson, of Maryland. Previous to his removal to
Alexandria, and while the church was vacant, the vestry invited
the Rev. Mr. McQuerr a Scotch minister of the Presbyterian Church,
who was then principal of the Washington Academy in Alexandria,
to officiate for them. With the character and habits of Mr. McQuerr
I became acquainted through my old teacher, Mr. Wiley, who was
educated at that school. They were nothing better than those of
many of the old Episcopal clergy. I am happy, however, to say
that more than twenty years after this, on one of my journeys to
the South, I heard of him as a most pious and exemplary minister
of that communion in the State of Georgia, a zealous advocate of
the Temperance and Colonization societies and of every good work,
and highly esteemed by all. He lived to a great age, persevering
to the last. There is something sad in the history of the Rev. Mr.
Gibson, but it must be told for the benefit of others. He began
well, preached zealously, was praised and flattered to his undoing.
He gave offence to some by a rather harsh way of saying true
things. This was complained of, and perhaps harsh things said in
return. These were communicated to him by a few of those false
friends who think to ingratiate themselves with their minister by
communicating to him what ought to be concealed. This exasperated
a temper naturally excitable. Under the influence of this, he suddenly
and unexpectedly, from the pulpit, resigned his charge.
The vestry were divided as to the acceptance of it, but the majority
were in favour of it. When too late he apologized, and wished to
retract. Parties were formed, and the result was another congregation
under his auspices. But, as will be seen when I come to
speak of that congregation, he did not continue long with it, but
returned to Maryland, where, after a short time, he was dismissed
for intemperance. There was reason to fear that the habit had
commenced in Alexandria, under the too popular pretext of using
ardent spirits privately as a medicine. He afterward united with
the Methodist Church and ministered in it. Let the clergy learn
from his fate to beware of false friends who inform them what their
enemies say of them, and to eschew alcohol, even as a medicine,
unless prescribed by a temperate physician and as a mere temporary
expedient imperiously called for.

In the following year, 1810, the Rev. Mr. Barclay, who came to
this country from the West Indies, was chosen. Bishop Clagett,
of Maryland, certified to his character for the last six years, during
which he had been ministering in Maryland; but in April of 1811
a wife, whom he had deserted, followed him from the West Indies,
and he resigned his charge in Alexandria and has been heard of no
more since.

Under these circumstances, the writer of these sad notices, having
been ordained by Bishop Madison in the spring of that year, at the
age of twenty-one, was induced to take the charge of Christ Church
in October, 1811, in conjunction with his charge in Frederick,
visiting the latter once a month. For some account of his ministry
at that time and place he refers to the second article in this series.

At the close of that brief term of service, extending only to
eighteen months, the Rev. Oliver Norris took charge of Christ
Church. Mr. Norris was of Quaker descent, but, occasionally attending
the services of St. Peter's Church, Baltimore, during the
ministry of Mr. Dashiel, first became convinced of sin, then of his
need of a Saviour, and then of the excellency of our service to
build up a convert in the true faith and practice of a Christian.
He has often detailed to me the circumstances of his conversion.
He first ministered at Elk Ridge and near Bladensburg, in Maryland,
and then came to Virginia. He was an affectionate pastor
and faithful preacher of the Gospel, very dear to his people, and
esteemed in the Church of Virginia. Being called upon to preach
his funeral sermon, and the same being published by the vestry, I
am able to present the following passage on one trait in his ministerial
character:—

After the death of Mr. Norris, in the summer of 1825, efforts
were made to obtain the services of the Rev. John Johns, then in
Fredericktown, Maryland, and of the Rev. Mr. Cobbs, of Bedford
county, Virginia, and on the failure of these applications the Rev.
Mr. Keith was induced to add the duties of a pastor and preacher
to those of professor. He continued this, with some interruption,
for the greater part of three years, when the Rev. Geo. Griswold,
son of Bishop Griswold, became pastor in 1828. On account of ill
health he resigned the following year, to the deep regret of the
congregation. The Rev. J. P. McGuire followed for one year, and,
unable through weakness of his eyes to make the necessary preparation
for the pulpit, resigned the charge. The Rev. Mr. Mann
succeeded, and, after continuing for three years, accepted an
agency for the Seminary. The Rev. Mr. Dana, its present minister,
then took charge of the church.

THE REV. DAVID GRIFFITH.

Concerning the Rev. David Griffith we have something more
particular to record. He was born in the city of New York, and
educated, partly in that place and partly in England, for the medical
profession. After taking his degree in London, he returned
to America and entered on his profession in the interior of New
York about the year 1763. Determined to enter the ministry of
the Episcopal Church, he went to London in the year 1770, and
was ordained by Bishop Terrick, August the 19th of that year, and
returned as missionary to Gloucester county, New Jersey. He
could not have continued there long; for, in the close of the next
year, he accepts the charge of Shelburne parish, Loudoun county,
Virginia. Governor Johnson, of New York, was very anxious to
obtain his services in that State, where he was regarded as a "man
of uncommon merit." The Governor of Virginia, also,—either from
personal knowledge or report,—recommends him very highly to

Shelburne parish. He continued in it until May, 1776, when—
being an American not only by birth but in heart—he entered the
service as chaplain to the 3d Virginia Regiment. In this service
he continued until some time in the year 1780. He appears as the
minister of Christ Church, Alexandria, during that year,—though
he was elected the previous year. He is represented as a man of
good size and fine appearance and pleasing manners, and as
enjoying the confidence of General Washington and the army.
Tradition says that, on the night before the battle of Monmouth,
he sought an interview with General Washington, and, in the presence
of his aids, bade him beware of General Charles Lee, though
he was not at liberty to give his reasons or authority. When Lee
unnecessarily and ingloriously retreated on the field of Monmouth,
and almost lost America the battle, there were those who believed
that he wished only to diminish the reputation of Washington and
receive the supreme command to himself. We only give this as
tradition. From the year 1780 to his death, in 1789, Mr. Griffith
was the much-esteemed pastor of Christ Church, Alexandria, and
that called Little Falls, higher up on the Potomac. During the
greater part of this time General Washington was his parishioner—
having a pew in Christ Church—and Mr. Griffith was a welcome
visitor at Mount Vernon. Mr. Griffith was not merely attentive to
his duty as a parish minister, but, in the dark and distressing days
of the Episcopal Church in Virginia and in the other States, took
a deep interest in the measures proposed for her welfare. When
a number of the clergy from the Northern States met—of their own
motion, in New York, in October, 1784—to consult about those
measures, Mr. Griffith appeared of his own accord from Virginia.
But before that time, I have letters to and from him, showing that
he was earnestly engaged in correspondence, both North and South,
with a view to promoting both State and General Conventions, as
the instruments of saving the Church from ruin. The following
letters which passed between himself and Dr. Buchanon of Richmond
will show how deplorable was the condition of things in Virginia
at this time, and also establish the fact that Dr. Griffith was
the first mover of the proposition to have a Convention in Virginia
after the war. I have also a letter in August, 1784, from the Rev.
Mr. West, dated from Baltimore, in which he delivers a message
from Dr. Smith, of Philadelphia, to Mr. Griffith, showing his estimate
of the latter in relation to this movement. It is probable that
this Mr. West was the same who preceded Mr. Griffith in Alexandria,
as he speaks of being there.

The following letter of Dr. Griffith to Dr. Buchanon, of Richmond,
must have been written in the fall of 1783, before any meeting
of Episcopalians, in any part of the land, had occurred with a
similar object. Dr. Buchanon's reply was not until the February
following, except so far as a verbal message went:—

The following is Dr. Buchanon's answer:—

Nothing could better exhibit the true condition of things in Virginia
than this correspondence. Dr. Buchanon acknowledges that
the clergy had brought this ruin upon themselves by their own misconduct.
Guilt-stricken, they were afraid and ashamed to come
forward boldly and call upon the Legislature to do something for
the cause of religion and morals, which were both declining. It never
seemed to enter into the thoughts of some, as a possibility, to do
any thing on the voluntary principle, independent of the State, so
accustomed were they to the old English system. Whether any
such meeting as that proposed by Dr. Griffith ever took place, I
have not the means of ascertaining. In the winter of 1785, the
Legislature incorporated the Episcopal Church, tendering the same
privilege to others, and in the preamble states that it was done at
the petition of the Episcopal clergy. How many united in it, and
whether it was done at a general meeting called for the purpose,
I know not. In May of that year, 1785, the first Convention of
clerical and lay deputies met in Richmond, under the Act of incorporation.
Mr. Griffith, being there, was appointed a delegate to
the General Convention in Philadelphia that fall. The second Virginia
Convention was held in May, 1786, when the Rev. Dr. Griffith
was chosen Bishop, by a vote of thirty-two members. Dr. Bracken
received ten, and Mr. Samuel Shield seven. An assessment was
made upon the parishes for funds to bear the expenses of his visit
to England for consecration; but such was the depressed condition
of the Church, that a sufficiency was not raised, either in that year
or the two succeeding ones. In May, 1789, Mr. Griffith resigned
his claim upon the office, and in the summer of that year died at
the house of Bishop White, while attending the General Convention.
At the following Convention, the Rev. James Madison was chosen
Bishop by a vote of forty-five,—the Rev. Samuel Shield having
nine. To the shame of the Church of Virginia, in that day be it

said, sufficient funds were not raised for Bishop Madison's consecration.
A part was drawn from his private resources, and that
worthy man, Graham Franks, of London, of whom we have before
spoken as the warm friend of the Church of Virginia, and whose
wife lies buried in old York graveyard, contributed five guineas
toward it.

The following names, not in the old vestry-book, have been furnished
me:—

Concerning two of the above-mentioned vestrymen I may be
permitted to say a few words. Mr. George Taylor and Edmund
I. Lee were churchwardens when I took charge of Christ Church
in 1811, and so continued until the removal of one by a change of
residence, and the other by death, after a long term of service.
They were both of them members of the Standing Committee during
the same period. I think I knew them well, and knew them to be
sincere Christians, and useful, punctual business-men. Mr. Taylor,

I think, nearly reached his century of years, his step still elastic
and form erect and countenance fine and temper unruffled,—walking
between Washington and Alexandria without weariness almost
to the last, and lifting up a distinct voice in the utterance of those
prayers in which he delighted,—dying, as he had lived, in the faith
of the Gospel. Mr. Lee generally attended on State Conventions,
and sometimes the General Convention. He was a man of great
decision and perseverance in what he deemed right,—obstinate, some
of us thought, even to a fault, when we differed from him. There
was no compromise at all in him, with any thing which he thought
wrong. He was as fearless as Julius Cæsar. On a certain Sabbath,
while I was performing service in Christ Church, a certain
person in the gallery disturbed myself and the congregation by
undue vociferation in the responses, and also at the opening of the
sermon. I paused, and requested him to desist, and was proceeding,
but Mr. Lee, who was near him, arose and asked me to suspend
the sermon. Walking toward the offender, he told him that he
must leave the house. As he approached to enforce it, the person
raised a loaded whip and struck at him. Mr. Lee, nothing moved,
took him by the arms and led him out of the house, and deposited
him in the town jail. When mayor of the town, he was a terror to
evil-doers. Ascertaining that there was much gambling going on
among the gentlemen of the place, and some of the principal ones,
he took effective measures for their discovery, brought between
thirty and forty before the court, and had them fined. The prosecuting
attorney was his particular friend, and was slightly implicated
in the evil practice; but he did not spare him. Nor did he
wish to be spared, but, coming forward and paying his fine, then
did his duty with all the rest. Mr. Lee was of course not a popular
man, nor did he seek or care to be, but did his duty entirely regardless
of all others. He kept our Conventions in good order, by
always insisting upon the observance of rules of which the clergy
are not always mindful. He was the great advocate of our Bishops'
fund, and defended it from all invasions. I not only knew Mr.
Lee from my youth up, but I saw him in his last moments, and
heard him with the truest humility speak of himself as a poor sinner,
whose only hope was in Christ. And can I speak of him
without remembering that meek and holy woman to whom he was
so long a most affectionate husband? She was the daughter of that
Christian patriot, Richard Henry Lee. For more than thirty
years she was gradually dying of consumption, and yet in such a
way as to admit of the exhibition of all her Christian graces in
the various relations of life. By universal consent, she was one of
the purest specimens of humanity sanctified by the grace of God.

P.S.—It was in this parish that the question of the right of the
Church to the glebes, which had been determined against the Church
in the Virginia courts, was reconsidered. Being brought before
the Supreme Court, the former decision was reversed, so far
as the glebe in Fairfax parish was concerned. The opinion of the
court, which was drawn up by Judge Story, of Massachusetts, may
be seen in the Appendix.

Vestry chosen for Fairfax parish, 28th March, 1765, with the
number of votes for each.

                       

John West	340
Charles Alexander	309
William Payne	304
John Dalton	281
George Washington	274
Charles Broadwater	260
George Johnston	254
Townshend Dade	252
Richard Sandford	247
William Adams	244
John Posey	222
Daniel French	221

Vestry chosen for Truro parish, 22d July, 1765, with the number
of votes for each.

                       

George Mason	282
Edward Payne	277
George Washington	259
John Posey	259
Daniel McCarty	246
George William Fairfax	235
Alexander Henderson	231
William Gardner	218
Tomison Ellzey	209
Thomas W. Coffer	189
William Lynton	172
Thomas Ford	170