A HISTORY
OF

ST. MARK'S PARISH
CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA,

WITH

N O T E S OF

OLD CHURCHES AND OLD FAMILIES,

AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Manners

OF T H E

and Customs of the Olden

Time.

BY

REV. P H I L I P SLAUGHTER, D.D.
Rector

of Emmanuel

Church,

Culpeper

Co.

s

Va.

A U T H O R OF T H E H I S T O R I E S OF S T . GSORGB'S AND B R I S T O L P A R I S H E S ,

1877.

VA.

IKNES & COMPANY,

Printers,
BALTIMORE, M O .

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
The author believes that he was the first person
who conceived the idea of writing a history of the
old parishes in Yirginia upon the basis of the old
vestry-books and registers. Thirty years ago he
published the History of Bristol Parish (Petersburg),
of which he was then rector. In 1849 he published
the History of St. George's Parish, in Spotsylvania.
His labors were then suspended by ill-health, and
he went abroad, never expecting to resume them.
This personal evil resulted in the general good.
Bishop Meade, the most competent of all men for
this special task, was induced to take up the subject,
and the result was the valuable work, " The Old
Ohurches and Families of Yirginia," in which the
author's histories of St. George and Bristol Parishes,
and some other materials which he had gathered,
were incorporated. The author, in his old age,
returns to his first love, and submits to the public a
history of his native parish of St. Mark's. The
reader will please bear in mind that this is not a
general history of the civil and social institutions
within the bounds of this parish, and yet he will
find in it many incidental illustrations of these
subjects. He must also be reminded that it does not

iv

PREFACE,

purport to be a history of Christianity in its varied
forms and polities within the lines of St. Mark's.
That would open a large field, which the author has
not time or strength now to traverse. He means,
therefore, no disrespect to other Christian polities and
peoples (among whom are numbered many valued
friends and relatives) in omitting all reference to
them. In this respect he has followed the example
of the parish records, which are the bases of this
history, and in which there is not one word about
Christians of other names, from the first organization
of St. Mark's Parish, in 1731, to the present moment.
The vestry abstained in like manner from political
allusion; for while keeping up its organization and
records during the whole of the American Kevolution, the only allusion to an event which so absorbed
men's minds is the following entry:—" Capt. Eichard
Yancey is appointed a vestryman in place of Major
John Green, in Continental service."
Church history in Virginia may be distributed
into several eras, the observation of which will
make it more intelligible. The first is the Era of
the Church of England in the Colony and Dominion
of Virginia. This covers the whole period from the
first plantation of Jamestown to the American Kevolution. During this period the Church was in
bondage to the State, which never allowed it to
organize. For political reasons it was not permitted
to have a bishop; and there were no ordinations or

PREFACE.

v

confirmations during the whole colonial term. Can­
didates for orders had to make the then costly, pro­
tracted and perilous voyage across the sea. Some of
them could not pay the expense, and others were lost
at sea, while some died of the small-pox in London,
which was very fatal before the use of vaccination.
The Church was not only denied an executive head,
but it had no legislature. It had no authority to pass
a law, enact a canon, or inflict a penalty, not even
for the discipline of its own ministers and members;
and it never performed one of these functions.
The second era may be called the Transition Age,
during which the ties that bound it to the State were
one by one severed; and this lasted from 1776 to the
first organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of Virginia, in 1785, when it became free, although
its organization was not perfected until the election
of its first bishop (Madison).
The next era may be called the Era of Decline,
when the Episcopal Church was staggering under
the odium of having been an established church,
which lasted until William Meade, William Wilmer,
William Hawley, Oliver Norris, and such like, came
upon the stage, and elected Eichard Channing
Moore, of New York, to be their leader. Then began
the Era of Eevival; after a torpid winter, an awaken­
ing spring followed by a fruitful summer. To this
season we may apply the words of Shakspeare, but
in a higher sense :—

VI

PREFACE.

"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried "—
While we recognize and rejoice in the good that has
been done by other Christian ministers outside of
our fold, we too may be permitted to rejoice that
our Yirginian Episcopal Eoll is " without a blemish ";
and that their hands have been upheld by a goodly
and growing company of preachers, who have re­
kindled the fires upon many an old altar where the
sparrow had found her an house, and the swallow a
nest for herself, even thine altars, O Lord God of
Hosts ! my King and my God.

SUGGESTIONS TO OUE EEADERS.
In such an almost countless number of names and
dates as occur in this book, it must needs be that
errors of the pen or of the press will creep in. If
those who detect them will kindly communicate
them to the author, he will gladly correct them in a
new edition; the proposed first edition having been
ordered in anticipation of publication. If the reader
will bear in mind the following facts it will facilitate
his understanding of this history. In 1720 Spotssylvania County was taken from Essex, King and
Queen and King William, whose jurisdiction hitherto
extended to the great mountains. St. George's

PREFA

CE.

vii

Parish, coterminous with Spotsylvania, was formed by
the same Act. In 1731 St. Mark's was taken from
St. George. In 1734 Orange was formed from Spot­
sylvania. In 1740 St. Thomas was taken from St.
Mark's. In 1748 Culpeper was formed from Orange.
In 1752 Bromfield Parish was taken from St.
Mark's. In 1792 Madison County was taken from
Culpeper. In 1831 Eappahannock County was
formed from Culpeper, and in 1838 the County of
Greene was taken from the County of Orange.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
Besides the acknowledgments made in the body
of this work, the author is under obligations to Isaac
Winston, Jr., for volunteering to transcribe his
entire manuscript into a fair hand—a task almost as
difficult as the. interpretation of hieroglyphical char­
acters by Oriental scholars. 1 am indebted for a
like favor to Eev. Dr. Eandolph, of Emmanuel
Church, Baltimore, for volunteering to read the
proof-sheets as they passed through the press; and
to the Eev. Dr. Dairymple, the Hon. Hugh Blair
Grigsby, Mr. E. A. Brock, of the Virginia Historical
Society, Dr. Andrew Grinnan, of Madison, Mr.
George Mason Williams, of Culpeper, Col. Edward
McDonald, of Louisville, to the gentlemen of the
press, and to many correspondents too numerous to
be named, for aid and sympathy in his work.

INDEX.
ST. MARK'S PARISH.

PAGE

S I R A L E X A N D E R S P O T S W O O D , L i e u t e n a n t - G o v e r n o r of

Virginia:

His Ancestry, Birth, Marriage, Administration, Death, Burial,
D e s c e n d a n t s , a n d E e l a t i o n t o St. M a r k ' s P a r i s h ,
.
.
.
ORGANIZATION OF S T .MARK'S PARISH,

1
6

FIRST MINISTER OF S T .MARK'S,

16

E E V . JOHN THOMPSON,

18

CULPEPER COUNTY,

23

T H E ORGANIZATION OF T H E CHURCH I N VIRGINIA,

.

.

.

45

EEV. JOHN WOODVILLE,

49

E E V . JOHN COLE,

62

T H E SUCCESSORS O F T H E E E V . M R . C O L E ,

69

PRESENT STATUS OF T H E CHURCHES I N S T . MARK'S,

.

.

71

ST. THOMAS PARISH, Orange County,

73

BROMFIELD PARISH,

79

HISTOEICAL EXCURSIONS.
T H E KNIGHTS OF T H E GOLDEN HORSESHOE,

S3

GERMANNA,

97

.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN P H I L I P SLAUGHTER, beginning

i n 1775 a n d

c o n t i n u e d t o 1849,

106

LEWIS LITTLEPAGE,
T H E TOBACCO P L A N T ,

109
.

114

GENEALOGIES.
T H E BARBOUR FAMILY,
THE

CARTER FAMILY,

THE

CAVE F A M I L Y ,

•

.

118
121
122

T H E CLAYTONS,

125

T H E COLEMANS,

128

T H E CONWAY FAMILY,

129

x

INDEX,
THE FIELDS,

.

T H E F R Y FAMILY,

130
.

.

132

T H E GARNETT FAMILY,

134

T H E GLASSELL FAMILY,

.

.136

T H E GREEN FAMILY,

138

T H E LIGHTFOOTS,

142

THE

144

MADISON FAMILY,

T H E PENDLETON FAMILY,

148

T H E SLAUGHTER FAMILY,

157

T H E SPOTSWOOD FAMILY,

.

T H E E E V . JAMES STEVENSON,

.

.

.

.

.

.

165
.

.

.

.

.168

T H E STROTHER FAMILY,

169

T H E TAYLOR FAMILY,

172

F A M I L Y OF THE E E V . J O H N THOMPSON,

.

.

.

.

.174

T H E W I L L I A M S F A M I L Y OF C U L P E P E R ,
THE WINSTON-HENRY

177

GENEALOGY,

183

EEV. JOHN WOODVILLE,

.

LIEUT.-GENERAL AMBROSE POWELL H I L L ,

192
193

T H E BROADUS FAMILY,

.194

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
T H E BROWN FAMILY,
MEDICAL M E N IN CULPEPER BEFORE THE BEVOLUTION,

195
.

.

195

T H E LAWYERS,

196

TOWNS IN CULPEPER,

196

S t e v e n s b u r g ; Clerksburg, not Clarksburg; Jefferson; Spring­
field;

Jamestown.

BRICK MAKING IN VIRGINIA,

198

V E S T R Y M E N OF ST. M A R K ' S ,

198

St.

Mark's

Parish.

SIR A L E X A N D E R SPOTSWOOD,
LlEUTENANT-GOVEKNOR OP V l E G I N I A ,

His ANCESTRY, B I R T H , MARRIAGE, ADMINISTRATION, D E A T H ,
BURIAL, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATION TO
ST. MARK'S PARISH.

A history of St. Mark's Parish, in which Governor
Spotswood did not have a prominent place, would be
like a portrait with the most prominent feature left
out. Not only was he a sagacious statesman, a gal­
lant cavalier, a brave and dashing soldier; but he was
also a devout Church of England man, ready to enter
the lists as her champion against all comers, not
excepting the vestries, who were the advocates of the
people's rights, and the miniature Parliaments in
which the leading statesmen of the American Revo­
lution were trained. He was the largest landed
proprietor within the bounds of the parish; he
founded the first town (Germanna), he developed the
first mines, and erected the lirst iron furnace in
America. He erected, chiefly at his own expense,
the first parish church, and organized and equipped,
at Germanna, " The Knights of the Golden Horse­
shoe," who first passed the Blue Ridge, and blazed
the way to the Yalley of Yirginia, and whose whole
A

2

ST. MABK'S

PAB1SII.

course was within the limits of the original parish of
St. Mark's.
Governor Spotswood was the great-grandson of
J o h n Spotswood, Archbishop of St. Andrew's, and
author of the H i s t o r y of the Church of Scotland.
His grandfather was Eobert Spotswood, L o r d Presi­
dent of the College of Justice, and a u t h o r of t h e
" Practicks of the L a w s of Scotland," who was one
of t h e eight eminent lawyers executed by t h e Par­
liament of Scotland, which (according to Sir Walter
Scott) consisted wholly of Covenanters. While he
was at private p r a y e r on the scaffold (says Sir W a l t e r )
he was interrupted by t h e Presbyterian minister in
attendance, who asked if he did not desire his p r a y e r s
and those of the people. Sir Eobert replied t h a t he
earnestly desired t h e prayers of the people, but not
those of t h e p r e a c h e r ; for t h a t , in his opinion, God
had expressed his displeasure against Scotland by
sending a lying spirit into t h e mouths of the prophets.
The father of Governor Spotswood was Dr. E o b e r t
Spotswood, physician to t h e Governor of Tangiers in
Africa, and his mother had been Mrs. Catherine
Elliott. Dr. Spotswood died at Tangiers in 1688,
leaving one son, the subject of this notice, who was
born in 1676. Governor Spotswood, " who had been
bred in t h e a r m y , " was aide to the Duke of Marl­
borough, and was badly wounded in the breast a t t h e
battle of Blenheim.
His arrival in Virginia, says Campbell, was greeted
with joy, because he brought with him t h e r i g h t of
Habeas Corpus — a r i g h t guaranteed to every
Englishman by Magna Charta, but hitherto denied
to Yirginians. Spotswood entered upon his duties as
Governor in 1710, and the two Houses of the General

SIR ALEXANDER

SPOTS WOOD.

3

Assembly, severally, returned thanks for their relief
from long imprisonment, and appropriated more than
two thousand pounds for completing the Governor's
palace. Although he was, in accordance with the
dominant doctrines of his day, a strenuous advocate
of the Royal prerogative in Church and State, yet he
was one of the most energetic, patriotic and farseeing statesmen that ever ruled Virginia. He first
suggested a chain of forts from the Lakes to the
Mississippi (beyond the Alleghanies) to check the
encroachments of the French; but many years
elapsed before his suggestion and policy were adopted.
It was he who conceived the idea of making tobacco
notes a circulating medium. His military genius and
experience enabled him to wield the militia with great
effect against the hostile Indians ; but he was no less
zealous in the conception and execution of measures
for their civilization and conversion to Christianity,
as the Indian school at Christanna on the Meherin
river, and the fund of £1000 for instructing their
children at William and Mary College, attest. In
1739 he was made Deputy Postmaster-General for
the Colonies; and it was he (says Campbell) who pro­
moted Benjamin Franklin to be postmaster for the
province of Pennsylvania.
Governor Spotswood died at Annapolis, on his way
to command the army against Carthagena, and was
buried at Temple Farm, one of his old country-seats
near Yorktown, so named from a house in the garden
erected by Governor Spotswood as a cemetery. Dr.
Shield, who bought the farm in 1834, says, "the
walls of the temple were then only several feet high:
within them I found heaps of broken tombstones, and
on putting the fragments together, I found the name
of Governor Spotswood."

4

ST. 31AUK'S

PARISH.

I t was in t h e Temple F a r m mansion t h a t L o r d
Cornwallis met Washington and signed the articles
of capitulation which secured American independence.
There is some verbal discrepancy between t h e
authorities about t h e name of t h e lady whom
Governor Spotswood married. Bishop Meade, upon
t h e authority of a d a u g h t e r of General Alexander
Spotswood, says t h a t her name was J a n e Butler,
sister of t h e Duke of Ormond. Charles Campbell,
our painstaking historian, says her name was Butler
B r y a n (pronounced Brain), daughter of Eichard
Bryan, of Westminster, and her Christian name was
after James Butler, Duke of Ormond, her godfather.
On the other hand, several of her lineal descendants
have informed the present writer t h a t Mrs. Spotswood was the d a u g h t e r of Eichard Brayne, " whose
letters to his daughter show him to have been a man
of culture." T h e name of Butler Brayne has been
perpetuated in this branch of the family to this day,
which raises a strong presumption t h a t it is the true
orthography.
Since t h e above was written I have procured,
through t h e medium of J u d g e Barton and Capt.
George Minor of Fredericksburg, documentary proof
which settles the vexed question, in t h e form of a
letter written by J u d g e Edmond Pendleton for his
client J o h n Benger, the son of Dorothea (Col. B y r d ' s
Miss Thecky) Brayne, sister of L a d y Spotswood.
The letter is dated Yirginia, Sept. 8tb, 1762, and is
addressed to Capt. Wm. Fox, and is signed by J o h n
Benger and Edmond Pendleton, and in it is the fol­
lowing paragraph : — " E i c h a r d B r a y n e and his wife
are dead, and Mrs. Brayne's issue was four daughters,
Anne, Diana, Dorothy, and Butler. Dorothy inter-

SIB ALEXANDER

SPOTS WOOD.

5

married with Elliot Benger, gentleman, and, with her
husband, is since dead, and I am her son and heir.
Butler intermarried with Major-G-eneral Alexander
Spotswood, and afterwards married J o h n Thompson
(Clerk). She is dead, and Alexander Spotswood,
infant, is her grandson and heir, and is now in
England. Anne and Diana remained in England and
never married."
Governor Spotswood had four children, J o h n ,
Eobert, Anne Catherine, and Dorothea. J o h n mar­
ried, in 1745, Mary, daughter of Capt. Dandridge, of
the British army, and had two sons, General
Alexander and Capt. John, both officers of the Eevolution; and two daughters, M a r y and Ann. J o h n ,
son of J o h n and grandson of t h e Governor, married
Mary Eousee of Essex, and had m a n y children.
General Alexander Spotswood, grandson of t h e
Governor, married Elizabeth, daughter of Augustine
and niece of General Washington. Eobert, second
son of the Governor, was an officer under Washing­
ton in 1755, and was killed by the Indians. Anne
Catherine (Kate) married Bernard Moore, of Chelsea
in King William; and their daughter married Charles
Carter of Shirley, and was the grandmother of our
Chevalier Bayard (sanspeur et sans reproche), General
Eobert E d w a r d Lee, named after two of his uncles,
Eobert and E d w a r d Carter.
K a t e Spotswood, Mrs. B. Moore, was a great beauty.
The late Mrs. Dunbar of Falmouth, a granddaughter
• of L a d y Spotswood, had seen her, and was so im­
pressed by the vision, that, with true womanly
instinct, she remembered, after the lapse of many
years, the details of her dress, which we reproduce
for t h e benefit of our lady readers.
I t was a

6

ST„ MARK'S

PABISH.

fawn-colored satin, square in t h e neck, over a blue
satin petticoat, with satin shoes and buckles to
match, on very small and beautifully shaped feet.
A g r a n d d a u g h t e r of K a t e , now living in a green old
age, says t h a t when she was a little girl she saw
K a t e sitting up in h e r bed at Chelsea, combing her
white and silken hair, with a servant holding up a
looking-glass before her.
There is a portrait of Governor Spotswood at
Chelsea, and there was another at Sedley Lodge in
Orange (now in t h e State L i b r a r y at Eichmond),
which the author of this historical tract had daguerreotyped. I t represents him in full dress, scarlet
velvet — graceful and commanding in face and figure
— antique model of the cavalier — the old English
and the old Virginia gentleman, who are as much
alike as father and son. W h a t a grand genealogical
tree!—with General Sir Alexander Spotswood its
root in Yirginia, and Robert E d w a r d Lee its bright,
consummate flower.

O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F ST. M A R K ' S

PARISH.

T h e Register of St. Mark's Parish, which lies
before me, is t h e oldest manuscript record in t h e
county of Culpeper. T h e parish is older t h a n t h e
county by eighteen years, t h e former having been
established by Act of Assembly in 1730, and the latter
in 1748. I t is curious to note the progress of popula­
tion, and parishes and counties, from their original
seats on tidewater t o w a r d s t h e mountains. The
people went before, the parishes followed after, and
t h e counties completed the organization, according

ORGANIZATION.

7

to the uniform policy of t h e British Government to
keep the Church and State in union.
In 1634 the colony of Virginia was divided by the
House of Burgesses into eight counties, or shires, as
t h e y were then called. I n 1692 the old county of
Eappahannock was extinguished, and its t e r r i t o r y
distributed into t h e counties of Eichmond on the
north, and Essex on the south, side of the Eappahan­
nock Eiver. The movement of the growing popula­
tion was along the banks of the rivers, on account of
the greater productiveness of the soil, and the facili­
ties of transportation, in t h e absence of roads in the
intervening wilderness. Thus early in t h e eigh­
teenth century the settlement had passed the Falls
of t h e Eappahannock and reached t h e Eapid Ann
Eiver, where a colony of Germans had seated them­
selves, and Lieutenant-Governor Spotswood had
established a furnace and built a " castle,'' in which
he occasionally resided.
Over the new settlement a new county and a new
parish were erected in 1720. The preamble to t h e
Act of Assembly declares t h a t " the frontiers towards
t h e high mountains being exposed to danger from
t h e Indians and the French settlement towards t h e
west, a new county is established, bordering upon
Snow Creek up to the Mill, thence by a southwest
course to the N o r t h Anna, thence up the said river
as far as convenient, and thence by a line over t h e
high mountains to t h e river Shenandoah, so as to
include the N o r t h Pass t h r o u g h said m o u n t a i n s ;
thence down said river till it comes against the head
of Eappahannock Eiver, and down t h a t river to t h e
mouth of Snow Creek; which t r a c t of land shall
become a county by the name of Spotsylvania, and

8

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

the whole county shall be one parish, by the name of
St. G-eorge."
The Act also appropriated five hundred pounds for
a church, courthouse, pillory and stocks, where t h e
Governor shall appoint. Another clause appropri­
ates one thousand pounds for arms and ammunition,
to such " Christian tithables " as shall go to seat this
county. The county of Brunswick was established
by the same law. The inhabitants were made free
of levies for ten years. The same privilege is ex­
tended to Germans and other foreign P r o t e s t a n t s ,
" who may not understand English readily," if t h e y
will entertain a minister of their own.
I t will be observed t h a t the movement of coun­
ties, parishes and people, by way of Spotsylvania
and Brunswick, was towards the northern and south­
ern passes through the " high mountains," to trans­
cend which and see w h a t lay beyond was t h e g r e a t
problem of the day.
The Rev. H u g h Jones, one of the Colonial clergy,
in his " P r e s e n t State of Virginia," published a b o u t
1724, s a y s : — " Beyond Governor Spotswood's furnace,
within view of the vast mountains, he has founded
a town called Germanna, from some G-ermans sent
over by Queen Ann, who are now removed up further.
H e r e he has servants and workmen of most handi­
craft trades, and he is building a church, courthouse,
and dwelling-house for himself, and with his ser­
vants and negroes he has cleared plantations about
it, proposing great encouragement for people to
come and settle in t h a t uninhabited p a r t of the
world, lately divided into a county."
Colonel Byrd, of Westover, on J a m e s River, an
accomplished gentleman, an adventurous traveller,

0B0AN1ZATI0N.

9

and inimitable humorist, visited Colonel Spotswood
in 1732, and indites the following pleasant gossip on
the occasion:
" The famous town of Germanna consists of Colonel
Spotswood's enchanted castle on one side, and a
baker's dozen of ruinous tenements on the other,
where so m a n y German families had dwelt some
y e a r s ago, but are now removed ten miles higher, in
t h e F o r k of t h e Eappahannock, to land of their own.
T h e r e had also been a chapel about a bow-shot from
the Colonel's house, at the end of an avenue of cherry
trees, but some pious people had lately burnt it
down, with intent to get another built nearer their
own homes. H e r e I arrived about three o'clock, and
found only Mrs. Spotswood at home, who received
her old acquaintance with many a gracious smile. I
was carried into a room elegantly set off with pier
glasses, the largest of which came soon after to an
odd misfortune. Among other favorite animals
which cheered this lady's solitude, a brace of tame
deer ran familiarly about the house, and one of them
came to stare at me as a stranger, but unluckily
spying his own figure in the glass, he made a spring
over the tea-table t h a t stood under it, and shattered
t h e glass to pieces, and falling back upon the teatable, made a terrible fracas among the china. This
exploit was so sudden, and accompanied with such
noise, t h a t it surprised me and perfectly frightened
Mrs. Spotswood. But it was w orth all t h e damage
to show the moderation and good humor with which
she bore the disaster. In the evening the noble
Colonel came home from his mines, who saluted me
very civilly; and Mrs. Spotswood's sister, Miss
Thecky, who had been to meet him, en cavalier, was
T

io

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

so kind, too, as to bid me welcome. We talked over
a legend of old stories, supped about nine, and then
prattled with t h e ladies till it was time for a traveller
to retire. I n t h e meantime I observed my old friend
to be very uxorious and exceedingly fond of his chil­
dren. This was so opposite to the maxims he used
to preach up before he was married, t h a t I could not
forbear rubbing up the memory of them. But he
gave a very good-natured t u r n to his change of senti­
ments, by alleging t h a t whoever brings a poor gentle­
woman into so solitary a place, from all her friends
and acquaintances, would be ungrateful not to use
her and all t h a t belongs to her with all possible ten­
derness. We all kept snug in our several apartments
till nine, except Miss Thecky, who was the house­
wife of the family. A t t h a t hour we met over a pot
of coffee, which was not quite strong enough to give
us the palsy. After breakfast, the Colonel and I left
t h e ladies to their domestic affairs, and took a turn
in t h e garden, which has nothing beautiful in it but
t h r e e terrace walks, t h a t fall in slopes one below
another. I let him understand that, besides t h e
pleasure of paying him a visit, I came to be instructed
by so great a master in the m y s t e r y of making iron,
wherein he had led the way, and was the Tubal Cain
of Virginia. H e corrected me a little there, saying
t h a t he was not only t h e first in his country, but t h e
first in N o r t h America who had erected a regular
furnace ; t h a t t h e y ran altogether on bloomeries in
N e w England and Pennsylvania till his example had
made t h e m a t t e m p t greater works. H e said t h a t
the four furnaces now at work in Virginia circulated
a great sum of money for provisions, &c, in the adja­
cent counties. H e told me t h a t he had iron in sev-

ORGANIZATION.

n

eral parts of his t r a c t of forty-five thousand acres of
land, but t h a t t h e mine he was at w o r k upon was
thirteen miles below Germanna. H e raised t h e ore
a mile from t h e furnace, and carted the iron, when
made, fifteen miles to his plantation on Massaponax.
H e said t h a t during his absence in England he had
lost eighty slaves, his furnace was still the greater
p a r t of the time, and all his plantations r a n to ruin.
But he was r i g h t l y served for trusting his affairs to
a mathematician (Mr. Graeme), whose t h o u g h t s were
always * among the stars.' The afternoon was de­
voted to t h e ladies, who conducted me t h r o u g h a
shady lane to t h e river, and by t h e w a y made me
drink some very fine water t h a t issued from a marble
fountain. J u s t behind it was a covered bench,
where Miss T h e c k y often sat and bewailed her vir­
ginity. T h e river is about fifty yards wide, and so
rapid t h a t t h e ferry-boat is towed over by a chain,
and therefore called the Eapidan.' T h e Miss T h e c k y
above-mentioned was evidently the sister of Mrs.
Spotswood, who married Mr. Benger, a cousin of the
Governor, and from whom some of the Minors and
Erenchs of Spotsylvania are descended.
Governor Spotswood, after whom Spotsylvania
was called, fixed the seat of justice at Germanna,
which was named after the German settlement. The
history of these Germans deserves further investiga­
tion. In 1717 they consisted of one hundred and
t h i r t y persons, in twenty-nine families, and antici­
pated a large accession to their number. In a peti­
tion to the Bishop of London and the English society
for the propagation of t h e Gospel in foreign lands,
t h e y described themselves as very desirous of having
the ministers of religion in t h e i r own tongue, " not
,

i2

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

understanding English well." They invoke the aid
of the Bishops in England to procure for them and
ordain a young German minister, to assist and to
succeed their old pastor (Haeger), now seventy-five
years of age, and to send with him the Liturgy of
the Church of England translated into High Dutch,
which they are desirous to use in public worship.
They were exempted by the General Assembly from
the payment of parish levies. Dr. Hawks says that
the parish of St. George was created for them. This
is clearly a mistake. Colonel Byrd, in the passage
quoted above, says he saw in 1732 " t h e ruinous ten­
ements " which they had occupied at Germanna, and
adds that they had moved higher up to the Fork of
the Rappahannock, to land of their own, which must
mean the juncture of the Eapid Ann (often called
the Rappahannock in those times) and the Robin­
son, which is now in the county of Madison. I
believe I was the first to suggest that there was the
nucleus of the Grerman population in Madison county
(see my History of St. George's Parish, 1747).
Bishop Meade adopts this suggestion, and refers to
an old gentleman in Culpeper who had told him that
in his boyhood he had often seen the Lutherans from
Madison, when they had no minister of their own,
come to Buck Run Church, in Culpeper, to receive
the Holy Communion. That old gentleman was the
venerable vestryman and watchful warden, the late
Samuel Slaughter, of Western View, in St. Mark's
Parish. I have initiated inquiries which I hope will
throw some light on this obscurity.
In May, 1730, the General Assembly, in view of
the inconveniences arising to the parishioners of St.
George's Parish by reason of the great length there-

ORGANIZATION.

13

of, divided it by a line running "from the mouth of
t h e Rapid Ann to the mouth of the Wilderness R u n ;
thence up the said run to t h e bridge, and thence
southward to the P a m u n k e y River. All the terri­
t o r y above t h a t line to be called and known as St.
Mark's Parish." The same Act directs the freeholders
and housekeepers of the new parish to meet at the
new church in Germanna, on the first day of the fol­
lowing J a n u a r y , and elect twelve of the most able
and discreet persons of the parish to be vestrymen
of said parish. I n pursuance of this Act, t h e free­
holders and housekeepers did meet at Germanna on
the 1st day of J a n u a r y , 1731, and elected Goodrich
Lightfoot, H e n r y Field, Francis K i r t l y (not H u n t l y ,
as in Bishop Meade's " Old Churches, &c"), William
Peyton, James Barbour, Robert Slaughter, J o h n
Finlason, Francis Slaughter, Thomas Staunton, Ben­
jamin Cave, Robert Green, and Samuel Ball. Robert
Slaughter and Francis Slaughter were the first
churchwardens, and William Peyton the first clerk.
These antique vestrymen were the fruitful germs
of genealogical trees, which have scattered their
prolific seeds from N e w York to Florida, and from
Virginia to California. This is not a rhetorical
flourish, but is literally true, and could be easily
demonstrated, were " t h e play w o r t h the candle."
The progress of this narrative will furnish some sug­
gestive illustrations of this t r u t h .
1731. St. Mark's Parish now begins its indepen­
dent career at Germanna, without a shepherd to seek
after the flock scattered in t h e wilderness bounded
by the Blue Mountains, which look so enchanting in
the distance, when their summits are lighted by the
B

i

4

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

setting sun. There were three churches in the new
parish—one of them at Germanna, one in the Little
Fork, and one in the S. W. Mountain, in the neigh­
borhood of Messrs. J a m e s Barbour and Benjamin
Cave, vestrymen. F o r the several years in which
they had no pastor the vestry employed occasionally
the Eev. Mr. Be B u t t s and t h e Eev. Mr. Purit, two
adventurers who were seeking parishes, and paid
t h e m three hundred pounds of tobacco per sermon.
In the absence of regular ministers, the churches
and chapels were served by L a y readers, or clerks, as
t h e y were then called, whom the vestries seem
to have preferred to inefficient clergymen.
The
vestry went vigorously to work, by ordering t h e
churches to be repaired and vestry-houses built; buy­
ing two hundred acres of land for a glebe, of W m .
Ashley; contracting for a glebe-house, with all the
appurtenances of barns, stables, meat-houses, dairies,
&c. William Peyton was made L a y Eeader at the
Little F o r k ; J o h n McMuth had the double office of
clerk and sexton at Grermanna; and William Philips
and David Cave, alternating clerks at the Southwest
Mountain Chapel. The churchwardens settled with
t h e old vestry of St. George's and bought parish
books. The parish lines were surveyed. Zachery
Lewis was chosen as their attorney. Eobert T u r n e r
was made collector of tithes. A. Chambers was
engaged to keep the church clean at G e r m a n n a ;
J o h n Carder to do the same office at the Fork, and
William Stevenson at the Mountain Chapel. Col.
Waller was employed to bring up a copy of the oaths
of allegiance to the British Crown, and of conformity
to the Church of England, and the test oath against
P o p e r y — all of which the vestry had to take. Some

OBGANIZATION.

»5

idea m a y be formed of the state of the country, from
the fact t h a t Augustine Smith, J r . , was paid 200
pounds of tobacco for 'piloting the minister to t h e
Mountain Chapel, which was not far from Cave's
F o r d in Orange.
The vestry seem, too, to have been animated by a
laudable spirit of church extension. Within two
years (1732-1733) two churches and two chapels were
projected. The first church was seated on w h a t is
now the road from Germanna to Stevensburg, " c o n ­
venient to the springs above Major Finlason's p a t h . "
This church, or one on the same site, was standing
within the memory of men now living, and was used
by the venerable Mr. Woodville. I t is called, in the
vestry book, the Lower or Great F o r k Church. Mr.
Spotswood, of Orange Grove, now in his 77th year,
says he remembers when t h e Spotswoods, Gordons,
Grymes, and Thorntons, near Germanna, used to
attend this church. The other church was built " con­
venient to the Southwest Mountain road, on the first
run below the chapel"; and J o h n Lightfoot and J o h n
E u c k e r were ordered " t o pitch on the place near to
some good spring." This was the old church near
Ruckersville, in t h e county of Green. I t s age is left
uncertain in Rev. Mr. Earnest's interesting article on
St. Thomas's Parish in Bishop Meade's " Old Churches,
&c." The old minister who first preached in this
church, and whom Mr. Earnest could not identify,
was either De B u t t s or B e c k e t ; both of whom were
discharged by the vestry of St. Mark's. The first
place of worship on the Southwest Mountain was a
chapel, which J a m e s Barbour and Benjamin Cave
undertook " to have kept clean." At the chapel, De
Butts preached until 1732, at which date I find this

i6

ST. MARK'S

PAB1SH.

entry in the vestry book — " O r d e r e d , t h a t t h e Rev.
Mr. De B u t t s be paid 9000 pounds of tobacco for
t h i r t y sermons." In December, 1733, a new chapel
was ordered, only t w e n t y feet square, at Batley's, or
Bradley's, Quarter, " convenient to the best spring t h a t
Benjamin Cave can find." Eev. Mr. De Butts, who
had been employed by the sermon, was now discharged,
and St. Mark'i3 had its first elected minister in t h e
Eev. J o h n Becket.
F I R S T M I N I S T E R O F ST. MARK'S.
May 11th, 1733, "ordered, t h a t the Rev. J. Becket,
being recommended by the Governor and Commis­
sary, be entertained as Minister of the Parish ; and
t h a t he receive the glebe and w h a t is on it, and the
house when finished, and be paid as the law directs;
and t h a t he preach at t h e Southwest Chapel every
other Sunday until further orders." A t t h e n e x t
vestry (1733) it was ordered t h a t the churchwardens
offer the Hon. Col. Alexander Spotswood t h e choice
of a seat for himself and family in t h e church on t h e
Germanna road. In 1734, Major G. Lightfoot was
ordered to wait on Major J o h n Taliaferro, to bring
up the surplice for Germanna Church. I t was also
ordered t h a t the church be painted and tarred, and
t h a t S. W r i g h t p u t four barrels of t a r on the roof of
the glebe-house. In 1735 it was ordered t h a t " a
chapel of ease " be erected and built between Shaw's
Mountain and the Devil's Run and the river; and t h a t
Francis Slaughter, Robert Green, and H e n r y Field,
gentlemen, " pitch on the place most convenient to
the best spring t h a t they can find, on one of t h e
branches of the run or river." Our fathers kept as

FIE ST

MINISTER.

17

close to the rivers as if they had been amphibious,
and kept as sharp a look-out for a good cool spring
as Arabs do in the desert. T h e y had ladles chained
to the church-springs, and were careful to have good
framed horse-blocks and bridle-hooks for those who
went to church en cavalier.
U p to 1734-5, St. Mark's Parish was in Spotsyl­
vania. A t t h a t date Spotsylvania was divided by
the line between St. George's and St. Mark's Parishes.
Spotsylvania was limited to St. George's Parish. All
above t h a t line, bounded southerly by old Hanover
county, and to the north by the Lord Fairfax g r a n t
(the Rappahannock river), and westerly by the
utmost limits of Virginia, was made the county of
Orange. In 1738 J o h n Catlett was added to t h e
vestry in place of Goodrich Lightfoot, deceased. The
Rev. J . Becket now came to grief for some scandalous
conduct, and was discharged. In 1739 the church­
wardens were instructed to agree with Mr. McDaniel
to serve the parish, or with some other minister,
except Mr. Becket. In 1738, Augusta and Frederick
counties and parishes were separated from Orange and
St. Mark's, by a line from the head-spring of Hedgeman's river to the head-spring of the Potomac, to
take effect when there were people enough in the
Yalley for erecting courts of justice; and in t h e mean­
time, the people there were exempted from levies by
Orange and St. Mark's. I n 1740, St. Mark's was
divided by a line from t h e Wilderness bridge up t h e
mountain road, to the head of Russel R u n ; thence
down the said run to the river Rapidan ; thence up
t h e Rapidan to the Robinson river; thence along the
ridge, between the Robinson and Rapidan, to the top
of the Blue Ridge. All n o r t h of said line to retain

18

ST. MA UK'S

PARISH.

the name of St. Mark's, and all south of said bounds
to be the new Parish of St. Thomas. This division
threw the Southwest Mountain Church and Chapel
into St. T h o m a s ; and with them Messrs. J a m e s Bar­
bour and Benjamin Cave, vestrymen. William Triplett and William Eussell were elected to fill the
vacancies. We now reach the incumbency of the
first respectable minister in St. Mark's Parish.
EEV. JOHN

THOMPSON.

J u n e 10th, 1740. U n d e r this date is the following
entry in the E e g i s t e r : — " A t a vestry in the vestry
house at the F o r k : it is ordered, t h a t the Eev. J o h n
Thompson, being recommended by the Governor and
Commissary, we do entertain him as Minister of our
parish ; and t h a t he be paid as the law directs." Mr.
Thompson was a Master of A r t s of the University of
Edinburgh. H e had been ordained Deacon by the
Bishop of St. David's in the year 1734, at West­
minster; and Priest in November of the same year,
in the Chapel Eoyal of St. James. I t must have been
very pleasant to the gentlemen of the vestry and of
the parish, to have exchanged the former disreputable
incumbent for the accomplished gentleman. I t seems
also to have been agreeable to one of the ladies of t h e
parish (if one may venture to say so, after all parties
have been so long d e a d ) ; for the new minister was
not only a scholar and a literary gentleman, but he
was a very handsome man. The vestry testified
their pleasure by ordering a study to be added to t h e
glebe-house; and the widow of Governor Spotswood
presented a velvet cloth and cushion to the church
in 1741; and on the 9th of November, 1742, she vowed

REV. JOHN

THOMPSON.

i

9

to obey and to serve him in the holy estate of matri­
mony. Governor Spotswood's castle at Germanna,
with its fair commander, did not surrender to t h e
consummate address of the clerical besieger without
a severe struggle, as the following letter will testify.
I procured the original of this letter from Mrs.
M u r r a y Forbes of Falmouth, a lineal descendant of
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and published it for the
first time in m y History of St. George's Parish, from
whence it was copied by Bishop Meade in his " Old
Churches and Families." Mrs. Spotswood's chil­
dren and connections were so opposed to the match
t h a t she begged to be released from her engagement,
and was answered thus :
MADAM,—

By diligently perusing your letter, I see that there is a mate­
rial argument, which I ought to have answered, upon which
your strongest objection to completing my happiness seems to
depend, viz.: That you would incur ye censures of ye world
for marrying a person of my station; by which I understand
that you think it a diminution of your honour and ye dignity
of your family to marry a person in the station of a clergy­
man. Now, if I can make it appear that the ministerial office
is an employment in its nature ye most honorable, and in its
effects ye most beneficial to mankind, I hope your objections
will immediately vanish, y* you will keep me no longer in
suspense and misery, but consummate my happiness. I make
no doubt, Madam, but y* you will readily grant y* no man can
be employed in any work more honorable than what immedi­
ately relates to the King of kings and Lord of lords, and to
ye salvation of souls immortal in their nature and redeemed
by ye blood of the Son of God. The powers committed to their
care cannot be exercised by ye greatest princes of earth, and it
is ye same work in kind and ye same in ye design of it with
y* of the blessed angels, who are ministering spirits for those
who shall be heirs of salvation. It is ye same business y* ye
Son of God discharged when he condescended to dwell among

2 0

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

men, which engages men in ye greatest acts of doing good in
turning sinners from the errors of their way, and by all wise
and prudent means in gaining souls unto God. And the faith­
ful and diligent discharge of this holy function gives a title to
ye highest degree of glory in the next world; for they y* be
wise shall shine as ye brightness of ye firmament, and they y
turn many to righteousness as the stars forever.
All nations, whether learned or ignorant, whether civil or
barbarous, have agreed to this, as a dictate of natural reason,
to express their reverence for the Deity and their affection for
religion, by bestowing extraordinary privileges of honour
upon such as administer in holy things, and by providing
liberally for their maintenance. And that ye honour due to
the holy function flows from ye law of nature appears from
hence, y* in the earliest times the civil and sacred authority
were united in ye same person. Thus Melchisedech was King
and Priest of Salem, and among ye Egyptians ye priesthood
was joined with ye crown. The Greeks accounted the priest­
hood with equal dignity with kingship, which is taken notice
of by Aristotle in several places of his Politicks. Among the
Latins we have a testimony from Virgil y* at ye same time
iEneas was both Priest and King. Nay, Moses, who was
Prince of Israel before Aaron was consecrated, officiated as
Priest in ye solemn sacrifice by which ye covenant with Israel
was confirmed. And ye primitive Christians always expressed
a mighty value and esteem for their clergy, as plainly appears
from ecclesiastical history. And even in our days, as bad as
ye world is, those of ye clergy who live up to ye dignity of
their profession are generally reverenced and esteemed by all
religious and well-disposed men. From all which it evidently
appears y* in all ages and nations of ye world, whether Jews,
Heathens or Christians, great honour and dignity have always
been conferred upon the clergy. And therefore, dear Madam,
from hence you may infer how absurd and ridiculous those
gentlemen's notions are who would fain persuade you y* mar­
rying with ye clergy ye would derogate from ye honour and
dignity of your family, whereas, in strict reasoning, the con­
trary thereof would appear, and y* it would very much tend to
support the honour and dignity of it. Of this I hope you will
be better convinced when you consider the titles of honour
t

BEY. JOHN

THOMPSON.

21

and respect that are given to those who are invested with ye
ministerial functions, as are amply displayed in ye Scriptures.
Those invested with that character are called the ministers of
Christ, ye stewards of the mysteries of God, to whom they
have committed the word of reconciliation—ye glory of Christ,
ambassadors of Christ in Christ's stead, co-workers with Him,
Angels of the churches. And then it is moreover declared that
whosoever despiseth them despiseth not man, but God. All
which titles shew that upon many accounts they stand called,
appropriated to God himself. And therefore, if a gentleman
of this sacred and honorable character should be married to
a lady, though of ye greatest extraction and most excellent
personal qualities (which I am sensible you are endowed with),
it can be no disgrace to her nor her family, nor draw ye cen­
sures of ye world upon them, for such an action. And, there­
fore, dear Madam, your argument being refuted, you can no
longer consistently refuse to consummate my happiness.
JOHN THOMPSON.
May, 1742.
A reconciliation was effected between Mr. Thomp­
son and Mrs. Spotswood's family some years after­
wards, by the kind offices of t h a t remarkable man,
Eev. E . Eose, who was one of Governor Spotswood's
executors, and had much to do with his estate, and
with his widow and children after Governor Spotswood's death, which happened in 1740, at Annapolis,
on his way to command the a r m y against Carthagena. Mr. Eose, in his journal, speaks of having
visited Mr. Thompson in Culpeper, as he seems to
have done every other man of note in the colony.
Mr. Eose's journal, a great desideratum to antiqua­
ries, and which was supposed to have been lost, was
seen by Bishop Meade in the possession of Mr. H e n r y
Carter, of Caroline, and is now in t h e possession of
Mr. Brock, of Eichmond.*
•Since writing the above I have been permitted by the kindness of Mr.
Brock to make the following extract from Mr. Rose's journal:

22

ST. MABK'S PABISH.

The next few years are r a t h e r barren of known
incidents. The following small items from t h e par­
ish register serve to fill t h e g a p . (1741) Goodrich
Lightfoot came into t h e vestry, took t h e oath of
allegiance, signed the test, and subscribed t o be con­
formed t o the doctrine and discipline of the Church
of England, in the place of Thomas Stanton, deceased.
(1742) Ordered, t h a t notice be given in church and
chapel t h a t a vestry will meet first Monday in March,
to place a church convenient to t h e inhabitants of
t h e upper part of t h e parish, and t h a t workmen
come and agree for building t h e same. A t a vestry
held in Tenant's old field, a contract was made with
J . Kincaid to build a church fifty-eight feet by twentyfour. Benjamin Roberts is chosen vestryman in
place of Captain William Triplett, removed. Robert
Slaughter places a dial a t the church door. (1743)
Yestry contracted with J . E v e for an addition t o
Little F o r k Church. (1744) " Ordered, t h a t the Rev.
J. Thompson erect, fabricate, and build (sic) divers
additions to t h e Glebe house." William Peyton is
directed to view t h e church three times. (1745)
Captain Abraham Field chosen vestryman, in place
of F . Kirtley, removed, and Philip Clayton in place
of J o h n Catlett, deceased. (1746) B . Roberts a n d
Coleman Brown are lay readers a t the two churches,
J a m e s Pendleton a t the chapel, and Thomas Dillard
"1746, Feb. 18,1 set out; for Germanna, called at Capt. Taliaferro's, lodged at
Newport.
"19th, went in the rain towards Germanna; met Mrs. Spotswood Dandridge
and Isaac Campbell, who waited for us at the Bridge quarter; got to Ger­
manna at night. 20th, spent in settling sundry accounts. 21st, went at night to
Major Finlason's. 22d, went to church, heard Mr. Thompson preach on the
words, " Your life is hid with Christ in God;" went to the Glebe. 23d, settled
I hope all differences in the family, and laid apian for preventing any. 24th,
came early to German aa, where found Col. B. Moore and his lady; settled
Mr. Thompson's accouc.t with some others. 26th, went from Newport to see
Mr. Benger's plantation."

CULPEPER

COUNTY.

23

at the Little.Fork. (1747) Eobert Slaughter vestry­
man, in place of Major Finlason, deceased. Dr.
James Gibbs is paid " for doing his best to cure the
widow George." (1748) At this date Orange was
divided, and the county of Culpeper (comprising
what is now Madison, Eappahannock and Culpeper)
was formed. It was named after one of the proprie­
tors of the Northern Neck, Lord Culpeper, from
whom it descended to Lord Fairfax, who married
his daughter. The original county of Culpeper cov­
ered all the "debatable land" between the Crown
of England and Lord Fairfax east of the Blue Eidge,
and was for a long time the subject of a very curious
controversy, a synopsis of which will be found in the
next chapter.
CULPEPEE

COUNTY.

1748. Culpeper county begins its career on histo­
rical ground. Its territory originally embracing what
is now Culpeper, Madison and Eappahannock, was
the subject of a protracted controversy, involving
the title to several million acres of land. The entire
tract of land within the heads of the rivers Tappahannock, alias Eappahannock, and Quiriough, or
Potomac, the courses of those rivers, and the Bay of
Chesapayork, &c," was granted at different times, by
Kings Charles I. and II., to Lord Hopton, the Earl of
St. Albans, and others, and subsequently by King
James to Lord Culpeper, who'had purchased the rights
of the other parties. Lord Fairfax, who married the
daughter of Lord Culpeper, became the proprietor of
this princely domain, commonly known as the North­
ern Neck. In 1705 Governor Nott, of Virginia,
u

24

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

in the name of the King, granted 1920 acres of
land to Henry Beverly, in the forks of the North
and South branches of the .Rappahannock Eiver.
Eobert Carter, commonly known as King Carter,
who was Fairfax's agent, objected to the grant, as
being within the limits of Lord Fairfax's grant. The
question then arose whether the South (the Eapidan)
or the North branch of the Eappahannock was the
chief stream. The Eapidan, named after the English
Queen, contested the supremacy of the Indian Eappa­
hannock. The Governor and Council of Virginia
appointed commissioners to meet those of Fairfax,
and survey the said rivers. The joint commission
reported in 1706 that the streams seemed to be of
equal magnitude. In 1733 Lord Fairfax complained
to the King that patents had been granted, in the
name of the Crown, in the disputed territory. Mr.
Carter himself, the agent of Fairfax, had taken
grants from the Crown to two tracts within the forks
of the Eappahannock Eiver. The King, in council,
ordered the Governor of Virginia to appoint another
commission. On the part of the Crown he appointed
William Byrd, of Westover, John Eobinson, of Piseataway, Essex county, and John G-rymes, of Brandon,
Middlesex county, Virginia. The commissioners of
Fairfax were Charles Carter, William Berkley and
William Fairfax. Omitting the survey of the Poto­
mac, as outside of our subject, we confine ourselves
to the survey of the Eapidan. Mr. Graeme, with Mr.
Hume as assistant, was commissioned on the part of
the Crown, and Mr. Thomas on the part of Lord
Fairfax, " to survey and measure the South Branch
of the Eappahannock (the Eapidan), from the fork
to the head spring, and return an exact map of the

CULPEPER

COUNTY,

25

same, describing all the runs and creeks that run into
it." Colonel Byrd says :—" While we stayed at Fred­
ericksburg we lodged at Colonel Henry Willis's, but
kept a magnificent table at the ordinary, and enter­
tained all gentlemen who came to visit us, which
were many. We then went to the fork of the river,
and found the N o r t h branch to be wider by three
poles and nine links, though it was objected by my
Lord's Commissioners t h a t the South was made
narrower by an island t h a t ran along the south shore.
We carried a surloin of beef from Colonel Carter's,
and picked it as clean as a pack of wolves would
those of a wounded deer. The same gentleman fur­
nished us with strong beer, but forgot to bring a
vessel to drink it from. However, we supplied t h a t
want with the shell of a poor terrapin, which we
destroyed, as H e n r y V I I I . did Cardinal Wolsey, for
the sake of his house. We then proceeded to Germantown, where Governor Spotswood received us
very courteously, and lest we should have forgotten
the battles of Marlborough, he fought them all over
again, for t h e nine-and-fortieth time. There we
took the depositions of Taliaferro, Thornton, and
Eussell, as follows :—Jno. Taliaferro, gentleman, aged
forty-nine years, being summoned, saith :—' About
the y e a r 1707 he came to live where he now lives,
above Snow Creek, nine miles below the falls, and
there were then but three settlements above his
house, on the south side of the river. H e had been
acquainted with the fork of the river above t w e n t y four years, and t h a t one of the forks was called South
Eiver until Governor Spotswood, above t w e n t y y e a r s
ago, named the south branch Eapidan, and it has
ever since been so called.' Francis Thornton, of Caro-

c

26

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

line, gentleman, aged fifty-three y e a r s and upwards,
being sworn, declared:—* About t h i r t y years ago he
came to dwell where he now lives, on the lower side
of Snow Creek, and there were but two settlements
above his house, the uppermost of w hich was about
four miles below the Falls. H e had been acquainted
with the forks of the river about twenty-seven years,
and t h a t one was called the South and the other t h e
N o r t h Branch.' William Eussell, aged
fifty-six
years, being sworn, s a i t h : — ' H e has known t h e
Great F o r k of the Kappahannock River thirty-five
years as a hunter, and one of the branches was always
called South River until he heard Governor Spotswood named South River Rapidan, and the other
river has been called Rappahannock ; t h a t the upper­
most settlement t h i r t y years ago was Montjoy's
tobacco-house, now Colonel Carter's quarter, on t h e
n o r t h side of t h e r i v e r ; t h a t he saw some posts of
the house on Mott's land, three or four miles above
the Falls, which was said to have been burned by
t h e Indians near t h i r t y years a g o . "
On t h e 3d August, 1736, the King's Commissioners
met at Williamsburg. Major Mayo attended witb an
elegant map, delineating clearly the branches of t h e
Rappahannock up to their sources, and with copies
of their field-notes. T h e commissioners of t h e K i n g
made their report. L o r d Fairfax took t h e report of
his commissioners to England with him, and got t h e
m a t t e r referred to t h e Lords of Trade, to report all
t h e facts and their opinion to the Lords of the Com­
mittee of Council. All the reports and papers were
laid before the latter. T h e question was argued by
able counsel; and without going into further details,
let it suffice to say, t h a t it was finally decided in
T

CULPEPER

COUNTY.

27

favor of Lord Fairfax; making that branch of the
Kapidan, called the Conway, the head-stream of the
Eappahannock River, and the southern boundary
of the Northern Neck; and thus adding the original
county of Culpeper to the princely plantation of
Lord Fairfax.
The Rapidan, named after an
English Queen, prevailed over the Indian Rappahan­
nock. Queen Ann's name and reign are perpetuated
in Eapidan, North and South Anna, Fluvanna,

Rivanna, Germanna, &c. Authorities differ as to
the orthography of the name of the river in question.
Many spell it Rapid Ann; and yet in the proceed­
ings of the commissioners for settling the bound­
aries of the Northern Neck, and throughout Henning's
Statutes at large, it always has the form Rapiddan
or Rapidan. The decision referred to was ratified
by the formal assent of the General Assembly, and
by the authority of the highest judicial tribunals.

28

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

1749. William Green is chosen vestryman in t h e
place of Capt. Robert Green, deceased. The county
of Culpeper was now honored by the presence and
services of George Washington in the humble office
of County Surveyor. The marriage of his brother
Lawrence with Miss Fairfax made him known to
t h e proprietor of t h e N o r t h e r n Neck, who gave him
the appointment of Surveyor.
In 1748 he was
employed in the valley of the Shenandoah. His
compensation was a doubloon ($7.20) a day. In t h e
following y e a r he was made a public surveyor by t h e
President of William and Mary College ; and in t h e
County Court of Culpeper we find the following
record :
J u l y 20th, 1749. " George Washington, gentle­
man, produced a commission from the President of
William and Mary College, appointing him Surveyor
of this county, which was received ; and thereupon
took the usual oaths to his Majesty's person and
g o v e r n m e n t ; and took and subscribed the abjuration
oath and test, and then took the oath of surveyor,
according to law."
Washington was now in his seventeenth year, and
continued in office for three years. As no one had
the sagacity to see the undeveloped germs of great­
ness which lay hid in this unfledged youth, his daily
life passed without special observation.
H a d it
been otherwise, we should in all probability have
found, in our old parish register, the record t h a t he
w a s the surveyor who laid off our glebes and sites
of churches, and ran some of our parish lines.
1750. A " chapel of e a s e " was ordered at the
Little Fork, and the vestry agreed to meet at or near

A
BOOK OF

SURVEY'S

Began

JULY 22* 1749

3°

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

t h e old muster-field at the forks of the road, to choose
the site, and contract with Thomas Brown to under­
take it.
1751. Thomas Slaughter is chosen vestryman in
place of Robert Slaughter, Jr., removed from the
p a r i s h ; and J a m e s Pendleton in place of Capt. Ball,
deceased. Gabriel Jones is paid 200 pounds tobacco
for attorney's fees, Dr. Thomas Howison 1000
pounds tobacco for medical attendance on the poor,
and Win, Peyton 200 pounds tobacco for procession­
ing lands.
1752. St. Mark's Parish is again divided by the
Meander or Crooked Hun, falling into the Robinson
River, up to Col. J o h n Spotswood's corner on t h a t
run, thence by his line, north 28 degrees east to
Bloodsworth's road, then by a straight line to Crooked
Run, a branch of the north fork of the Gourdvine
River, where the main road called Duncan's crosses
t h e said run, thence by the said run up to the head
thereof; thence to t h e head of White Oak Run,
thence by t h a t run down to the N o r t h River. All
below t h a t line, except so much as lies in t h e county
of Orange, to be one distinct parish, and retain the
name of St. M a r k ' s ; and all above said bounds, to­
gether with so much of St. Thomas as lies in Culpeper,
which is hereby added to and made part of the same,
be another distinct parish and called Bromfield (see
6th H e n n i n g 256). As this division threw Tennant's
Church into the Parish of Bromfield, the church
wardens were ordered to provide benches or seats in
the court-house for the accommodation of so much of
t h a t congregation as remained in St. Mark's. This
gives the date of the first church services held at
Culpeper Courthouse. The churchwardens were

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

31

also ordered to apply to the surveyor to run the lines
between the parishes, and H e n r y Field and Philip
Clayton were directed to attend the surveyor when
running these lines. Mr. Brown was also ordered to
remove the materials for the intended chapel in t h e
L i t t l e Fork, and to erect a church, instead of a
chapel, with them, on a ridge between F r e e m a n ' s *
Mill Eun and the river, in the edge of Freeman's old
field — the church to be ceiled with plank instead of
clapboards, and to have wainscot instead of plain
pews, in the best manner. A new church was also
ordered upon Col. Spotswood's land, near the cool
spring above J o h n Leavell's, on or near Buck E u n .
The present writer well remembers to have seen, in
his boyhood, the relics of the burying-ground of this
old church, which stood in a grove upon the hill,
above and across Buck Eun from the dwelling where
old Capt. Moore then resided, and Capt. J o h n S t r o t h e r
now lives.
1753 to 1757. Some of the leaves of the vestry
book have been torn out, leaving a gap in the record
from 1753 to 1757, which Bishop Meade has passed
over. I propose to fill t h a t gap from the folio, which
is entire, and with inevitable inferences from other
known facts. One of these inferences is, t h a t there
was a church at Mount P o n e y . The ground of this
inference is the fact t h a t an appropriation had been
made for a church at t h a t place in 1752; and one of
Mr. Thompson's manuscript sermons (still extant) is
*This Freeman was the grandfather of Mrs. Waller Yager. His father and
Major Eastham came from Gloucester county, and were among the early set­
tlers in what is nowCulpeper. Mrs. Yager's father was one of the first members
of Little Fork Church. His father owned a large body of land there. He died
in the 96th year of his age, leaving five sons and four daughters.

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

endorsed as having been preached at Mount P o n e y
Church some years after.
The names of the following persons appear in a
record before me as having served in a campaign
against the French and Indians about this date,
viz: Col. E o b e r t Slaughter, Lieut.-Col. Wm. Kussell,
Capt. Wm. Brown, Capt. J o h n Strother, Lieut. J o h n
Field, Lieut. William Slaughter, Martin Nalle, Wm.
JSTalle, Charles Yancey, W m . Lightfoot, Eeuben Long,
Thomas Slaughter, William Eobertson, Wm. Yager,
H e n r y Gaines, H e n r y Stringfellow, and Wm. Eoberts.
All these names have their representatives still in
Culpeper, and t h e y are reproduced as items of
interest to their descendants. Eobert Slaughter,
Eobert Coleman, Daniel Brown, Philip Eootes,
Eeuben Long, and Wm. Williams, are spoken of as
being neighbors. Dr. Michael Wallace presented an
account to the vestry for 800 pounds of tobacco, for
curing Eliza Maddox. Daniel Brown, J a m e s Spillman,
and H e n r y Field, are credited with services rendered ;
and C. H u t c h i n s i s allowed 100 pounds of tobacco for
grubbing the churchyard at Little F o r k .
1757. The vestry met at the vestry-house, and the
following gentlemen were present:—Eev. Mr. Thomp­
son, minister; Wm. Lightfoot, Eobert Green, Goodrich
Lightfoot, Wm. G-reen, J a m e s Pendleton, Francis
Slaughter, Eobert Slaughter, Philip Clayton, Benj.
Eoberts, and H e n r y Field. J a m e s Pendleton was
continued as Clerk ( L a y Eeader) of Little F o r k
Church ; N a t . Pendleton, Clerk of the Lower C h u r c h ;
Eichard Young, Clerk of Buck Eun Church, and
Wm. Peyton, Clerk of the Yestry. The church­
wardens were directed to provide two new surplices

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

33

and two prayer-books for the use of the parish. Col.
W m . Green and Col. W m . Eussell were made church­
wardens for t h e ensuing year, and Eobert E a s t h a m
vestryman, in place of Thomas Stubblefield, deceased.
Divers poor and infirm persons were exempted from
paying parish levy, and appropriations were made
for the support of all poor and disabled people. L a s t
Monday in November, 1757, vestry met at t h e new
church on Buck Eun. H . Field reported t h a t he had
paid the quit-rents for t h e glebe and church for 175556. Thomas Covington was paid for t a r r i n g t h e
church, grubbing the yard, and making the horse-block
at Buck E u n .
1758. Dec. 1st, E o b e r t E a s t h a m and Eobert
Green churchwardens for the ensuing year. Thos.
Slaughter and A n t h o n y Garnett made vestrymen, in
place of W m . Stubblefield, deceased, and Wm. Lightfoot, removed out of the parish. James Pendleton,
Sheriff, gave bond and security as collector of parish
levy.
1759. In February, Act of t h e General Assembly
established the town of Fairfax, on a h i g h and
pleasant situation in the county of Culpeper, where
the courthouse now stands "; and set apart t h i r t y
acres of Eobert Coleman's land, to be laid off into
lots and streets by t h e trustees, Thomas Slaughter,
Wm. Green, Philip Clayton, N a t Pendleton, and
W m . Williams. This land was held by Benjamin ;.
Davis, lessee of Coleman, w h o was permitted to hold
his houses, and have one-fifth of his rent deducted.
Hence the names of Davis and Coleman Streets.
Nov. 26th, 1759, p a y m e n t s were made to William
Eussell, E. D. P a r k s , J . M. Tackett, Charles Morgan,
and J . Carnager, E. Wright and Joseph Newman,
u

34

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

for providing for certain poor persons. Thomas
Slaughter and A n t h o n y G-arnett made churchwardens
for ensuing year.
1760. Eobert Slaughter and Francis Slaughter
appointed churchwardens for 1761, and J a m e s
Slaughter collector. The wardens are instructed to
provide any number of benches t h a t may be needed,
to stand in and about the Little F o r k Church. This
order would seem to indicate t h a t the congregations
of Mr. Thompson were too large to be accommodated
in t h e regular seats. Wm. Williams is chosen
vestryman in place of E o b e r t Eastham, removed out
of the parish.
1761. Sept. 1st, an addition to Little F o r k
Church, 32 feet long and 22 feet wide, was ordered.
Thos. Covington, with Lewis Davis Yancey as his
security, gave his bond to build it for 100 pounds.
Nov. 1761, t h e usual annual appropriations for
the poor were made. 1500 pounds tobacco were
ordered to be sold out of t h e depositum for cash, t o
p a y 100 pounds to Covington for additions to L i t t l e
F o r k Church.
Goodrich Lightfoot and William
Williams were chosen churchwardens for the ensuing
year, and J o h n Green collector.
1762. Sept. 1st, Wm. Pollard was elected clerk
of the L o w e r Church. An order of Bromfield P a r i s h
being exhibited by Ambrose Powell and Martin
Nalle, gentlemen of the vestry of said parish, to join
them in the division of the two parishes, it is ordered
t h a t t h e same lie for the f a r t h e r consideration of t h e
vestry.
F r o m this e n t r y it would seem t h a t
although the t w o parishes had been separated for
ten years, the parish lines had not been run. Dec.
18th, 1762, at a vestry at Little Fork Church t h e

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

35

usual routine business was gone through, and H e n r y
Field and Benjamin Eoberts made churchwardens
for the ensuing year.
1763. April 8th, W m . Ball was chosen vestryman
in t h e room of J a m e s Pendleton, deceased, and
H e n r y Field, Jr., in t h e place of H e n r y Field, Sr.,
resigned. Philip Clayton was chosen to succeed
H e n r y Field as churchwarden.
Dec. 19th, " W m . Ball, and H e n r y Field, Jr.,
having in the court of Culpeper taken t h e oath
to his Majesty, and subscribed t h e test, and in t h e
vestry subscribed to be conformable to t h e doctrine
and discipline of the Church of England as by law
established, took their places as vestrymen accord­
ingly." The above entry is more circumstantial t h a n
usual, but it only describes in detail w h a t always
took place when a new vestryman was qualified.
W m . Ball and H e n r y Field made churchwardens
for the ensuing year. 5500 lbs. of tobacco were set
apart for repairing the L o w e r Church, and 3000 lbs.
for paying allowances to the poor.
1764. Nov. 19th, appropriated to Thos. Coving­
ton, in full satisfaction for repairing the church,
vestry-house, dial-post, stand and six benches, 700
lbs. of tobacco, he having already received 3500 lbs.
The Rev. Mr. Thompson having represented to
t h e vestry t h a t t h e glebe-land of this parish is in­
sufficient to furnish timber, fire-wood and fences, t h e
vestry do order t h a t a petition be presented to the
G-eneral Assembly for an act enabling the vestry t o
sell the glebe and purchase another in lieu thereof.
Mr. Thompson haying asked for leave to build a
gallery in L o w e r Church for the use of his family, t h e
vestry consent, provided the lower p a r t of t h e gallery

36

ST. MARK'S

PAMISH.

be above the windows and not inconvenient to a n y
p a r t of the church, except t h e back pew, in which
the stairs are to be carried up. J o h n Green and
E o b e r t Green are appointed churchwardens.
1765. Nov. 26th, the usual routine business being
dispatched, the vestry adjourned to meet at Frederick
Zimmerman's on the 17th Dec.
Dec. 17th, ordered, t h a t the churchwardens
agree with workmen to build a house at Buck
E u n Church, and another at the F o r k Church, each
12 feet wide and 16 feet long, well framed and covered
with shingles free from sap, weather-boarded with
feather-edged plank, underpinned with brick or
stone 18 inches from the surface of the earth, a brick
or stone chimney to each, sash windows to each
with eight lights of glass 8 by 10 inches, with a
plank floor above and below. We give the style of
these houses in detail because t h e y are specimens of
the vestry-houses of t h a t day, and illustrate some
other points. J a m e s Slaughter and J a m e s Pen­
dleton were elected vestrymen in the room of
Francis Slaughter, gentleman, deceased, and Thos.
Slaughter, who had removed from the parish.
Goodrich Ligh'tfoot and William Williams church
wardens for next year.
1766. Nov. 17th, Samuel Clayton chosen vestry­
man in room of Major Philip Clayton. Benjamin
Roberts and J a m e s Pendleton made churchwardens
for next year, and appropriations for current ex­
penses.
1767. Nov. 24th, J a m e s Slaughter and Samuel
Clayton churchwardens. Samuel Clayton, Jr., in
behalf of the congregation of Buck Eun Church,
moved t h a t E . Young be removed from being Reader

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

37

at said church, and said Young is ordered to answer
the complaint on the 18th of December. Mr. Young
soon after came into the vestry and resigned. The
cause of complaint is not stated.
1768. February 23d, an addition to Buck Eun
Church twenty-eight feet wide and three feet long,
sills, sleepers, posts and braces all of oak, and under­
pinned with brick or stone, is ordered; and Captain
William Brown being the lowest bidder at 11,500
lbs. of tobacco, it is let to him upon his entering into
bond with security that it be done in a workman­
like manner, and finished by October of the ensaing
year.
November 23d, James Pendleton and G. Lightfoot
churchwardens for the ensuing year, and Cadwallader
Slaughter appointed vestryman in the place of Eobert
Slaughter, deceased.
1770. Leave is given to Samuel Henning to build a
gallery in Buck Eun Church at his own expense.
The wardens are instructed to advertise the glebe
for sale in the Virginia Gazette, and to buy a more
convenient site for a glebe. The glebe was sold to
Samuel Henning for one hundred and ninety-nine
pounds current money. Goodrich Lightfoot and
others reported that they had viewed several tracts
of land, and that Francis Slaughter's or George Catlett's was the most convenient for a glebe. The
vestry adjourned to meet at Lawrence Catlett's and
decide upon the site. John Green vestryman in the
room of William Green, deceased.
November, the vestry this day bought three hun­
dred acres of the tract on which Francis Slaughter
lives (Francis Slaughter owned a large tract of
land, including the old glebe tract, near what is now
D

38

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

called B r a n d y Station),, and adjoining the lands of
Eeuben Slaughter and Cadwallader Slaughter, gentle­
men, for 199 pounds in money and 10,000 pounds of
tobacco. An overseer's house, a quarter, a barn and
a corn-house are ordered to be built on the glebe
immediately.
1771. At a vestry at Buck E u n Church, French
Strother, gentleman, and J o h n Gray, gentleman, are
made vestrymen, in place of Goodrich Lightfoot and
H e n r y Field, gentlemen, removed from the parish.
Philip Pendleton is made clerk of the vestry in
place of William P e y t o n , deceased. Mr. Peyton had
served the vestry as clerk for forty years continu­
ously. An addition is ordered to the south side of
Little F o r k Church, to correspond to the other addi­
tion. These enlargements of the church, new gal­
leries and extra benches, would seem to show t h a t Mr.
Thompson's ministry was attended by large and
growing congregations. Mr. Waugh chosen a vestry­
man in 1772. Colonel J a m e s Slaughter, gentleman,
agreed to have the glebe-house built for 35,900
pounds of tobacco. T h e plans and specifications are
minutely detailed in the vestry-book. This was the
glebe-house so long occupied by t h e reverend and
venerable John Woodville, and afterwards by Messrs.
Glassell and Wager. The original glebe-house was
burned ; perhaps some of t h e outbuildings m a y be
standing.
The glebe-house, the plan of which is described in
the last chapter, was built for the Eev. J o h n Thomp­
son ; but man proposes and God disposes. Before
this earthly tabernacle was finished, Mr. Thompson
was called to " a house not made with hands, eternal

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

39

in the heavens." After a laborious and fruitful
ministry of more than t h i r t y years, the brave soldier
of the Cross laid aside his armor and put on his
crown. H e was buried at the brick house n e a r
Stevensburg so long tenanted by t h e H a n s b r o u g h s ,
and now owned and occupied by Dr. Grayson. B y
his first wife (Lady Spotswood) he had two children,
v i z : Anne, who in her fifteenth year married Francis
Thornton of Fall Hill, near Fredericksburg. Mr.
Thompson had also a son by Mrs. Spotswood, named
William, who married Miss Sally Carter of Cleve.
A m o n g their descendants were Commodore T h o m p ­
son of the U. S. ^N"avy, and many of the Thompsons
of K e n t u c k y .
After the death of his first wife, t h e Eev. J o h n
Thompson married Miss Eootes. One of t h e i r
children was the Hon. Philip Rootes Thompson, w h o
once represented the district of Fauquier and Culpeper in Congress, and then moved to the county of
K a n h a w a , where his family was the nucleus around
which was gathered the Episcopal Church and P a r i s h
a t t h e mouth of Coal, one of the tributaries of t h e
Kanhawa Eiver.
The second wife of the Hon. P . R. Thompson was
a daughter of the old patriarchal vestryman, Robert
Slaughter of Culpeper. Bishop Meade said of her,
" She was esteemed and loved by all who knew her,
as one of the humblest and most devoted members of
the church in Virginia. I have always (he adds) felt
my own sense of the Divine power and excellency of
religion strengthened by every visit to her abode.
She exchanged it some years since for a better one
above."
After the death of Mr. Thompson, the Eev. Charles

4°

ST. MABK'8

PABISII.

Woodmason was employed to do some service in the
parish. This is all that seems to have been known
by our historians of this person; but I have found
in " Perry's Collection/' a memorial to the Bishop of
London signed by him, in which he says:—" Through
much sickness, brought on by fatigue in traversing
the back part of Carolina, I had accepted for my
health the Parish of Bromfield in Culpeper county.
Being delayed so long in waiting for a successor,
Bromfield was granted away, fearing its lapse to the
Governor, while I was on my way. I might have
gotten some other parish, had not the Virginians
entered into resolves not to elect any man for their
minister but a native of America." This explains the
whole matter, and shows the patriotic spirit of the
vestry of St. Mark's, among whom were some persons
who soon became conspicuous in the war of the
Eevolution. November, 1772, the vestry proceeded
to consider of a proper person to recommend to the
Governor as minister of the parish, when the Eev.
Edward Jones, of Carolina, was unanimously nomi­
nated. James Slaughter and John Gray were chosen
churchwardens. January 6th, 1773, the Eev. Edw.
Jones produced his induction from the Governor,
appointing him minister of this parish, agreeable to
a presentation of a former vestry, and took his seat
in vestry accordingly. April 21st, 1773, the vestry
met to fix on a site for the mansion on the glebe, and
finding no place where water was convenient, agreed
with Mr. Francis Slaughter for 100 acres of land
adjoining the former purchase, for the sum of £150
current money. October 26th, 1773, the church in
the Little Fork having been burned, the vestry met
on the ground, and concluded to erect one of wood,
sixty feet lono- and forty feet wide, on Eobert Free-

ST. MARK'S

PARISH

4i

man's or P e t e r Bowman's land. I t was also ordered
t h a t William Williams, J o h n Green, J a m e s Slaughter,
and Cadwallader Slaughter have James Pendleton's
tobacco-house repaired for Divine worship until t h e
church be finished. December, 1773, t h e vestry
reconsidered their former order and resolved to build
a church of brick, eighty feet long and t h i r t y feet
wide in the clear, with t w e n t y feet pitch, to be
finished completely in the best manner by first day
of November, 1776. T h i r t y thousand pounds of
tobacco to be paid next summer, and the balance to
be paid in three equal annual p a y m e n t s .
This is the old brick church in the L i t t l e F o r k
which has stood for one hundred years, t h e mute
memorial of other times and other men. T h e walls
of this centennial church once resounded with t h e
voices of sires, some of whose sons now pass by on
t h e other side, or look coldly at the shrine where
their fathers worshipped, and speak lightly of t h e
anthems t h e y sung in days of auld lang syne.
And rudely sighs the wandering wind,
Where oft, in years gone by,
Prayer rose from many hearts to Him,
The Highest of the High.
The tramp of many a busy foot
That sought thy aisles is o'er,
And many a weary heart around
Is stilled forever more.
Oh! could we call the many back
Who've gathered here in vain,
Who careless roved where we do now,
Who'll never meet again,
How would our souls be stirred
To meet the earnest gaze
Of the lovely and the beautiful,—
The light of other days.

42

ST. MARKS

PARISH.

The churchwardens are ordered to let the following
buildings on the glebe-land, viz.:—A kitchen thirtytwo by sixteen feet, with an inside brick chimney
with two fire-places, covered with good shingles and
boarded with feather-edged plank. A quarter twent} "
by sixteen feet, covered with long shingles, and
boarded with good oak-boards, and an inside wooden
chimney. Also, a dairy and meat-house twelve feet
square, each to be done in the best m a n n e r ; a stable
t w e n t y feet square, of sawed logs, covered with long
shingles ; also, seven hundred feet of sawed paling,
five feet long, with sawed rails three square. The
wardens are also ordered to let the building of a
gallery in the L o w e r Church. J o h n Green and J a m e s
Pendleton are ordered to agree with P e t e r Bowman
for two other acres of his land, for the use of t h e
church.
1774. Benjamin Roberts and J o h n Green are
appointed churchwardens for t h e ensuing year.
1775. The vestry met to lay the parish levy, but
the inspecting law ceasing, they are in doubt w h a t
method will be pursued through this colony for
levying and collecting the same, and concluded to
await the opinion of the General Convention.
1776. The vestry met and proceeded to lay the
levy. Robert Gaines was made the clerk of t h e
L o w e r Church, in place of J o h n H u m e . I t is ordered
t h a t Peter Bowman be paid two pounds for one and
a half acres of land for the use of the brick church,
and t h a t Edmund Yass be paid five pounds for t w o
plans for the brick church. The collector is ordered
to pay Samuel Clayton three pounds seven shillings
and sixpence for laying off the brick church lot, and
Mr. Ball and J a m e s Pendleton are made church7

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

43

wardens for the ensuing year. Eichard Yancey is
chosen vestryman in the place of J o h n Green, in
Continental service. (This is the only allusion to t h e
Eevolutionary W a r in the vestry-book. The vestry
seem to have limited themselves rigidly to their
duties, and never to have invaded the political
sphere, although several of t h e m were officers of the
army, and all sympathized with the American cause.
Culpeper county was conspicuous for the services of
her sons in the old Revolution, having contributed
eight companies of eighty-four men each to t h e
a r m y . Those companies were raised by the follow­
ing captains, viz.: John Green, John Thornton,
George Slaughter, Gabriel Long, Gabriel Jones, J o h n
Gillison, Captain McClanahan (a Baptist preacher),
and Abraham Buford. In the notes and illustrations
at the end of this volume will be found some inter­
esting details upon this point. We return to t h e
acts of the vestry.)
1777. Ordered, t h a t the churchwardens advertise
the vacancy of this parish and the renting of t h e
glebe. As Mr. Jones had not resigned, this looks
like a broad hint t h a t his resignation would be
accepted.
1778. The General Assembly having suspended
the salaries of clergymen, the vestry met to fix on
some method of paying the salaries of the officers of
the church, and recommended subscriptions for t h a t
purpose. The recommendation is signed by F r e n c h
Strother, James Slaughter, William Gray, E o b e r t
Green, Eobert Yancey, Benjamin Roberts, Cad.
Slaughter and J a m e s Pendleton. B u r k e t t Daven­
port is made vestryman in place of Wm. Williams,
deceased.

44

ST. MAUK'S

PARISH.

1780. F e b r u a r y 21st, the Eev. E d w a r d J o n e s
this day came into the vestry and resigned the charge
of this parish. I n March the vestry met at Captain
Bradley's, and ordered t h a t t h e Sheriff collect of each
tithe in the parish five pounds tobacco, or in money
at the rate of twenty-five per hundred. Eobert
Pollard and Lawrence Slaughter are appointed
vestrymen to fill the vacancies. I n the ensuing
April the vestry met at the glebe, and agreed to
receive the Eev. J a m e s Stevenson as minister of
their parish, according to law, and Thomas Stanton
was made lay-reader at the Little F o r k Church, in
t h e room of Philip Pendleton, resigned. The vestry
met again in December of this year, and ordered
certain payments to be made to J o h n Jameson, clerk
of the county, H e n r y Field, Eeuben Long, E o b e r t
L a t h a m , William Terrill, and Michael Sloane, for
the benefit of t h e poor of the parish. Lawrence
Slaughter and Eobert Pollard churchwardens for t h e
ensuing year.
1781. Eobert Coleman made collector, and or­
dered to collect of 1957 tithes seven pounds of tobacco
each, for the clothing, feeding, and providing medical
attention for the poor distributed among the farmers.
1782. Ordered, t h a t the churchwardens inform
the poor claimants of this parish three months before
meeting t h a t t h e y attend the vestry (if able) and let
their situation be known.
1783. Bowles Armstead appointed vestryman in
t h e room of Benjamin Eoberts, deceased.
1784. Eesolved, T h a t the churchwardens provide
the goods for the poor on the best terms they can
and report t h e result. J a m e s J e t t is appointed
clerk of the vestry, and Samuel Clayton and E o b e r t
Y*mcv churchwardens.

ORGANIZATION

OF THE

CHURCH.

45

This is the last meeting of the vestry recorded in
the old register, which began in 1730. This gap in
the record of the parish can only be filled with a
general outline of its history, which must be gath­
ered from many scattered sources. Eev. James
Stevenson probably continued to be the minister of
St. Mark's Parish until he exchanged places with
Mr. Woodville, the former going to Fredericksburg
and the latter coming to Culpeper.
THE OKGANIZATIOIST OF THE CHUECH IN
VIRGINIA.
1785. The Episcopal Church in Virginia had its
first legislative council. For 175 years it had been in
bondage to the Crown and Parliament of Great
Britain. For political reasons it was not allowed
to have a Bishop, nor to make a law for its own
government, or for the discipline of its ministers and
members. One of its first acts after becoming free,
was to meet in convention and frame a constitution
and code of discipline. Mr. Stevenson, with James
Pendleton, lay deputy, represented St. Mark's in
the Convention of 1785. One of the first acts of the
Church, when free, was to divide the State into
districts, the ministers in each district forming a
PresbyterjV To supply, in some measure, the
place of a Bishop, a clergyman was appointed to
visit each district and to preside in its presbytery.
Mr. Stevenson was made visitor of the district com­
posed of the parishes of St. Mark's, St. George's,
Bromfield, and Berkley. In 1786 St. Mark's was
represented only by Robert Slaughter, lay delegate.
Mr. Stevenson was the minister of Berkley Parish,
u

4

6

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

Spotsylvania, in the interval between 1768, when
he was licensed for Yirginia, and 1780, when he took
charge of St. Mark's Parish. Col. Taylor, of Orange,
in his diary of 1787, says :—" I went to J a m e s
Taylor's to the marriage of Thomas Barbour and
J a n e Taylor by the Rev. James Stevenson" and in
1788 he s a y s : — " Thomas Barbour's son was bap­
tized and named J a m e s Taylor."
In J a n u a r y , 1794, he was elected by the unanimous
vote of the people assembled at the market-house in
Fredericksburg. I t was during his charge of St.
George's t h a t those two institutions which have
done so much good, the male and female c h a r i t y
schools, were instituted.
I n 1799 Mr. Stevenson preached the annual
sermon in behalf of these schools, whose pupils
were required to go to church and be catechised b y
t h e minister, for which the teachers were bound to
prepare them. In 1802 he preached an appropriate
discourse on the anniversary of St. J o h n the Evan­
gelist, before the Masons of Fredericksburg. Soon
afterwards he was confined by a protracted illness in
Culpeper, from which he never sufficiently recovered
to resume his ministry. The following correspon­
dence will explain the occasion of his resignation :
FREDERICKSBURG, July 25th> 1805.
DEAR S I R :

In conformity to a resolution of the trustees of your church,
at a meeting on the 24th iust., we beg leave to express the
just sense entertained of your past services, and the sincere
regret that your indisposition has so long deprived us of their
continuance. It has been intimated that you had expressed
yourself doubtful of your health's enabling you to perform
those clerical duties, so justly appreciated; though from
motives of personal consideration, the trustees feel a repug-

REV. JAMES

STEVENSON.

47

nance in the discharge of this duty, yet the welfare of this
church requiring every attention that can promote it, and well
knowing your unremitting zeal for its interest, we flatter our­
selves that you will excuse the request we now make, of
being informed of your intention of continuing in the office of
your present appointment. * *
With sentiments of affectionate regard, we are, very respect­
fully, dear sir, your obedient servants,
WILLIAM TAYLOR,
JAMES BROWN,
Church Wardens.
[Answer.]
CULPEPBR, July 29th, 1805.
GENTLEMEN :

Your letter of the 25th current came to hand yesterday; and
I am requested by my husband to make his acknowledgments
for the sentiments therein contained, both in regard to his
past services and health. As to the latter, he has but little
hope of its being established so far as to enable him to perform
the duties of a parish ; but he begs you will believe, that the
zeal he has hitherto manifested towards your church is still
alive, and to hear of its welfare will ever be grateful to him.
He therefore recommends it to the trustees to provide a min­
ister as soon as they can, and that he may be one every way
suitable is his sincere wish.
With much respect and esteem, I am, gentlemen, yours, &c,
FRANCES STEVENSON.
Mr. Stevenson married Miss Littlepage, a lady of
fine intelligence and culture. T h e H o n . Andrew
Stevenson, who was Speaker of t h e House of Repre­
sentatives and Minister to England, and t h e late
Carter Stevenson, were his sons.
The Hon. J.
White Stevenson, late Governor, and present Senator
in Congress from Kentucky, is his grandson. Mr.
Stevenson survived his resignation of St. George's
several years, and departed this life June, 1809.
The following brief item from t h e Virginia Argus

48

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

furnishes the only intelligence we have of the e v e n t :
" D i e d on F r i d a y in Culpeper, after a tedious illness,
t h e Bev. J a m e s Stevenson, a gentleman much and
deservedly esteemed by an extensive acquaintance."
Since the foregoing pages were written we have
received from Dr. Payne, of Tennessee, some valuable
illustrations of the lives of his grandfather Woodville
and his great-grandfather Stevenson. Of t h e latter
he says he was an invalid in his last days, having
been stricken by paralysis, and was the guest of
Mr. Woodville at St. Mark's glebe. Your father, he
adds, Capt. P . Slaughter, was one of his vestrymen,
and gave me m a n y interesting incidents of his
private life. His last family residence was Hopewell,
near Fredericksburg, where the Hopewell nursery
now is. His library was bought for a mere trifle by
a gentleman of Fauquier, who designed returning it
to the family, but died before fulfilling his purpose.
The following is a copy of his letters of ordination
(now before us), engrossed on p a r c h m e n t :
Be it known unto all men by these presents, that we,
Richard, by Divine permission, Bishop of London, holding by
the assistance of Almighty God a special ordination on Thurs­
day, 29th of September, in the year of our Lord 1768, being
the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, in the chapel of our
Palace in Fulham in Middlesex, did admit our beloved in
Christ, James Stevenson, (of whose virtuous and pious life and
conversation, and competent knowledge and learning in the
Holy Scriptures, we were well assured) into the Holy Order of
Priests, according to the manner and form prescribed and
used by the Church of England; and him, the said James
Stevenson, did then and there rightly and canonically ordain
a Priest. He having first in our presence and in the form of
law taken the oaths appointed by law to be taken for and in-.;
stead of the oath of supremacy, and he likewise having freely
and voluntarily subscribed to the 39 articles of religion, and to
the three articles, contained in the 36th canon.

REV. JOHN WOODVILLE.

49

In testimony whereof, we'have caused our Episcopal seal to
be hereunto affixed. Dated the day and the year above
written, and in the fifth year of our translation.
MARK HOLMAN,
LONDON.

Dep. Reg,

On t h e mitred seal appended is inscribed the seal
of Kichard Terrick, Bishop of London, 1764.
Among t h e documents sent by D r . P a y n e is an
original Thanksgiving sermon preached by Mr.
Stevenson at Mattapony Church, Berkley Parish,
Spotsylvania, on Thursday, 13th of November, 1777,
on the occasion of the surrender of Burgoyne's army.
I n outward form the sermon is a curious relic of by­
gone days. I t is about four inches long and six
inches wide. I t consists of nineteen pages, with only
nine lines on each page. I n point of sentiment and
literary execution it is excellent, and gives us a
pleasing illustration of the piety and patriotism of
one of our old colonial ministers.
EEV. JOHN

WOODVILLE.

In the progress of our narrative we have reached
in Mr. Woodville a link between the two centuries,
overlapping several generations. There are those
now living who remember his antique face and form.
Patriarchs who were once his pupils still linger on
t h e horizon. Many survive upon whose brows he
poured the waters of holy baptism ; some whom he
visited in sickness, and to whom he administered t h e
holy communion ; and there are hundreds for whose
fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers,
ixG performed all these offices, consigning t h e m at last
to the tomb in the burning words of our grand old
E

So

ST. MAIZE'S PARISH.

burial-service. His official advisers, those venerable
vestrymen, E o b e r t Slaughter, of " The G r a n g e " ;
P e t e r Hansbrough, of " Coal H i l l " ; Champ Carter,
of " Farley "; J o h n Jameson, Clerk of the County ;
William B r o a d u s ; Samuel Slaughter, of " Western
Yiew "; J o h n Thorn, of " B e r r y Hill "; Isaac and Wal­
t e r Winston, of Auburn, with whom he took counsel
a n d walked to the house of God in company, are all
g o n e . The parish register, in which were recorded his
official acts, and which, like the old register we have
been following, would have been such a fruitful
source of information for the illustration of the history
of t h e parish and county, cannot be found. We are
therefore limited to t h e few facts scattered t h r o u g h
the e x t a n t journals, and the memories of living men,
for materials to construct a meagre skeleton of his
administration.
Mr. Woodville having been a teacher, with a board­
ing school under his charge, could not always attend
t h e conventions, which were held in Bichmond, t h e
horse being almost t h e only mode of locomotion in
those days. Mr. Woodville, who married a daughter of
t h e Kev. J a m e s Stevenson, succeeded him as minister
of St. Mark's. Mr. Woodville, like Mr. Stevenson,
w a s elected minister of St. George's Parish by a vote
of t h e people assembled in t h e market-house in
Fredericksburg. The vote was ninety-six for Mr.
Woodville and thirty-four for Bev. Thomas Davis,
whereupon Mr. Woodville was proclaimed by the
senior w a r d e n , Mr. Day, to be duly elected. In the
Virginia Herald of t h a t date we find two brief notices
of him. I n J u n e , 1792, he preached a well-adapted
discourse before t h e Masons. I n a poem of the day,
written b y a minister apologizing for levity of

RKV. JOHN

W00DV1LLE.

5i

conversation with which he had been reproached,
occur these lines:
" Deny him not those aids within his reach ;
But let me laugh, and modest Woodville preach."
Mr. Woodville was Professor of the Humanities in
t h e Fredericksburg Academy when G-ilbert H a r r o w
was Professor of Mathematics. These gentlemen
were required to be examined by Bishop Madison in
t h e classics and in the sciences. I t is probable t h a t
Mr, Woodville spent some years in teaching before
he was chosen as minister of St. George's Parish, as
I find in the diary of Colonel F r a n k Taylor, of
Orange, under the date of 1789, the following e n t r y :
" Mr. Woodville preached to a large congregation on
Sunday at Orange C. H., and he preached to a m u c h
larger one on the Sunday before at Pine S t a k e
Church, nearKaccoon Ford."
I n 1791 St. Mark's was represented in Convention
by David Jameson as lay delegate ; in 1796 by Mr.
Woodville and Eobert S l a u g h t e r ; in 1797 by J .
Woodville and J o h n Jameson ; in 1805 by William
Broad u s ; in 1812 by J . Woodville and R o b e r t
S l a u g h t e r ; in 1814 by William Broadus. T h e Con­
vention appointed Robert Slaughter, P e t e r H a n s brough and Garland Thompson to collect funds in
Culpeper for the resuscitation of the church. I n
1815 J. Woodville represented St. Mark's Parish, and
t h e Rev. William H a w l e y and Samuel S l a u g h t e r
represented St. Stephen's Church, which is the first
appearance of the latter upon the record.
And now a new era begins to dawn on the Church
in Virginia. The black cloud of despair is spanned
by the bow of hope. The good providence of God

52

ST. MASK'S

PABISH.

sent Bishop Moore to lead the "forlorn hope," and
never was there a man better fitted for the special
crisis. Baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire,
his heart was a gushing spring of emotion, which
overflowed his eyes, and streaming from his eloquent
tongue and trembling hands, melted his hearers to
tears. He wept over the ruins of the old churches
and the scattered sheep without a shepherd, like the
lamentation of Jeremiah over the desolation of Zion.
In St. Mark's Parish the first fruit of this new
movement was St. Stephen's Church, at Culpeper C.
H., and its first heralds were the Eev. Wm. Hawley
and Mr. Samuel Slaughter, all making their first
appearance on the record in 1815. There is no
record that I can find of the building or consecration
of St. Stephen's Church. It connects itself with
history at this point, but when and how it came into
being has eluded all my researches in print and in
the memories of living men.
Bishop Moore reported having visited Culpeper
during the past year, and confirmed sixty persons.
This was the first and the largest confirmation ever
held in the parish. In August of this year Bishop
Moore preached in four places in Culpeper, and
confirmed eighteen. He also reports having ordained
Mr. Hawley to the priesthood. Mr. Hawley was
elected a delegate to the General Convention. He
extended his labors to Orange C. H., and after a
ministry of two years he was called to St, John's
Church, Washington, where he spent the remainder
of his days, beloved by all men. Of his ministry in
Culpeper and Orange, Bishop Meade said he
" preached and labored with much effect." And
Bev. Mr, Earnest, in his sketch of St, Thomas,

REV.

WM.

HAWLEY.

53

Orange, says :—When Mr. H a w l e y began his labors
in Orange the Episcopal Church had wellnigh died
out. But three or four communicants remained.
U n d e r his ministry there began to dawn a brighter
day for t h e Church. Some of the communicants
added b y him still remain. During Mr. H a w l e y ' s
administration Bishop Moore made his first Episcopal
visit to Orange, and preached with great effect, and
administered the rite of confirmation to a goodly
number. I t was the first confirmation ever held in
St. Thomas's Parish. Among the goodly number was
t h e aged mother of President Madison, who had
never before had an opportunity of ratifying her
baptismal vows. The ministry of Eev. Mr. H a w l e y
was evidently blessed in this parish ; but having
been called to a larger field, he took charge of S t .
J o h n ' s Church, Washington, which soon became a
centre of much influence. I n the course of M r .
Hawley's ministry there he numbered among his
parishioners many Presidents of the United States,
and other persons of the highest social and political
position, before whom he went in and out for more
than a quarter of a century, " an Israelite indeed in
whom is no guile." H e was among the originators
and most earnest supporters of our Education
Society, and of t h e measures which led to t h e estab­
lishment of our Theological Seminary. Of t h e
tributes to his memory by Dr. T y n g and others, one
of t h e most loving was by the Eev. Dr. Lawrie, of
t h e Presbyterian Church, between whom and Mr.
H a w l e y there prevailed an intimacy like t h a t between
Bishop J o h n s and Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, and
between the Episcopal Buchannon and the Presby­
terian Blair, of Eichmond. When the prayers for

54

ST. MAUK'S

PARISH.

t h e sick were read at t h e bedside of Mr. Buchannon,
he said, with childlike simplicity, " P r a y for Blair,
too." There is an anecdote of Mr. Hawley among
t h e traditions current in Culpeper which, whether
true or not, is too good to be lost. The story is t h a t
Mr. H a w l e y wore ruffles on his shirt-bosom, as was
common among gentlemen of t h a t day, and t h a t
some ladies asked him to have t h e m removed, as
t h e y were t h o u g h t not becoming a clergyman. To
this he gracefully assented. B u t he wore whiskers
also, and was told t h a t these were an offence to t h e
weak brethren. To this he is said to have replied,
with a gleam of mischievous good-humor playing on
his face, " Oh no ! ladies. I must keep my whiskers
t o save my ears."
I n 1817 St. Mark's Parish was represented by t h e
Eev. Mr. Woodville and Wm. Broadus, and St.
Stephen's Church by Samuel Slaughter and Isaac
Winston.
In 1818, the same lay delegates, St.
Stephens is reported without a minister, notwith­
standing most strenuous efforts to get one. In 1819
St. Mark's was represented by Col. J o h n Thorn, who
reported twenty-five baptisms, four marriages, nine
funerals, and forty-five communicants, five of whom
were additions since the last convention. In 1820
t h e Eev. H e r b e r t Marshall came to Culpeper and
took charge of the school at Capt. Philip Slaughter's,
of which John Eobertson, t h e father of J u d g e Eobertson of Charlottesville, and the Eev. Samuel Hoge,
father of D r . Moses Hoge of Eichmond, had been
masters.
Mr. Marshall was ordained Priest by
Bishop Moore at Walker's Church in Albemarle,
aud officiated very acceptably for several years as
p a s t o r of St. Stephen's Church.
His name only

BKV.

G. A.

SMITH.

55

occurs in 1822 in the Journals of the convention, with
W m . M. Thompson, father of present Secretary of
the Navy, as lay delegate. His wife was the
sister of the present venerable presiding Bishop.
His brief and promising ministry was cut short by
ill-health and a p r e m a t u r e death.
He, like Mr.
H a w l e y , officiated at Orange C. H .
Mr. Woodville continued his modest ministry as
rector of St. Mark's, officiating chiefly at the L o w e r
Church and at the Little Fork, and occasionally at
Stevensburg and the Courthouse; but St. Stephen's
Church seems to have been in a state of suspended
animation, until it was revived by the coming of the
Eev. Gr. A. Smith in 1826. Mr. Smith having been
in charge of Christ Church, Norfolk, and finding it
too heavy a burden for his delicate health, came to
rusticate and to renew his strength in this"Piedmont
parish.
His name appears in the convention
journal as representing, with Samuel Slaughter, St.
Stephen's Church, and with P e t e r Hansbrough as
delegate from St. Mark's Parish in 1827. From t h a t
time till 1830 Mr. Smith officiated alternately at St.
Stephen's Church and at Orange C. H., with occa­
sional ministrations at Stevensburg and elsewhere.
H e established a Bible class, and societies in aid of
mission and other Church charities. H e gave an on­
ward impetus to the church, reporting an accession
of nine members by confirmation in 1828; and
Bishop Meade reports eleven confirmations in 1830,
when Mr. Smith, from physical infirmities, resigned
his charge, an event deeply deplored in the report of
the lay delegate, Dr. Winston, to the next conven­
tion.
Mr. Smith is one of those mysterious instances, so

56

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

t r y i n g to our faith, of a man thoroughly furnished
for the work of the ministry, and with an eye so
single to the glory of Grod, and yet, for the want of
organs t h r o u g h which to reveal the light t h a t is in
him, has passed much of his life in the shade, com­
paratively unknown and unsung, while men of far
feebler powers and scantier furniture, but with
stronger physique and more self-assertion, have
worn the mitre and wielded the sceptre of influence.
But he has not lived in vain. As editor of t h e
Episcopal Eecorder and of the Southern Churchman,
and master of the school at Clarens, he has made his
m a r k and will leave his impression upon m a n y
minds. H e still lives, t h e patriarch of our alumni,
and the fitting president of their society.
May
Providence prolong his years, t h a t though his voice
be hushed, t h e graces of his daily life, like angels
trumpet-tongued, may plead the cause he loved so
well. I n this brief tribute I have departed from a
rule laid down by Bishop Meade, and which I have
prescribed to myself, not to sound the praises of
living men, leaving t h a t to those who m a y come
after t h e m and see their end. But as t h e case is
unique, this single exception must prove the rule ;
which, by t h e way, Bishop Meade did not always
follow himself.
I n 1831-32, Isaac Winston and P . Slaughter, Jr.,
represented St. Stephen's Church. Mr. Woodville,
though not present, reported St. Mark's Parish as
gradually improving, the congregations as visibly
increasing, and there being in m a n y persons a
greater anxiety to encourage " pure and undefiled
religion." In June, 1832, t h e Bev. A. H . Lamon took
charge of St. Stephen's Church in connection with

REV.

JOHN

WOODVILLK

57

Madison C. H.; and in 1833 he reported an accession
of eight communicants to St. Stephen's, and twentyfour at Madison, to the six whom he found there.
I n reference to the revival at Madison, Bishop Meade
said :—" We had services four times a day for three
days. I t was a joyful season for t h e church a t
Madison. Fifteen months before, I scarcely knew a
place which promised less to the labors of a minister
of our church. A t this visit I confirmed t w e n t y t h r e e warm-hearted disciples of Christ, and saw a
new brick edifice rising for their place of worship.
God had signally blessed the preaching of his word
by ministers of different denominations. H e had sent
to our communion an humble and faithful man, who,
going from house to house, in season and out of
season, was t h e i n s t r u m e n t of g a t h e r i n g an inter­
esting little band, with whom I spent some of t h e
happiest days of my ministry. I also admitted their
minister Mr. Lamon to Priest's orders."
I n 1834 Mr. Lamon reports t h e addition of eight
persons to t h e communion of St. Stephen's, t h e
establishment of a scholarship in t h e seminary, and
measures for the purchase of a parsonage, and t h e
permanent establishment of a minister among them.
Bishop Meade, in his report of 1834, said:—" On t h e
4th September, 1834,1 preached to a large congre­
gation, and confirmed eight persons at t h e Little
P o r k in Culpeper. The congregation was then, and
had been for a long time, under the care of the Eev.
Mr. Woodville. A t this place he most conscientiously
and patiently met with his people for many y e a r s ;
here had I often met him in m y travels during t h e
last twenty-two years, and here it was t h a t I saw him
on the occasion j u s t mentioned for the last time. Pro-

5S

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

vidence has removed him from a scene of sincere
obedience on earth to one of glorious enjoyment in
heaven. H e has left an affectionate family to mourn
the loss of a kind husband and tender father, and
m a n y friends to cherish, with sincere respect, the
memory of a conscientious Christian." Such was t h e
tribute of the evangelical Wm. Meade to the child­
like J o h n Woodville, and it does as much honor to
t h e author as it does to the subject of his praise. I t
is too common in these days of cant to disparage
these old-time Christians, because their religion was
not in our style. Such censures are as irrational as
it would be to find fault with an antique statue be­
cause it is not arrayed in modern fashionable costume,
or to disparage St. J a m e s because he did not give
t h e same prominence to the doctrine of justification
by faith as did St. Paul, but presented chiefly t h e
moral phase of the Grospel — there being, in t r u t h , no
more incongruity between the doctrines and t h e
morals of Christianity than there is between t h e root
of a tree and its fruit.
Mr. Woodville left a son, the Eev. J . Walker
Woodville, who for some years followed in the foot­
steps of his father. H e was a good and guileless
man. His other son, James, was a lawyer in Bote­
tourt, and Woodville Parish perpetuates the name.
Of his wife and daughters, F a n n y and Sarah, Bishop
Meade said, " I do not expect to meet p u r e r spirits
on this side of heaven." These sainted women, I
learn from their relative, Senator Stevenson, of Ken­
tucky, both died in Columbus, Mississippi. Dr. J . W.
P a y n e , a prominent citizen of Tennessee, a grandson
of .Rev. J o h n Woodville, and a great-grandson of the
Eev. Mr. Stevenson, is probably the owner of t h e

REV

JOHN

WOODVILLE.

59

family relics and traditionary mementoes of his
ancestors of St. Mark's. Mr. Woodville was buried
at Fredericksburg, with the service of the church
and of bis brother Masons, on the 10th of May, 1834.
He desired, says Dr. Hugh Hamilton, to be laid near
the body of Mr. Littlepage.
Dr. Payne has also furnished me with some very
pleasant reminiscences of his grandfather Woodville,
and enables me to supply what was wanting in the
foregoing sketch of Mr. Woodville. Dr. Payne was
born at St. Mark's glebe, and educated and fitted
for college by his grandfather. In his boyhood he
used to attend him in his visitations, " carrying the
communion service in his saddle-bags," after the
death of Mr. Woodville's body-servant, "Uncle Jim."
He speaks plaintively of the old churches in the
Little Fork and Big Fork (Lower Church.) Of the
latter he says it was a plain structure of wood.
The gallery (called Lady Spotswood's gallery) was
in ruins. The only thing of taste about the church
was a marble baptismal font, the gift, he thinks, of
Mrs. Spotswood, and the monument of Mr. Downman. He had seen the communion administered by
Mr, Woodville to old Mr. Eobert Slaughter and
old " Uncle Jim," and perhaps sometimes to one
other servant belonging to some Episcopal family.
On such occasions he sometimes omitted the sermon,
but never a word of the service. Of the old brick
church in the Little Fork, he says the long, square,
high-backed pews, the sounding-board, the pulpit,
reading desk and clerk's stand, its transverse aisles,
its chancel in the east, the Lord's Prayer and Ten
Commandments elegantly painted upon the commu­
nion table, carried you back to a past generation.

6o

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

T h e congregations here were generally l a r g e ; and
t h e r e were m a n y Episcopal families in the neighbor­
hood—Gen. M. Green, t h e Porters, Picketts, Parishes,
Wiggintons, Freemans, Spilmans, Withers, Paynes,
&c. But you had to see it filled, when the Bishops
came, to conceive w h a t it was in days of old. " I
hope," he adds, " it was spared during the war, for I
saw at t h a t time in t h e newspapers t h a t a sermon
was found beneath the pulpit, preached near fifty
years ago by Mr. Woodville, whose classic elegance,'
&c, surprised its captors."
F r o m the same a u t h o r i t y we learn t h a t Mr. Wood­
ville was born at White Haven, Cumberland County,
England, in 1763, came to America in 1787, lived as
t u t o r in t h e family of Eev. J. Stevenson, who sent
him with commendatory credentials, and a letter
from t h e Eev. Mr. Scott, Principal of St. Beno
School, and testimonials countersigned by the Bishop
of Chester, to Bishop White, who ordained him
Deacon on the 18th, and Priest on the 25th of May,
1788, in Christ's Church, Philadelphia.
H e took
charge of t h e Academy in Fredericksburg in 1791,
and of the church in 1792, became E e c t o r of St.
Mark's in 1794, and spent the remainder of his life
at t h e glebe. H e was a g r e a t sufferer in his last
years from dropsy of the chest, but never murmured.
H e spoke of his death with perfect composure, saying
t h a t his only reliance for salvation was upon t h e
merits and righteousness of C h r i s t ; often saying in
his last illness, I die happy.
H i s last words were
" G o d bless you all." (See obituary in Episcopal
Eecorder, J a n u a r y 25th, 1834.)
On the fly-leaf of his wife's devotional manual are
the following lines:
l

REV, JOHN W00DV1LLE.

61

His mind was of no common order, and under the imme­
diate and habitual influence of the strongest religious prin­
ciples; such was my dear and ever-lamented husband.
GLEBE, March 8th, 1834.
SARAH WOODVILLE.
The following is the inscription on his tombstone :
" U n d e r n e a t h , t h e body of J o h n Woodville, a true
believer in the H o l y Scriptures, an earnest minister
of the P r o t e s t a n t Episcopal Church, a diligent and
faithful teacher of youth, a meek, contented sojourner
on earth, a pious probationer and humble candidate
for heaven. In Anglia natus die Martii undecimo
M D C C L X I I I ; obiit Virginia undecimo die J a n u a r i i
MDCCCXXXIV."
His wife, Mrs. S. S. Woodville, died at Buchanan,
Ya., April 6th, 1848, calm in mind and pure in
heart, meekly resigned to the will of heaven, a t
peace with God, and in charity with all the world.
Thus lived and died the last Eector of St. M a r k ' s
Parish. Other churches, with o t h e r pastors, had
sprung up and flourished within his cure. H e bade
t h e m a l l God speed "; but we note t h a t in his private
diary he called them all chapels.
Among t h e m a n y early pupils of Mr. Woodville
were t h e Hon. Andrew Stevenson and the E e v .
George H a t l e y Norton, Sr.
Of t h e latter, Mrs.
Woodville was often beard to say, " H e was t h e
best boy ever in the school." H e was a Yirginian,
but lived most of his life, and died in Geneva, N e w
York. H e was the father of Dr. Norton, the g r e a t
churcb-worker of Louisville, Kentucky, and of Dr.
George H . Norton, the able and efficient E e c t o r of
St. P a i r ' s Church, Alexandria.
l i

F

62

ST. MARK'S

EEY. JOHN

PARISH.

COLE.

Mr. Cole was born in Wilmington, Delaware. H e
conceived the idea of studying for the ministry in
1822, and after concluding his course in t h e Theo­
logical Seminary of Virginia, was ordained by Bishop
Moore, in Petersburg, on the 18th of May, 1828. H e
preached his first sermon at t h e L o w e r Church, in
S u r r y county, Virginia, on the 23d of May of t h e
same year. H e spent t h e first two years of his
ministry in missionary work in Surry and Prince
George, endeavoring to revive t h e fires upon t h e
altars of t h e old churches, which had nearly gone
out. P r o m a diary of his ministry I infer t h a t he
was diligent in preaching t h e Gospel in t h e pulpit
and from house to house, in establishing Sunday
schools, and such like good works. H e preached his
last sermon in this county J a n u a r y 16, 1830, a t
Cabin Point. Soon afterwards he took charge of
Abingdon and W a r e Parishes, in the county of
Gloucester, where he ministered usefully until 1836,
when, with a view of seeking a more bracing climate,
he resigned his charge.
T h e a u t h o r of this history, being t h e n rector of
Christ Church, Georgetown, D. C , was visited by
Mr. Cole, and advised him of the vacancy of St.
Stephen's Church, Culpeper. I being about to go to
Culpeper to solemnize several marriages, introduced
Mr. Cole to t h e people of St. Stephen's, by whom he
was invited to fill the vacancy. H e accepted t h e
invitation, and took charge of St. Stephen's in con­
junction with two churches in Madison county. I n
1838 he made his first report on his new field of
labor, reporting at St. Stephen's t h i r t y female and

REV. JOHN

VOLE.

63

five male communicants, at Madison Courthouse
twelve communicants, and at Trinity twelve. Of
the last he says quaintly :—" This church is signifi­
cantly called a free church, which, in country par­
lance, means free to everybody and everything, for
winter and summer, snow and storm, heat and cold."
His services, he adds, in these parishes, including
Stanardsville, are twelve sermons a month, besides a
Bible class, a lecture, and prayer meetings weekly.
Eev. J. Walker Woodville, in the same year, reported
seventeen communicants of St. Mark's Parish.
In 1840 Mr. Cole resigned the churches in Madison
to Eev. Mr. Brown, and took charge of the new
congregation of St. James, Culpeper. In 1841 the
St. James congregation applied for admission into
the Convention. The Convention reported against
the application, as not being in conformity with the
requisitions of the canon. The report was recom­
mitted to an enlarged committee, and Dr. Winston
and Dr. Hamilton came before them and testified
that "St. Mark's for several years had not been in
an organized state, but had gone into decay, and that
the canon could not be complied with." Upon this
testimony St. James was admitted as a separate
congregation. Mr. Cole reported thirty communi­
cants at St. Stephen's and eleven at St. James, with
a neat and comfortable church ready for consecra­
tion. In 1842 St. James was reported as having
been consecrated by Bishop Meade, who had also
confirmed twelve persons. The communion at St.
Stephen's, after rising to fifty-three in 1845, fell to
thirty-one in 1847; while at St. James it rose from
fifteen in 1843 to twenty-seven in 1848. In 1849
Kev. Walker Woodville reports St. Mark's with

6

4

ST. MASK'S

PARISH.

regular services at Little Fork, Flat Eun, and the
Germanna woollen factory, which probably were the
only Episcopal services at Germanna for one hun­
dred years. In 1850 Mr. Cole reports the completion
of the " Lime Church " (St. Paul's), at a cost of only
about $1000.
In 1859 Mr. Cole resigned St. James Church, that
it might be united with a new church in Fauquier.
In 1850 the communicants at St. Stephen's had
risen to fifty-three, and those at St. Paul's to twentyseven. In 1860 K. H. Cunningham, lay delegate,
represented St. James, and reported a parsonage as
being in progress there. In July of the same year
Mr. Mortimer, a student at the seminary, began lay
reading at St. James. S. S. Bradford represented
St. Stephen's and P. P. Nalle St. Paul's, which latter
applied for admission into the Convention as a sepa­
rate congregation for the third time, as they- allege.
Mr. D. Conrad, for the committee, questioned the
constitutionality of establishing separate congrega­
tions in one parish, with power to elect lay delegates,
as destroying the equilibrium between the clergy
and laity in Convention ; but having been assured
by Mr. C. and the petitioners that the congregation
is desirous of being admitted as a parish, and intended
so to make application, the committee recommend
that the said separate and petitioning congregation
be admitted as a parish, to be called St. Paul's Par­
ish, in the county of Culpeper, according to the
boundaries set forth in said petition. This report
does not seem to have been voted upon, and is not
found in the record ; yet in 1861 Mr. Cole reports
St. Paul's Church in St. Paul's Parish. In 1862-3
there were no Conventions. In 1864 none of the

BEV. JOHN

COLE.

65

Culpeper churches were represented. In 1865 Mr.
Cole reports St. Stephen's and St. Paul's churches
in St. Mark's Parish.
I n 1866 St. Paul's is reported
as having been destroyed ; but in 1868, the last y e a r
of Mr. Cole's life, he again reports St. Paul's Church
in St. Paul's Parish, as having been rebuilt by t h e
generosity of a Virginian by birth (Mr. J o h n T.
F a r i s h | , but residing in N e w York. The new St.
Paul's was consecrated by Bishop Whittle Nov. 8th,
1868. I t is impossible now to unravel this tangled
skein 6f facts. I n *1869 there is no report, and in
1870 St. Paul's Church reappears in St. Mark's Parish,
and w& hear no more of St. Paul's Parish.
But we have anticipated the chronological order
of our narrative, and must r e t u r n to 1861, when Mr.
Mortimer reports St. J a m e s Church, St. Mark's
Parish, with twenty-eight communicants and t h e
contribution of $3000 for a parsonage. Mr. Cole
reports in t h e same year t h e enlargement of St.
Stephen's church-edifice, with a steeple of fine pro­
portions, and a fine-toned bell, at a cost of $2500,
nearly t h e whole of which was raised within t h e
congregation.
And now t h e "war-clouds rolling d u n " over­
shadowed the land. T h e peaceful parish became an
intrenched camp, and a h i g h w a y for the marching
and counter-marching of grand armies. T h e churches,
so lately resonant with anthems of praise, are torn
down or converted into barracks and hospitals and
stables, and the roar of artillery and t h e blast of t h e
bugle supercede the songs of the sanctuary. Mr.
Cole in his report of 1865-66, tells t h e tale with bleed­
ing h e a r t and bated breath. H e says : " Since m y
last report of 1861, cruel war has raged. P e n cannot

66

-ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

write nor words utter the trials of mind and heart,
and the privations endured. All the Episcopal
churches in this county, and every other place of
worship within the lines of the Federal army (except
the Baptist and Episcopal churches at the Court­
house), were utterly destroyed by it during the winter
of 1863-64. The whole country is a wide-spread
desolation. The people, peeled and poor, are strug­
gling for a living. During the occupation by the
Federal army we were not permitted to use our
church. We worshipped God, like the primitive
Christians, in private houses, and never did the ser­
vices of the Church seem sweeter or more comforting.
I visited the sick and wounded, and buried the dead
of both armies alike — the number of funerals being
490. It is a record for the great day, and not for the
Convention. There were twenty churches of different
denominations destroyed within a comparatively
small area. Among these in this parish were St.
Paul's and St. James, and Calvary Church, under the
care of Eev. P. Slaughter, at the foot of Slaughter's
(Cedar) Mountain. The last named church was built
by Mr. Slaughter on his own place when by ill-health
he was constrained to retire to the country. This
church was consecrated by Bishop Johns in June,
1860, and Mr. S. officiated for the benefit of his neigh­
bors and servants, without fee or reward, other than
that arising from the consciousness of trying to do
some good, under the burden of many infirmities.
The only relic of this church is a beautiful stained
window, which was spared at the intercession of a
young lady, who kept it under her bed till the war
was over. That window now lights a chancel in Mr.
Slaughter's dwelling, which also contains a desk, the

REV. JOHN

COLE.

67

only relic of another of his old churches which was
burned. The chancel, with its relics, has in it t h e
seeds of an u n w r i t t e n poem, whose melody is only
heard in the heart."
Mr. Slaughter, in his r e p o r t to t h e Convention in
1865, s a y s : — " Since t h e destruction of m y church
and the desecration of m y home by Federal soldiers,
I have spent m y time in t h e a r m y and in t h e hos­
pitals, and in editing t h e ' A r m y and N a v y Messenger/
a religious journal for our soldiers and sailors." T h e
despoiled church at Culpeper has been restored b y
t h e aid of friends; St. Paul's has been rebuilt by t h e
kindness of Mr. Farish ; St. J a m e s has risen from t h e
ashes at the bidding of Miss Wheatley and o t h e r s ;
but a few stones and a little grove of evergreens of
second g r o w t h are all t h a t m a r k the spot where once
stood a consecrated fane at the foot of Slaughter's
Mountain. T h e wailing winds play requiems upon
t h e evergreen harps of pine, and the birds singing
sweetly among the branches, with responsive echoes,
are now t h e only choir which chants anthems, where
once y o u n g men and maidens, old men and children,
praised t h e name of t h e Lord. I t is proper to say
t h a t Mr. Slaughter has declined contributions for
rebuilding this church, in favor of other churches
where the field promised a better harvest.
W h e t h e r this church shall rise again God only
knows. His will be done! If a sparrow cannot fall
to the ground without his notice, much less can a
church perish by violence. If it rise not, then let
t h e wailing winds still play its requiem, and t h e plain­
tive dove chant its funeral dirge.
After officiating on Christmas day, 1868, Mr. Cole
was stricken by paralysis, and in a few days finished

68

ST MARE'S

PARISH.

his career of forty years' service in the ministry,
thirty-two of which were spent in St. Mark's Parish.
Dr. Dalrymple, in his address at the Semi-Centenary
of the Seminary, calls special attention to our obli­
gations to Mr. Cole for his successful labors in adding
to our emolument fund, and for his agency in pro­
curing t h e c h a r t e r for our Theological Seminary.
H e also records the following interesting incident,
which we had heard from Mr. Cole's own lips:—At
a convention m a n y years ago, when the clergy and
laity were assembled around the chancel at the close
of the services on Sunday night, Bishop Moore called
on Mr. Cole to raise a hymn. H e obeyed by com­
mencing :
The voice of free grace
Cries, escape to the mountain.
I t was caught up by Bishop, priest and people, singing
jubilant at t h a t solemn hour of night. Such was t h e
origin of this time-honored custom of the Convention
of Virginia.
Eev. Mr. Cole married first, April 10th, 1855,
F a n n y E., daughter of J o h n Thompson of Culpeper
— children, F a n n y Meade, J o h n Thompson, Thomas
Willoughby and Carter S t a n a r d ; and married, second,
Mrs. Conway, daughter of Wm. Foushee. His second
wife soon followed her husband to the tomb, dying
without issue.
After w h a t has been already said, Mr. Cole m a y
be characterized in a few words. I n all the relations
of life he was a true man, t r a n s p a r e n t as D r y d e n ' s
ideal man, whose t h o u g h t s were as visible as t h e
figured hours t h r o u g h t h e crystal of a clock. H e
was not w h a t is called a popular preacher (a ques-

THE SUCCESSORS

OF MB.

COLE.

69

tionable compliment, since it too often implies the
a r t s of the demagogue), and he had a true English
hatred of all shams. H e was a faithful and brave
soldier of the Cross, not ashamed of t h e faith of
Christ crucified, but manfully fought under his
banner unto his life's end. A fitting inscription upon
his tomb would be these w o r d s : " H e feared God —
he had no other fear."
T H E STJCCESSOKS O F T H E E E Y . MK. C O L E .
H a v i n g now taken leave of t h e dead past, w e
stand in t h e presence of t h e living. W e must be
w a r y of our words, not only because (as Dr. H a w k s
said of Bishop Moore in his lifetime) we would not
" shock the delicacy of living w o r t h "; but because
it will be t h e office of those who come after them and
see their end, to m a r k their place in history. T h e
only exception to this rule we have already noted,
he having no more active field-work to do.
The Eev. George W. Peterkin, who had been
assisting his father at Eichmond, took charge of St.
Stephen's Church in J u n e , 1869. In 1870 he re­
ported an addition of 26 to the communion of 1868,
which he found t h e r e at his coming. Sunday School
more t h a n doubled; sermons and addresses during
t h e y e a r 140, and 40 public catechisings. T h e Eev.
Chas. Yancey Steptoe, w h o had been recently
ordained, and had recently taken charge of Christ
and St. Paul's churches, reported an aceession of 18
to t h e communion, with 110 Sunday school teachers
and scholars. Bishop J o h n s , in 1869, had consecrated
Christ's Church, " w h i c h (he said) from its position
supplied the place of two churches destroyed during

7°

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

the war. For this beautiful building we are indebted
to the Christian sympathy of Miss E. A, Wheatley,
formerly of Culpeper, now of Brooklyn, New York.
She provided the funds and furnished the plan. It
stands in full view of the railroad, a pleasing memo­
rial of the pious devotion of a lady who loved her
people and built them a Christian synagogue."
In 1871 Mr. Peterkin reported a handsome brick
building at a cost of $1669.40, raised on the credit of
the vestry, and the organization of a church school
for girls, under the charge of Mr. K. S. Nelson. Mr.
Steptoe reports an addition of 21 to the communion
of Christ and St. Paul's churches, and a contribution
of $1215.23. In 1872 Mr. Peterkin reports an addi­
tion of 44 to the communion of St. Stephen's, a
Sunday school of 200, and 3 teachers and 27 scholars
in church school. " Daring the past year (he says)
the school has sustained itself, and become a recog­
nized power in the parish. An important part of
my work (he adds) during two years past, has been
the restoration of an old colonial church, about twelve
miles from Culpeper, in the Little Pork. $250 have
been spent in necessary repairs, of which $100 was
from the Bruce Fund. Congregations large, and
8 communicants at the old church." Mr. Steptoe
reports the building of a rectory near Brandy Sta­
tion for the use of Christ and St. Paul's churches, at
a cost of $2150, of which Christ's Church contributes
$1005; St. Paul's, $450; Piedmont Convocation,
$180; Miss Wheatley, $415, and Mr. Suter, of New
York, $100. A steeple, bell, and other improvements
have been added to Christ Church by our kind
friend Miss Wheatley. In 1873 Mr. Peterkin reports
137 communicants, a Sunday school of 280, of whom

PRESENT STA TUS.

7*

35 are colored children, 3 teachers and 39 scholars in
the church school, which, he says, is so established
and governed as to enable t h e church to extend t h e
blessing of Christian education among her people.
Mr. Steptoe reports a church at Eapidan Station as
nearly finished by our own efforts and t h e aid of
friendly communicants at Christ and St. Paul's
churches.
1874. Rev. J a m e s G-. Minnegerode having succeeded
Mr. P e t e r k i n (who had taken charge of Memorial
Church, Baltimore,) reports 145 communicants and a
Sunday school of 282. Mr. Steptoe, for Christ, St.
Paul's, and Emmanuel churches, reports 96 commu­
nicants and Sunday schools of 86, contributions
$1545.11, the consecration of Emmanuel Church b y
Bishop J o h n s on t h e 10th of December, 1873. " I
officiated (he says) a t Emmanuel's t w o Sundays
in t h e month, in t h e afternoon, until we were so
fortunate as to secure the services of t h e Rev. Dr.
Slaughter, as long as his health shall hold out. B y
t h e aid of Mr. J. Wilmer, Jr., as L a y Reader, he has
been able to officiate on Sunday mornings." Dr.
Slaughter himself says he has been much aided by
t h e s y m p a t h y and co-operation of Mr. Steptoe and
of the Bishop of Louisiana, who spends some of t h e
summer months here, and is always ready to help
us with good words and good works.

1876.

P R E S E N T STATUS OF THE CHURCHES IN S T .
MARK'S PARISH.

St. Stephen's Church, Rev. J . G. Minnegerode,
Rector:—Communicants 170, Sunday school teachers
and scholars 200, of whom 50 are colored.

7

2

ST. MARK'S

PARISH.

Christ and St. Paul's Churches, Kev. C. Y. Steptoe,
Eector:— Communicants, after subtracting those
transferred, 80.
The present writer officiates at Emmanuel Church.
Of his work there it does not become him to speak,
except to say, that he deems it a privilege at this
eleventh hour of his ministry to be permitted to do
even a day's work in the vineyard. Communicants
36, the number having just trebled since the institu­
tion of regular services.
At the last Convention St. Mark's was again
divided, and Eidley Parish taken out of its eastern
side, by a line beginning at Jameson's Mill, on Muddy
Eun, with that Eun to Hazel (Eastham's) Eiver,
thence with that river to the Eappahannock Eiver,
with Eappahannock to the mouth of the Eapidan,
up the Eapidan to the mouth of the Eobinson, up
the Eobinson to Crooked Eun, up that run to Wayland's Mill, thence to the top of Mount Poney, thence
to the beginning. The new parish includes Christ's,
St. Paul's, and Emmanuel churches, and leaves to
the now mutilated St. Mark's only St. Stephen's
Church at Culpeper, and the old Centennial Brick
Church in the Little Fork, the only representative
in this parish of the Church of England in the
" Colony and Dominion " of Virginia.
We have said in the text that we had not been
able to fix the precise date of the building of St.
Stephen's Church, Culpeper C. H. General Edward
Stevens (the Eevolutionary hero), who lived in the
house now occupied by Mrs. Lightfoot, in his will,
recorded in August, 1820, " confirms his promise to
give one acre of land in Fairfax " for an Episcopal
church, one acre adjoining the village for a Presby-

ST. THOMAS PARISH.

73

terian church, and one acre to Free Masons' Lodge
of Fairfax adjoining his family burying-ground for a
cemetery. St. Stephen's was built between 1820 and
1823.
ST. THOMAS PARISH, ORANGE COUNTY.
This parish was cut off from St. Mark's in 1740,
carrying James Barbour and Benjamin Cave, vestry­
men, along with it. Before the separation St. Mark's
had built a church, since known as the Old Orange
Church, near Ruekersville, and a chapel where Robert
Brooken now jives. There was also a chapel ordered
at Bradley's or Batley's quarter, whose site was to
have been fixed by Benjamin Cave. After the sepa­
ration, St. Thomas' vestry built the Pine Stake
Church, near Raccoon Ford, on land originally pat­
ented by Francis Taliaferro; and a middle church
below Orange C. H., on land now owned by Erasmus
Taylor. All trace of the Pine Stake Church is gone.
The writer remembers in his boyhood to have been
at a barbecue at the church spring. The middle
church was of brick, and was well preserved as late
as 1806. Some years later it shared the fate of many
other old churches, which were assumed to be common
property, and were torn down and carried off piece
by piece. The gilt altar-piece, with other ornaments
of the chancel, were attached to household furniture.
The old communion service, engraved with the name
of the parish, given by the grandmother of President
Madison and other good women, has been recovered
and is now in use.
Unhappily the old records of St. Thomas Parish
have been lost, so that it is no longer possible to
a

74

ST. THOMAS

PAB1SII.

reproduce t h e chief early actors in it. The Eev.
Mungo Marshall was minister in 1753* There was
once a tombstone over his grave, but t h a t too was
appropriated, and was used in a t a n n e r y to dress
hides upon. In 1760 he was succeeded b y t h e Eev.
W m . Giberne. I n 1761 t h e Eev. J a m e s Marye fol­
lowed, and his first official act was the funeral sermon
of t h e paternal g r a n d m o t h e r of President Madison.
I n the family record it is said, " h e r funeral sermon
was preached by Eev. J . Marye, j r . , from Eev. 14
ch. 13 verse." In 1767-8 the Eev. Thomas Martin
succeeded. H e was a tutor of President Madison, and
lived for a time in t h e family at Montpelier. H e
w a s a brother of Governor Martin of N o r t h Carolina.
A letter from Mr. Madison to him expressing a g r e a t
respect and affection for his preceptor, m a y be seen
in " Eeves' Life and Times of Madison." Eev. J o h n
B u r n e t t succeeded Martin about 1770, and was fol­
lowed by Eev. Jno. Wingate, the last of t h e colonial
clergy, who being suspected of want of loyalty to
Virginia, soon took his leave. The disloyal odor this
man left behind him m a y have been the reason w h y
t h e vestry, who were very patriotic (James Madison,
t h e v e s t r y m a n , was chairman of the Orange commit­
tee), did not have another minister for twenty-three
years, contenting themselves with occasional services
by t h e E e v . M a t t h e w M a u r y of Albemarle. T h e old
churchwarden, Major Moore, buried t h e dead with
t h e church service, and t h e Eev. Mr. Belmaine, while
paying his court to Miss L u c y Taylor, and on his
visits after his marriage, officiated. The Eev. H e n r y
F r y (Methodist) was sometimes called upon to
preach, always preceding his sermons with the old
church service (says Col. F r a n k Taylor in his

ST. THOMAS

PARISH.

75

diary.) In 1780 the vestry engaged the blind Pres­
byterian minister Mr. Waddell (whose eloquence has
been so glorified and transfigured by the genius of
Mr. Wirt) to officiate for them once a month in the
Brick (Middle) Church, and gave him 60 pounds.
Mr. Q'Neil was the minister from 1790 to about 1800.
In 1809-11 the Rev. Hugh C. Boggs officiated at
Orange C. H. and the Pine Stake Church, which was
standing as late as 1813.
This brings us to the time when the minister from
Culpeper began services in Orange, of which an
account will be found in the body of this work. The
church at Orange C. H. is modern, having been built
in 1833-34. The history of the services of the Messrs.
Jones, Earnest, Davis, Carson, and Hansbrpugh, are
within the knowledge of those now living, and need
not be reproduced here; it not being within the scope
of this book to give more than a brief sketch of
Bromfield and St. Thomas, as having been originally
within the bounds of St. Mark's Parish.
Col. Frank Taylor's diary enables one to form a
life-like conception of the animated social circle of
which Orange C. H. was the centre from 1786 to
1799. The circle embraced Montpelier, Coleman's
Springs, Clarke's Mountain, and parts of Culpeper
and Madison counties. The persons who figured in
it were Col. Frank Taylor, James Taylor (Clerk of
the County), Dr. Ch. Taylor, the family physician,
and Erasmus, Robert, John, and other Taylors, whose
name is legion. Col. Thomas Barbour and his
brother James, James Barbour, Jr., Dr. Thomas
Barbour, Richard Barbour—Ambrose, Gabriel, Philip,
son of Thomas; Philip, son of Ambrose; and another
Philip Barbour. Major Moore, Robert, John, and

7

6

ST. THOMAS PABISH.

William Moore, and many more. Col. James Madison,
Sr., Col. James, Jr. (President), Ambrose, William,
Catlett, and other Madisons. Crump, Charles, Ben,
and Abner Porter. William and E. B. Morton,
Andrew Shepherd, Sr. and Jr., and John and Alex­
ander Shepherd. A whole chime of Bells — John,
William, Thomas, and Charles. Col. Lawrence, Hay,
Prank, and William Taliaferro. Capt. Catlett, Frank,
John Catlett, Jr., and Henry Conway. Col. James
Pendleton, Nat., Henry, John, Bowie, Philip, and
countless other Pendletons, chiefly from Culpeper.
Capt. William and Francis Dade. Andrew and John
Glassell, Reuben Smith, James and John Walker.
Zachary, Robert, and John Burnley, and Isaac and
John Williams, and Samuel Slaughter. Divers
Alcockes, Lees, and Gibsons, &c, &c. Among the
young ladies were Lucy, Sally, and Fanny Barbour;
Nancy, Sally, Betsy, Patsy, Lucy, and Polly Taylor;
Franky Alexander, Milly and Polly Glassell, Han­
nah Watkins, Lucy Gaines; Mary, Betsy, Sally, and
Suky Conway; Fanny, Elizabeth, Joanna, and two
Katies Pendleton; Sally, Betsy, and Judy Burnley;
Sally, Nelly, Elizabeth, and Frances Madison ; Fanny
and Polly Moore, the Misses Gilbert, Sally Throgmorton, the Misses Chew, &c, &c. And then there
was an almost continuous influx of visitors, chiefly
from Spotsylvania, Caroline, and Culpeper, and a
stream of travellers to and from Kentucky by way of
Culpeper, Winchester, and Bed Stone in Monongalia.
These people seem to have had a gay time — dining
parties of twenty-five to thirty from house to house;
quilting parties, winding up with a dance; balls at
Sanford's, BelPs, and Alcocke's hotels in the winter,
varied with hare, fox, and wolf-hunting, especially

ST. THOMAS PARISH.

77

when Major Willis and Hay Taliaferro came up with
twenty hounds. In the summer they had fish-fries
and barbecues at Dade's Mill, Waugh's Ford, Wood's
Spring, Leathers' Spring, and Herndon's Spring.
Col. Taylor seems never to have missed an election ;
he always records the names of the candidates for
office and the number of votes for each. He brings
before us Mr. Madison as candidate for Congress,
Assembly and Convention, addressing the people in
defence of the Constitution, to which the ignorant
were opposed. He is said to have spoken from the
steps of the old Lutheran Church, now in Madison,
with the people standing iri the snow, and the cold so
intense that the orator's ears were frost-bitten. He
records the votes for General Stevens of Culpeper
as Presidential Elector, for French Strother for
Senator, and for Tom Barbour and C. Porter for
Assembly. He tells us about vestry meetings which
elected Tom Barbour and William Moore deputies to
the Convention; of Col. Oliver Towles, Wm. Wirt,
Bobert Taylor, &c, pleading at the bar. We see the
ladies shopping at Lee's, and Shepherd's, and Taylor's,
and Wilson's stores, and the men playing at the five
batteries. Weddings too seem to have been more
common than now. Under the date of January 1786
he says: Wm. Madison and the ladies have just
returned from the marriage of Mordecai Barbour and
Miss Strode. 27th March, 1787, large company at
J. Taylor's, at the marriage of Tom Barbour and
Mary Taylor, by Eev. Mr. Stevenson. July 1st, at
the marriage of John Bell and Judy Burnley, and
then he varies the scene by saying: " Went to church
2d Dec, and Mr. Waddell told the people that he had
heard that it would be agreeable to them for him not

78

ST. THOMAS PABISII.

to attend here again till March, and he would not."
1788, 24th March, election for Convention:—James
Madison 202 votes, James Gordon 187, C. Porter 34.
Madison's election gave great satisfaction. May
14th, 1788, James Madison, Jr., at Goodlet's school
examining the boys. The next marriage, Nov. 10th,
1789, Archy Tutt to Caty Pendleton, of Culpeper;
Dec. 8th, John Stevens to Polly Williams of Culpeper;
1790, then comes the marriage of Thos. Macon and
Sally Madison, and on the 5th of Sept., R. William­
son and Caty Pendleton ; Oct. 10th, John Harrison
and Sally Barbour; Dec. 11th, Henry Bell and Betsy
Alcocke. 1791, Ch. Porter died. April 27th, James
Blair and Nelly Shepherd. 29th July, John Bell, of
Culpeper, died. B. Wood married Miss Porter. May
3d, Henry Fitzhugh and Betsy Conway. Nov., Wm.
Dade and Mrs. Sarah Dade. Nov. 29th, Joshua Fry
married Kitty Walker. 1794, James Madison mar­
ried Mrs. Todd. July 19th, Erasmus Taylor died,
eighty-three years old. 29th, Col. Thomas Barbour's
wife died. 1795, May 18th, Mrs. Sarah Thomas died,
eighty-four years of age. James Barbour, Jr., married
Lucy Johnson. Dec, James Bell married Hannah
Gwatkin. 22d, James Taylor, Jr., married Fanny
C. Moore. Thos. Bell (Courthouse) married Sally
Burnley. Jno. Walker (son of James) married Lucy
Wood, of Madison. 1796, Feb. 5th, Fortunatus
Winslow married Polly Alcocke. D. Turner married
Miss E. Pendleton, of Caroline. March 2d, James
Coleman (Springs) and Thos. Bell died. 5th, Henry
Pendleton married Elizabeth Pendleton, of Culpeper.
22d, Col. Eichard Barbour married Polly Moore.
23d, Thos. Scott, of Madison, died. 26th, Col. T.
Moore died. Mrs. Alcocke, formerly Mrs. Dr. Walker,

BROMFIELD

PARISH.

79

died. Nov. 16th, Adam D a r b y married Betsy Shep­
herd. Dee. 3d, Eeuben Smith married Milly Glapsell.
19th, A n t h o n y Buck married Mary Shepherd. 1797,
March 14th, Baldwin Taliaferro married Ann Spotswood, of N e w Post. 16th, H a y Taliaferro married
Sukey Conway, and my son and daughter went to
t h e wedding — t h e horses ran away and they did not
get back. Nov. 19th, Ambrose Macon married Miss
Thomas. Dec. 7th, Camp P o r t e r married a daughter
of Jno. Alcocke. W m . Mallory married Mary Gibson.
1798, March 12th, Rev. Mr. O'Neil and Phil. Barbour
(son of Thomas) came here this morning. Mr. O'Neil
had been to Tom Barbour's to m a r r y T. N e w m a n and
L u c y Barbour. 1799, J a n . 8th, large company a t
J a m e s Taylor's, at the marriage of Thomas Crutchfield, and Col. J a m e s Barbour came home with me.
G. Terrill had petition to Assembly for bridge at
Barnett's Ford.
The churches in St. Thomas Parish are St.
Thomas, Orange Courthouse, Eev. J n o . S. H a n s brough, Rector, who reported in 1876 eighty-six
communicants.
Christ Church, Gordonsville, Rev. F . G. Scott,
Rector, communicants (1876) forty-six.
BROMFIELD PARISH.
Bromfield was cut off from St. Mark's by Act of
Assembly in 1752. T h e dividing line has been
marked in the body of this work. I t s western
boundary starts from J o h n Spotswood's corner on
Crooked Run (near Wayland's Mill) and runs north
by east to the junction of White Oak Run with t h e
Rappahannock R i v e r ; thus including w h a t is now

8o

BROMFIELD

PARISH.

Madison and Eappahannock Counties, and a small
section of Culpeper. Bromfield, after this date, had
its ministers, vestries, and records, of which there is
now scarcely a trace. In the absence of such
registers, I can only reconstruct the history of this
parish with the few materials gleaned from different
and distinct sources. The very name has been re­
cently and unconsciously changed into Bloomfield,
in which form it appears on the Journals of Conven­
tion ever since 1833, except in 1839 when it was
represented by Jno. F. Conway, who restored the
right name. After this one effort to recover its his­
torical name, it relapsed into Bloomfield, and has
been so called ever since. Even Bishop Meade calls
it "Old Bloomfield Parish." The word is Saxon,
and means Broomfield. Perhaps this is the origin
of what we call in Virginia a broom-straw or broomsedge field. However applicable the term may have
been to the lower part of the parish (the Piney
Woods), Bloomfield is more descriptive of the Pied­
mont portion, which had not then been developed.
Let us hope that the lost name may be restored for
history's sake.
We know the names of at least two of the old
vestrymen of Bromfield, Martin Nalle and Ambrose
Powell, who in 1754 negotiated with the vestry of
St. Mark's about running the dividing line between
the old and the new parish. Henry Field and
Philip Clayton had been ordered in 1752 to attend
the surveyor in running these lines. The courses
threw " Tennant's Church " and the church in the
Fork of Devil's Run and the Hazel .River into
Bromfield Parish. Later in the century there was
a church at F. T., so called from the initials of

BROMFIELD

PARISH,

81

Frank Thornton being cut on an oak tree near the
spring, that being a corner in his survey. There
was also a church not far from the present site
of Washington, near where Frank Slaughter now
lives.
The first minister of Bromfield probably was the
Rev. Adam Menzies, who had been a respectable
schoolmaster, for I find in the " Fulham MSS." that
he was licensed for Yirginia, and his name is set
down in 1754-5 as minister of Bromfield. There
was also a James Herdman (1775), some of whose
books are now in my possession (Sherlock's, Seeker's,
and Atterbury's sermons), which were bought in
Eappahannock as the remnant of an old English
parson's library. The late Samuel Slaughter, who
died about 1857, in his 90th year, said that he, in his
boyhood, went to school to a Rev. Mr. Harrison,
minister of Bromfield. Thomas, great-grandson of
Burr Harrison, of Chippawamsic (who was bap­
tized at Westminster in December, 1637, and was
the first of the family in Yirginia), was the father of
the late Philip Harrison of Richmond, and of Mrs.
Freeman, mother of Mrs. McCoy, of Culpeper. In
17 90 there was a minister named Iredell who offici­
ated at the South Church, four miles below Madison
C. H. He was followed by O'Neil, an athletic
Irishman, who was one of those old-time school­
masters who believed in what Hudibras calls ''Apos­
tolic blows and knocks" more than in the Apostolic
succession. He was a disciple of Solomon and never
"spoiled the child by sparing the rod." He sus­
pended them upon a stout negro's back when he ad­
ministered the flagellations. He taught school near
the Pine Stake Church, in the family of Col. Talia-

82

BROMFIELD

PARISH.

ferro, and also in Madison. The late Judge Barbour
and the Hon. Jere and Dr. Geo. Morton were among
his pupils, and retained a lively recollection of his
discipline. The memory of that mother in Israel,
Mrs. Sarah Lewis, already referred to, went back to
O'Neil's time. The Eev. J. Woodville made occa­
sional excursions to these churches, when vacant,
and the Lutheran minister, Mr. Carpenter, baptized
and buried the Episcopalians when without a pastor.
The leading Episcopal families who adhered to
the church of their fathers through evil as well as
good report, were the Lewises, Burtons, Yawters,
Caves, Gibbs, Strothers, Thorntons, Barbours, Conways, Gibsons, Panniils, Gaines, and Beales. The
last name reminds me that Eeuben Beale was a
Lay Delegate to the first Convention in 1789 and
1793. After the revival of the church in the Eev.
Mr. Lamon's time (1834-5), when there were large
accessions to its communion, the ministers have
been the Eev. A. H. Lamon, deceased, Wm. T.
Leavell, John Cole, deceased, E. T. Brown of Mary­
land, Joseph Earnest, deceased, Eev. Dr. Shield of
Louisville, Ky., Wm. H. Pendleton, deceased, J. G.
Minnegerode of Culpeper, Eev. Mr. Wroth of Balti more, with occasional services by other clergym en.
There is a church at Madison C. H. which, in 1834 ,
had forty communicants whose names are now before
me, a church at Woodville, and one at Washington .
These churches have been so depleted by emigration
to the south and west, and by infrequent and inter­
mittent services, that they are hardly able to stand
alone, and are now (Dec. 1876) like sheep scattered
on the mountains, without a shepherd.

^istoxicvd %xtuv8iou&.
THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HOKSESHOE.
Sic juvat transcendere Montes.

Governor Spotswood's expedition over t h e g r e a t
mountains, as he called it, is one of the most
romantic passages in t h e history of Virginia.
Indeed, it has been happily chosen as the theme of a
r o m a n c e by Dr. Caruthers, entitled " T h e K n i g h t s
of the Horseshoe," a traditionary tale of the cocked
h a t g e n t r y in the Old Dominion. T h e a u t h o r seems
to have used due diligence in gathering the fugitive
traditions of this adventure which lingered dimly
in t h e minds of his generation. The popular idea
of this expedition seems to have been derived from
t h e " traditionary tale," as t h e author fitly calls it.
One is reluctant to unmask a popular idol by substi­
t u t i n g facts for fancies and showing t h e historical
basis upon which it stands. U n t i l t h e publication
of J o h n Fontaine's journal, t h e facts known about
this expedition were but few. Eobert Beverly, one
of t h e p a r t y , in his Preface to the H i s t o r y of Vir­
ginia, 1722, merely said, " I was with t h e p r e s e n t
Governor at the head-spring of both these rivers
(York and Eappahannock), and their fountains are
in the highest ridge of mountains." T h e Kev. H u g h
J o n e s , Chaplain to the House of Burgesses, in his
P r e s e n t State of Virginia (1724), says :—" Governor
Spotswood when he undertook the great discovery

8

4

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

of a passage over the mountains, attended with a
sufficient guard of pioneers and gentlemen, with a
supply of provisions, passed these mountains and cut
his Majesty's name upon a rock upon the highest of
them, naming it Mt. George, and in complaisance to
him the gentlemen called the mountain next to it
Mt. Alexander. For this expedition they were
obliged to provide a great quantity of horseshoes,
things seldom used in the eastern part of Yirginia,
where there are no stones. Upon which account the
Governor, upon his return, presented each of his
companions with a golden horseshoe, some of which
I have seen covered with valuable stones resembling
heads of nails, with the inscription on one side, ' Sic
juvat transcendere Montes.' This he intended to
encourage gentlemen to venture backward and make
discoveries and settlements; any gentleman being
entitled to wear this golden shoe who could prove
that he had drunk his Majesty's health on Mt.
George."
It has always been assumed that Gov. Spotswood
communicated an account of his expedition to the
home government, and it tends to confirm this
assertion that Chalmers in his " Annals " says the
British Government penuriously refused to pay the
cost of golden horseshoes. But nothing has yet
been produced from Spotswood on this subject. The
present writer has recently gone through the Spotswood manuscripts recovered from England, whither
they had been carried by Feathershaugh, and which
are now the property of the Historical Society of
Yirginia. We only discovered one allusion to the
subject in these papers. In a letter to the Board of
Trade, 1718, Spotswood says:—"The chief aim of

KNIGHTS

OF THE GOLDEN

HOBSESHOE.

85

my expedition over the great mountains in 1716 was
to satisfy myself whether it was practicable to come
at the lakes. Having found an easy passage over
that great ridge of mountains hitherto deemed unpassable, I discovered from the relations of Indians
which frequent these parts, that from the pass where
I was it was but three days' march to a great nation
of Indians, living on a river which discharges itself
into Lake Erie; and that from the west side of the
small mountain that I saw that lake is very visible.
The mountains on the other side of the great ridge
being smaller than those I passed, shows how easy a
matter it is to gain possession of these lakes." To
account for these crude notions of the geography of
the country it must be remembered that all west of
Germanna was at that time a vast unexplored
wilderness, covered by a dense forest, never trodden
by the foot of the white man, except the flying
rangers who hovered upon the frontiers of popula­
tion to watch the Indians.
John Fontaine, son of Rev. James Fontaine
(Huguenot), and brother of the Eev. Peter Fontaine
and of the Eev. James Fontaine, clergymen of the
Church of England in Virginia, was an ensign in the
British army. He came to Virginia in 1713, for the
purpose of exploring the country and choosing lands
for the settlement of the family when they should
come over. He made the acquaintance of Governor
Spotswood at Williamsburg, and under his auspices
visited the new settlement at Germanna, and accom­
panied Spotswood to his Indian school at Ohristanna,
on the Meherrin River, and also on his expedition
over the great mountains. He kept a journal of his
daily doings, which furnishes the only authentic
1

H

86

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

account we have of this stirring adventure. His
plain, unvarnished tale dispels the mist which the
popular fancy had peopled with hostile Indians
haunting the march, assassins stealing into camp at
dead of night and committing murder, perpetrating
massacres, and doing battle in the mountain passes.
The recent publication of this journal rescues the
facts from traditionary perversions and restores
them to their true historical proportions. From him
(an eyewitness) we learn that Governor Spotswood
came from Williamsburg by way of Chelsea (King
William) and Eobert Beverly's (Middlesex), where
the Governor left his chaise, and bringing Beverly
along, came on horseback to Germanna, where, on
the 26th August, 1716, they were met by other gen­
tlemen, four Meherrin Indians, and two small
companies of rangers. The names of the gentlemen
of the party, deduced in part from the camps which
were called after them, were: Governor Spotswood,
John Fontaine, Eobt. Beverly, the historian ; Col.
Eobertson, Dr. Eobinson, Taylor Todd, Mason,
Captains Clonder, and Smith, and Brooke, the ances­
tor of the late Judge Brooke. Campbell says:—" The
whole company was about fifty persons. They had
a large number of riding and pack-horses, an abundant
supply of provisions, and an extraordinary variety of
liquors."
There have been divers opinions about the route
which this gay company of young bloods pursued,
and the gap at which they passed the mountains.
The starting point (Germanna) is fixed, and the ter­
minus, we think, by the light of Fontaine's Journal, is
just as certain. * We have seen that Beverly (of the
party) says " he was with Governor Spotswood at the

KNIGHTS

OF THE

GOLDEN

HORSESHOE.

87

head-springs of the York and Rappahannock Rivers."
We shall presently see that Fontaine says " we passed
from the head-waters of the Rappahannock to the
head-waters of the James in a few hours." Now as
Swift Run Grap is the only " pass " which the head­
waters of York, James, and Rappahannock rivers
approximate, and as Swift Run, a branch of the
James, flows down the eastern gorge of the gap from
a spring whose present site, description, and relations
to another spring flowing down the western declivity
correspond with Fontaine's account of them, we are
shut up to the conclusion that Swift Run Grap is the
historical pass. As to the intermediate course
between these fixed points nothing is certainly
known, except the first stages, viz. Expedition (Big
Russell) Ran, Mine Run, Mountain Run (the last two
still retaining the names given them by these cava­
liers), and Rappahannock River at or near Somerville's Ford. So far the route seems plain. Our
theory, as seen by the map, is that, encountering
Clarke's Mountain at this point, they crossed the
river, which demonstrably then ran nearer the moun­
tain than now, and proceeding up the flats until they
had flanked the mountain, recrossed to the highlands,
and passing through Jones', Holladay's, Bresee's, &c,
encamped beyond Barnett's Ford, at a point where
they had a fine view of the Appalachian Mountains,
as they called them. Persons may well differ as to
the precise line of travel, and maintain their theories
by plausible arguments. All the points cannot now
be settled with absolute certainty, and are not mate­
rial; the main point being the general course of
travel between Grermanna and Swift Run Gap. The
theory of the map is that they continued their

88

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

journey on the south side of the Eapidan through
the beautiful bottoms of the forks of Poplar, Blue
and Marsh Euns, striking and crossing the river
again where it is very small. That they returned
this way is confirmed by the fact that when they
reached a certain point on the Eapidan, Mr. Beverly
was so pleased with the land that he said he would
take out a patent for it. Mr. B. Johnson Barbour's
title to his beautiful river-farm goes back to Beverly's
patent. The accompanying map was kindly and
gratuitously constructed for us by Capt. Joseph J.
Halsey, a lawyer, versed in the lore of old land
patents and surveys, and a competent topographer,
after a patient study of all the materials we could
gather. The map is based upon sketches of the
country about Germanna made by Eev. J. C. Willis,
of Indiantown, from his own surveys, and an outline
map of Mr. Brooking of the upper part of the route,
and upon Capt. Halsey's own surveys, supplemented
by his knowledge of the country, and aided by the
suggestions of Mr. Stevens of Stannardsville, and
other persons of the vicinage. Messrs. Halsey,
Willis, and Brooking are all practical surveyors, and
represent the beginning, middle and end of the route.
But we must not detain the reader longer from
Fontaine's Journal, from which he can deduce his
own conclusions. Those who have never read it will
find it a lively picture of the first company of gentle­
men whose trumpet first waked the echoes of our
hills, and lifted the blue veil which hid from the eyes
of the white man the fair face of nature in the Valley
of Virginia.

KNIGHTS

OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE.

JOURNAL OF M R .

89

FONTAINE.

August 27th.—Got our tents in order and our
horses shod.
29th.—In the morning we got all things in readi­
ness, and about one we left the German-town, to set
out on our intended journey. At five in the after­
noon the Governor gave orders to encamp near a
small river three miles from Germanna, which we
call Expedition Eun, and here we lay all night. The
first encampment was called Beverly Camp, in honor
of one of the gentlemen of our party. We made
great fires, and supped, and drank good punch. By
ten of the clock 1 had taken all of my ounce of
Jesuit's bark, but my head was much out of order.
30th.—In the morning about seven of the clock
the trumpet sounded to awake all the company, and
we got up. One Austin Smith, one of the gentlemen
with us, having a fever, returned home. We had
lain upon the ground under cover of our tents, and
we found by the pains in our bones that we had not
had good beds to lie upon. At nine in the morning
we sent our servants and baggage forward, and we
remained because two of the Governor's horses had
strayed. At half-past two we got the horses, at
three we mounted, and at half an hour after four we
came up with our baggage at a small river three
miles on the way, which we call Mine Eiver, because
there was an appearance of a silver mine by it. We
made about three miles more, and came to another
small river, which is at the foot of a small mountain,
so we encamped here and called it Mountain Kun,
and our camp we called Todd's Camp. We had
good pasturage for our horses, and venison in abund-

9°

Hit* TO HI CA L KXC

UBS1ONS.

ance for ourselves, which we roasted before the fire
on wooden forks, and so we went to bed in our tents.
We made six miles this day.
31st.—At eight in the morning we set out from
Mountain Bun, and after going five miles we came
upon the upper p a r t of Eappahannock Eiver. One
of the gentlemen and I, we kept out on one side of
the company about a mile, to have t h e better hunt­
ing. I saw a deer and shot him from m y horse, but
the horse threw me a terrible fall and ran away, we
ran after him, and with a great deal of difficulty got
him again ; but we could not find t h e deer I had
shot, and we lost ourselves, and it was two hours
before we could come upon the track of our company.
About five miles farther we crossed t h e same river
again, and two miles farther we met with a large
bear, which one of our company shot and I got t h e
skin. We killed several deer, and about t w o miles
from t h e place where we killed the bear we
encamped, upon the Eappahannock Eiver. F r o m
our encampment we could see t h e Appalachian
Hills very plain. W e made large fires, pitched our
tents, and cut boughs to lie upon, had good liquor,
and at ten we went to sleep. We always kept a
sentry at the Governor's door. We called this
Smith's Camp. Made this day fourteen miles.
1st September.—At eight we mounted our horses
and made the first five miles of our way t h r o u g h a
very pleasant plain, which lies where E a p p a h a n n o c k
Eiver forks. I saw there the largest timber, t h e
finest and deepest mould, and the best grass t h a t I
ever did see. We had some of our baggage p u t out
of order and our company dismounted by hornets
stinging the horses. This was some hindrance and

KNIGHTS

OF THE

GOLDEN

HORSESHOE,

9i

did a little damage, but afforded a great deal of
diversion. We killed three bears this day, which
exercised t h e horses as well as t h e men. We saw
t w o foxes, but did not pursue t h e m ; we killed
several deer. About five of the clock we came to a
run of water at the foot of a hill where we pitched
our tents. We called the encampment Dr. Eobinson's Camp, and t h e river Blind Eun. We had good
pasturage for our horses, and every one was cook for
himself. We made our beds with bushes as before.
This day we made thirteen miles.
2d.—At nine we were all on horseback, and after
riding about five miles we crossed the E a p p a h a n n o c k
E i v e r almost at t h e head, where it is very small.
We had a rugged w a y ; we passed over a g r e a t
m a n y small runs of water, some of which were v e r y
deep and others very miry. Several of our company
were dismounted, some were down with their horses,
and some t h r o w n off. We saw a bear running down
a tree, but it being Sunday we did not endeavor to
kill anything. We encamped at five by a small
river we called W h i t e Oak Eiver, and called our
camp Taylor's Camp.
3d.—About eight we were on horseback, and about
ten we came to a thicket so t i g h t l y laced together
t h a t we had a great deal of trouble to get t h r o u g h .
Our baggage was injured, our clothes torn all to
rags, and the saddles and holsters also torn. About
five of the clock we encamped almost at the head of
J a m e s Eiver, just below t h e g r e a t mountains. We
called this camp Col. Eobertson's camp. We made
all this day but eight miles.
4th.—We had t w o of our men sick with t h e
measles and one of our horses poisoned with a rattle-

9

2

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

snake. We took t h e heaviest of our baggage, our
tired horses, and the sick men, and made as conve­
nient a lodge for them as we could, and left people
to guard them and to h u n t for t h e m . We had
finished this work by twelve, and so we set out.
The sides of the mountains were so full of vines and
briers t h a t we were forced to clear most of the way
before us. We crossed one of the small mountains
on this side the Appalachian, and from the top of it
we had a fine view of the plains below. We were
obliged to walk up t h e most of t h e way, t h e r e being
abundance of loose stones on t h e side of the hill. I
killed a large rattlesnake here, and the other people
killed three more. We made about four miles, and
so came to the side of J a m e s Eiver where a man
may j u m p over it, and there we pitched our t e n t s .
As the people were lighting t h e fire there came out
of a large log of wood a prodigious snake, which t h e y
killed, so this camp was called E a t t l e s n a k e Camp,
but otherwise it was called Brooke's Camp.
5th.—A fair day. A t five we were mounted. W e
were obliged to have axemen to clear t h e w a y in
some places. W e followed t h e windings of J a m e s
Eiver, observing t h a t it came from the very top of
the mountains. We killed two rattlesnakes during
our ascent. I n some places it was very steep, in
others it was so t h a t we could ride up. About one
of t h e clock we got to the top of the m o u n t a i n ;
about four miles and a half and we came to the very
head-spring of J a m e s Eiver, where it runs no bigger
than a man's arm from under a big stone. We d r a n k
K i n g George's health and all t h e royal family's at
the very top of t h e Appalachian mountains. About
a musket-shot from t h e spring t h e r e is another,

KNIGHTS

OF THE

GOLDEN

HORSESHOE.

93

which rises and runs down to the other side. It
goes westward, and we thought we could go down
that way, but we met with such prodigious preci­
pices that we were obliged to return to the top again.
We found some trees which had been formerly
marked, I suppose by the Northern Indians, and
following these trees we found a good, safe descent.
Several of the company were for returning, but the
Governor persuaded them to continue on. About
five we were down on the other side, and continued
our way until about seven miles further, when we
came to a large river, by the side of which we
encamped. We made this day fourteen miles. I,
being somewhat more curious than the rest, went
on a high rock on the top of the mountain to see fine
prospects, and I lost my gun. We saw when we
were over the mountain the footing of elk and buffa­
loes and their beds. We saw a vine which bore a
sort of wild cucumber, and a shrub with a fruit like
unto a currant. We ate very good wild grapes. We
called this place Spotswood's Camp, after our Gov­
ernor.
6th.—We crossed the river, which we called
Euphrates. It is very deep; the main course of the
water is north; it is fourscore yards wide in the
narrowest part. We drank some healths on the
other side and returned, after which I went a-swimming in it. We could not find any fordable place
except the one by which we crossed, and it was deep
in several places. I got some grasshoppers and
fished, and another and I we catched a dish of fish,
some perch and a kind of fish they called chub.
The others went a-hunting, and killed deer and
turkeys. The Governor had graving irons, but could

94

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

not grave anything, the stone was so hard. I graved
my name on a tree by the river side, and the Gov­
ernor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed, on which
he writ that he took possession of this place in the
name and for King G-eorge First of England. We
had a good dinner, and after it we got the men
together and loaded all their arms, and we drank the
King's health in champagne and fired a volley, the
Princess's health in Burgundy and fired a volley,
and all the rest of the royal family in claret and a
volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired
another volley. We had several sorts of liquors,
viz., Yirginia red wine and white wine, Irish
usquebaugh, brandy, shrub, two sorts of rum, cham­
pagne, canary, cherry punch, water, cider, &c. I
sent two of the rangers to look for my gun which I
dropped in the mountain ; they found it and brought
it to me at night, and I gave them a pistol for their
trouble. We called the highest mountain Mount
George, and the one we crossed over Mount Spotswood.
7th.—At seven in the morning we mounted our
horses and parted with the rangers, who were to go
farther on, and we returned homewards. Wo re­
passed the mountains, and at five in the afternoon
we came to Hospital Camp, where we left our sick
men and heavy baggage, and we found all things
well and safe. We encamped here and called it
Captain Clonder's Camp.
8th.—At nine we were all on horseback. We saw
several bears and deer, and killed some wild turkeys.
We encamped at the side of a run and called the
place Mason's Camp. We had good forage for our
horses, and we lay as usual. Made twenty miles
this day.

KNIGHTS

OF THE

GOLDEN

HORSESHOE.

95

9 t h . — W e set out at nine of t h e clock, and before
twelve we saw several bears, and killed t h r e e . One
of them attacked one of our men t h a t was riding
after him and narrowly missed h i m ; he tore his
things t h a t he had behind him from off t h e horse,
and would have destroyed him had he not had
immediate help from t h e other men and our dogs.
Some of t h e dogs suffered severely in this engage­
ment. A t two we crossed one of the branches of
t h e Eappahannock .River, and at five we encamped
on t h e side of the Eapid Ann, on a t r a c t of land t h a t
Mr. Beverly hath design to t a k e up. We made this
day t w e n t y - t h r e e miles, and called this Captain
Smith's Camp. We ate p a r t of one of the bears,
which tasted very well, and would be good and
might pass for veal if one did not know w h a t it was.
We were very merry, and diverted ourselves with our
adventures.
10th.—At eight we were on horseback, and about
ten, as we were going up a small hill, Mr. Beverly
and his horse fell down, and t h e y both rolled to t h e
bottom ; but there were no bones broken on either
side. At twelve as we were crossing a run of water,
Mr. Clonder fell in, so we called this place Clonder's
E u n . At one we arrived at a large spring, where we
dined and drank a bowl of punch. We called this
Fontaine's Spring. About two we got on horse­
back, and at four we reached Germanna.
Spotswood instituted what he called the Tramon­
tane Order, in commemoration of t h e expedition,
eaeh gentleman being entitled to wear the golden
horseshoe who could prove t h a t he had drunk his
Majesty's health on Mt. George. The golden horse-

96

HISTOEIOAL

EXCUBSIONS.

shoes descended as heirlooms in several families.
Judge Brooke, in his autobiography, speaks of one
in the possession of Edmund Brooke, whose ancestor
was of the party. This gentleman died in George­
town, D. C, and we had hoped to find the relic in his
daughter's possession, but it had been lost. Camp­
bell speaks of the late Mrs. Bott, of Petersburg, a
descendant of Spotswood, having seen the miniature
horseshoe belonging to Spotswood, and that it was
small enough to be worn on a watch-chain. Spotswood probably had more than one of them, as we
find it said in the Byrd manuscripts that when
Spotswood made a treaty with the five nations of
Indians at Albany, in 1722, in which they bound
themselves not to pass the Potomac or the Blue
Eidge, the Governor told the Indians that they must
take particular notice of their speaker, and gave him
a golden horseshoe which he wore at his breast, and
bade the interpreter tell him that there was an in­
scription on it which signified that it would help him
to pass the mountains, and that when any of their
people should come to Virginia they must bring
that with them. These things are like dreams to
us now. With a population which has not only
transcended the Blue Kidge, but the Alleghany and
the Eocky Mountains, and reached the Golden Gate
of California, it is hard to realize that only 160 years
ago Germanna was a frontier post, and the great
West an unknown world, except to the wild Indian,
whose tribes have melted away before the pale faces
like snow before the sun, and whose barque, like that
of the crew of the fabled phantom ship, "rides on
and on, and anchored ne'er shall be."

GEBMANNA.

97

GERM ANNA.
Salve Posteritas!
Posteritas Germano-politana.
T h e German people is a political element in
American civilization. T h e number of G e r m a n t o w n s
in the United States is curious and suggestive. T h e
oldest of these is t h e one in Pennsylvania, which was
t h e scene of the battle of Germantown in t h e old
Eevolution, in which so m a n y of the men of St.
Mark's figured. I t was established in 1683, under
t h e auspices of Pastorius, to provide, as he said, a
" p e l l a c e " or refuge from t h e j u d g m e n t s impending
over the old world, and to Christianize the naked-going
savages. H e composed a noble L a t i n ode on t h e
occasion, beginning—
Salve Posteritas!
Posteritas Germano-politana,
which W h i t t i e r has p u t beautifully into English
verse, t h u s :
Hail to Posterity!
Hail, future men of Germanopolis!
Let the young generation, yet to be,
Look kindly upon this;
Think how our fathers left their native land—
Dear German land ! O sacred hearts and homes!—
And where the wild beast roams,
In patience planned
New forest homes, beyond the mighty sea,
There undisturbed and free,
To live as brothers of one family.
What pains and cares befel,
What trials and what fears,
Remember, and whenever we have done well,
Follow our footsteps, men of coming years.
I

98

EISTOBIUAL

EXCURSIONS.

Where we have failed to do
Aught, or wisely live,
Be warned by us, the better way pursue,
And knowing we were human, even as you,
Pity us and forgive.
Farewell, Posterity!
Farewell, dear Germany!
Forevermore farewell!
See Memorial Thomas Potts, Jr., by Mrs. James.}

Our Germanna was settled under the auspices of
Governor Spotswood in 1714, on a peninsula of 400
acres of land on t h e banks of t h e Eapidan. These
Germans came directly from Oldensburg, or were a
r e m n a n t of a settlement planted under t h e auspices of
t h e Baron de Graffenreid in N o r t h Carolina, m a n y
of whom were massacred by the Tuscarora Indians,
as related by Governor Spotswood in a letter of
October 1711, which is published in P e r r y ' s Collec­
tions from the archives of Fulham and L a m b e t h .
Spotswood says he had demanded t h e release of De
Graffenreid, the Chief of the Palatines and Swiss,
who had been taken prisoner, and was, he feared,
reserved for t o r t u r e by fire. That these Germans
might have been the survivors of the massacre in
N o r t h Carolina is a mere conjecture, suggested by
t h e fact t h a t De Graffenreid was the leader of both
parties. I have j u s t found in the Spotswood MSS.
t h e following p a r a g r a p h in a letter of Governor
Spotswood to the Commissioners of Trade in Eng­
land, dated May 1714':—"I continue to settle our
t r i b u t a r y Indians, and in order to supply t h a t p a r t
which was to have been covered by the Tuscarora
Indians, I have placed t h e r e a number of P r o t e s t a n t
Germans, built them a fort, furnished it with two
pieces of cannon and some ammunition, which will

GERM ANN A.

99

awe the straggling parties of Northern Indians and
be a good barrier to all that part of the country.
These Germans were invited over some years ago by
the Baron De Graffenreid, who had her Majesty's
letter to the Governor to furnish them with land after
their arrival. They are generally such as have been
employed in their own country in mines, and say
they are satisfied there are divers kinds of minerals
where they are settled, and even a good appearance
of silver; but it is impossible to know whether those
mines will turn to account without digging some
depth — a liberty I shall not give them until I hear
from your Lordships."
These Germans landed at Tappahannock, and a
dispute arose between them and the captain of the
ship in which they sailed, about the money for their
passage. The captain refused to deliver their effects
until his demand was satisfied. Governor Spotswood
being present, proposed that if the Germans would
settle on his land and remain long enough to instruct
some of his young men in mechanical trades, he
would pay the bill. They consented, and hence the
settlement at Germanna. In 1714, John Fontaine
and John Clayton of Williamsburg visited Germanna,
and described it as follows:—"We went to the
German minister's house (they say), and finding
nothing to eat, lived upon our own provisions and
lay upon straw. Our beds not being easy, we got up
at break of day, and in a hard rain walked about the
town, which is palisaded with stakes stuck in the
ground close to each other, and of substance to resist
musket-shot. There are but nine families, and nine
houses all in a line; and before every house, twenty
feet distant, they have sheds for their hogs and their

IOO

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS,

hens; so that hog-stys on one side and dwellings on
the other make a street. The place paled in is a
pentagon, regularly laid out; and in the centre is a
block-house with five sides, answering to the five sides
of the great enclosure. There are loop-holes in it,
from which you may see all the inside of the enclo­
sure. This is intended for a retreat in case of their
not being able to defend the palisades from the
Indians. They use the block-house for Divine ser­
vice. They go to prayers once a day and have two
services Sunday. We went to hear them perform
their service, which is done in their own language,
which we did not understand, but they seem very
devout and sing the psalms very well. This settle­
ment is (1714) thirty miles from any inhabitant.
They live very miserably. For want of provisions
we were obliged to go. We got from the minister a
bit of smoked beef and cabbage, and gave him thirty
shillings and took our leave. In less than three
hours on our way we saw nineteen deer; and we
lodged at Mr. Smith's, at the Falls of the Eappahannoek."
We must now let the Germans speak for themselves.
In the archives of the English society for propagat­
ing the Gospel in foreign parts is the following
memorial:—" The case of thirty-two Protestant
German families settled in Virginia humbly shewetb,
that twelve Protestant German families, consisting
of about fifty persons, arrived April 1714, in Virginia,
and were there settled near Eappahannock River.
That in 1717, twenty Protestant German families,
consisting of about four-score persons, came and
settled down near their countrymen. And many
more Germans and Swiss are likely to come. For

G&RMANNA.

101

the ministries of religion there will be a necessity for
a small church and for a minister, who shall catechise
and perform Divine offices among them in the German
tongue, which is the only language they do yet
understand. That there came indeed over with the
first twelve German families a minister, named
Henry Haeger — a very sober, honest man, about
seventy-five years old; but he being likely soon to be
past service, we have empowered Mr. J. C. Zollieoffer,
of St. Gall, Switzerland, to go to Europe and obtain
subscriptions from pious Christians towards building
a church, and bringing over with him a young Ger­
man minister to assist Mr. Haeger, and to succeed
him w hen he shall die; to get him ordained in Eng­
land by the Eight Eev. Bishop of London, and to
bring over with him the Liturgy of the Church of
England, translated into High Dutch, which they
are desirous to use in public worship. But this set­
tlement consisting of only mean (poor) persons,
utterly unable to build a church and support an
assistant minister, they humbly implore the counten­
ance, &c, of the Bishop of London and other Bishops,
and the venerable society for propagating the Gospel
in foreign parts, that they would take the case under
their pious consideration and grant their usual allow­
ance for the support of a minister, and if it may be
so, subscribe something towards the building of their
church, and they shall ever pray that the Lord may
reward their beneficence here and hereafter." The
above petition was sent in 1719.
In the year 1720 Spotsylvania was cut off from
Essex, and the Parish of St. George, coterminous
with the county, was erected in 1721. Governor
Spotswood fixed the seat of justice at German na,
T

,o2

HISTOBICAL

EXCURSIONS.

and the first court, composed of John Taliaferro and
others, was holden 1st August, 1722. An appropria­
tion was made by the General Assembly of £500 for
a church, a prison, a pillory and stocks. The Act of
Assembly contains this clause, doubtless for the
benefit of the Germans: "Because foreign Protes­
tants may not understand English readily, if any
such shall entertain a minister of their own, they
and their tithables shall be free from taxes for ten
years."
By the help of Governor Spotswood a church was
built, and Spotsylvania County, named after Spotswood, and St. George's Parish began their career at
Germanna, named from the Germans and Queen
Anne. Governor Spotswood soon after made his
home at Germanna. The Eev. Hugh Jones, in his
" Present State of Virginia," published about 1724,
thus describes Germanna:—" Beyond Governor Spotswood's furnace, within view of the vast mountains,
he has founded a town called Germanna, from the
Germans sent over by Queen Anne, who are now
removed up further. Here Spotswood has servants
and workmen of most handicraft trades; and he is
building a church, courthouse, and dwelling-house
for himself, and has cleared plantations about it,
encouraging people to come and settle in that unin­
habited part of the country, lately erected into a
county. Beyond this (continues Jones) is seated the
colony of the Germans Palatine."
These Germans Palatine were probably the found­
ers of Germantown in Fauquier. However this may
be, it is certain that the records of Fauquier develop
the fact that in 1718 Jacob Spillman, John Hoffman,
John and Herman Fishback, Peter Hitt, Jacob

GERMANNA.

103

Holtzclaw, and William Weaver, not finding room at
Germanna, moved to Germantown. Only three of
these (Hoffman, Fishback and Weaver) having been
naturalized, t h e y were sent to enter lands at Ger­
mantown. The title was in these three, and t h e y
were to make leases for ninety-nine years.
The
p a t e n t was issued in 1724. Copies of the leases are
on record. Tillman Weaver, in his last will (1754,
Dec. 14th), devises property to Tillman W., to Ann,
wife of J n o . Kemper, and Mary, wife of H e r m a n
H i t t , Eva, wife of Samuel Porter, Jacob, Elizabeth,
Catharine, &c. P e t e r H i t t in his will, 1771, devises
to John, Jos., H e r m a n , Peter, and to Mary, wife of
Jacob Rector. P e t e r H i t t married Sarah James, and
Jos. H i t t married Mary Coons. Several of these
persons have their representatives in Fauquier, Culpeper and Madison Counties.
Colonel Byrd, already quoted, said t h a t in 1732,
while on a visit to Colonel Spotswood, he saw t h e
ruinous tenements which they, the Germans, had
occupied at Germanna, and adds t h a t they had
moved higher up to the forks of the Rappahannock
( t h e Rapidan) to lands of their own, w hich must
mean w h a t is now t h e County of Madison, which
lies within t h a t fork. From the testimony of these
witnesses the Germans must have migrated to Madi­
son before 1724. T h e tradition is t h a t t h e y were
disgusted with the poverty of the soil and the harsh
t r e a t m e n t of their overseers in t h e mines, and resolved
to seek their fortunes on the banks of the Robinson
R i v e r ; and from them has descended the very thrifty
German element in the population of Madison
County. W h a t was t h e fate of their petition to
London for a minister is not known. H a d it sue7

io

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

ceeded we might have had a flourishing German
Episcopal church in Virginia. The Church of Eng­
land being subject to the State, and the British
Ministry Being generally governed in their policy to
the Church by considerations of political expediency,
may not have acted in t h e premises. However t h a t
m a y have been, the tradition is t h a t our German
friends procured subscriptions in Europe for building
a L u t h e r a n church, which was erected about 1740,
near the junction of White Oak E u n and the Eobinson
Eiver, and still stands in good condition. I t is in
t h e form of a Maltese cross. Money was also raised
in Europe to buy a pipe-organ of good size, which I
believe is still in use. Subscriptions were taken in
Sweden too, perhaps for a communion service and
other purposes, and the K i n g of Sweden was said to
have been one of the subscribers. General Banks of
Madison, we are told, had seen one of these subscrip­
tion papers. T h e church was endowed, held a glebe,
and has money at interest. B y t h e kindness of
Governor K e m p e r I have a copy of the deed from
William Carpenter to Michael Cook and Michael
Smith, wardens and trustees of the German church,
and people inhabiting the fork of Eappahannock
Eiver, in St. Mark's Parish and County of Spotsyl­
vania, and their successors, for a glebe for the use of
the minister of the said German people and his
successors, a tract of land in the first fork of the
Eapidan Eiver, containing one hundred and ninetythree acres, more or less, &c. The deed is dated
1733, and signed, sealed and delivered by William
Carpenter in the presence of J n o . Waller, Eobert
Turner, Ed. Broughton, J a m e s K i n g and William
Henderson. This Michael Cook was no doubt t h e

GEBMANNA.

105

same who, with George Woots, was appointed by the
vestry in 1729 to count all the tobacco-plants from
the mouth of the Eobinson Eiver up to the Great
Mountains, including Mark Jones's plantation. The
services in this church were originally in German,
then once a month in English, and subsequently
entirely in t h e English tongue.
Our interest in the history of this church is
enhanced by t h e interchange of courtesies between
t h e L u t h e r a n s and Episcopalians. The late Samuel
Slaughter of this county remembered to have seen
these L u t h e r a n s , when they had no minister of their
own, come to Buck E u n Episcopal church in Culpeper
to receive the holy communion; and t h e late vener­
able Mrs. Sarah Lewis, the great-grandmother of Mrs.
Dr. Eobert Lewis of Culpeper, remembered when the
L u t h e r a n minister, Mr. Carpenter, used to baptize
and perform other ministerial offices for the Episco­
palians of Madison when they had no minister.
Many of the first grist-mills on the Eobinson Eiver
and its tributaries were built by German mechanics.
The first German settlers are said to have suffered
occasionally from the incursions of the Indians.
There is a tradition t h a t t h e last person killed b y
the Indians in this region was murdered near w h a t
is now N e w Hope Church. There are some large
Old German Bibles e x t a n t which have descended as
heirlooms from the primitive Germans. We are
indebted to the venerable J o h n Spotswood of Orange
Grove, and to Dr. Andrew Grin nan of Madison, for
some of the traditions referred to in the above
chapter.

io6

HIS TOXICAL

EXC

URSIONS.

EXTRACT FROM THE DIARY OF CAPTAIN
P H I L I P SLAUGHTER,
BEGINNING IN 1775

AND CONTINUED TO

1849.

December 4th, 1849.—I am this day 81 years old.
I was born in 1758 at my grandfather's, Major
Philip Clayton's, who lived at Catalpa, where the
Hon. J. S. Barbour now lives. My father, Col.
James Slaughter, then lived on the Rappahannock
River where Jones Green now lives. I went to
school to John Wigginton, a first-rate English
teacher in the Little Fork. My father sold this
farm to Gavin Lawson, and bought another of his
brother, Col. Francis Slaughter, near Culpeper C. H.,
where Samuel Rixey now lives. When we moved
to the latter place, I went to write in the clerk's
office with my grandfather, Major Clayton, who did
the duties of that office for Roger Dixon, the clerk,
whose home was in the lower country.
After
Dixon's death, John Jameson, who had served a
regular apprenticeship in the clerk's ofpce, was
made clerk of the county. After several years'
service in the office with Clayton and Jameson, my
father withdrew me and sent me to a " Grammar
School " of which Adam Goodlet (a Scotchman) was
master, and which was the first public school in
which Latin and Greek were taught in Culpeper
County.*
After going to school to Goodlet 18 months, the
American Revolution began, and I, not yet 17 years
old, entered in Capt. John Jameson's company
•Adam Goodlet afterwards taught school in the Taylor Settlement in
Orange. Col.F. Taylor often speaks of him in his diary, and mentions James
Madison, Jr., (the future President) examining Goodlet's scholars.

DIARY

OF (JAPT. PHILIP

SLAUGHTER,

10;

of minute-men. Culpeper, Fauquier, and Orange
having agreed to raise a regiment, with Lawrence
Taliaferro of Orange as Colonel, Edward Stevens of
Culpeper as Lieutenant-Colonel, and Thomas Mar­
shall of Fauquier as Major, the regiment met in
Major Clayton's old field, near Culpeper C. EL, to
drill, in strong brown linen hunting-shirts, dyed
with leaves, and the words "Liberty or Death"
worked in large white letters on the breast, bucktails in each hat, and a leather belt about the
shoulders with tomahawk and scalping-knife. In a
few days an express came from Patrick Henry, com­
mander of the First Virginia Continental Eegiment,
saying that Dunmore had attempted to carry the
military stores from the magazine at Williamsburg
to the ships, &c. We marched immediately, and in
a few days were in Williamsburg. The people hear­
ing that we came from the backwoods, and seeing
our savage-looking equipments, seemed as much
afraid of us as if we had been Indians. We took
pride in demeaning ourselves as patriots and gentle­
men, and the people soon treated us with respect
and great kindness. Most of us had only fowlingpieces and squirrel-guns. Dunmore having gone on
board of a British man-of-war, half of the minutemen were discharged.
My father, Col. James Slaughter, with Col. Mar­
shall and others, had the honor of being in the first
battle (the Great Bridge) fought in Yirginia. I was
sent home to school. In the spring of 1776 I again
left school and entered in Col. John Jameson's
troop of cavalry for three years. But before we
marched I was appointed by the Committee of
Safety of Culpeper a Lieutenant in Capt. Gabriel

io8

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

Long's company of riflemen, and we marched to
join the army under Washington in Xew York. In
1777 we were attached to the 11th Continental Regi­
ment, commanded by Daniel Morgan.
Lt. Slaughter was promoted to a captaincy in
1778, and served during the war, being in the battles
of Brandywine, Grermantown, &c. He was one of the
sufferers at Yalley Forge. His messmates were the
two Porterfields, Johnson, and Lt. John (Chief
Justice) Marshall. They were reduced sometimes to
a single shirt, having to wrap themselves in a
blanket when that was washed; not one soldier in
five had a blanket. The snow was knee-deep all the
winter, and stained with the blood from the naked
feet of the soldiers. From the body of their shirts
the officers had collars and wrist-bands made to
appear on parade.
Capt. Slaughter kept a diary of his campaigns,
which was lost in the wreck of so many fine libra­
ries in the late war. Among the many anecdotes
with which it abounded was the following concern­
ing the late Chief Justice Marshall, at a camp on a
night or two before the battle of Brandywine :—"At
ten in the night we were aroused from sleep. Lt.
Marshall had raked up some leaves to sleep on; he
had pulled off one of his stockings in the night (the
only pair of silk stockings in the regiment), and not
being able to find it in the dark, he set fire to the
leaves, and before we saw it a large hole had been
burnt in it. He pulled it on so, and away we
went," &c.
Capt. Slaughter's diary after the Revolution is
preserved to 1849, when he died and was buried in
Richmond.

LEWIS

LITTLEPAGE.

109

LEWIS LITTLEPAGE.
As was said in the text of this history, the Eev. J .
Stevenson married F a n n y , the sister of Lewis Littlepage. This gentleman was born in Hanover County,
Ya., on 19th December, 1762, and died in Fredericks­
burg, J u l y 19th, 1802. His career was brief, brilliant
and unique ; and y e t there are but few who seem to
have heard of the battles, sieges, fortunes he had
passed, t h e many accidents by flood and field, and
his hair-breadth 'scapes, &c. His name has nearly
lapsed from history, or r a t h e r he never had a
niche in our temple of f a m e ; for Europe, and not
America, was the t h e a t r e on which he played his
part. I am indebted to Dr. Payne, the great-grand­
son of Mr. Stevenson, for an original letter, in which
he narrates to his family the story of his life from
1785 to 1798. F r o m the Memoirs of E l k a n a h
Watson I am able to supply some incidents of his
life up to the time when the narrative in his own
letter begins.
Mr. Watson s a y s : — " D u r i n g my residence at
N a n t e s I became intimately acquainted with Lewis
Littlepage, one of the most remarkable characters of
t h e age. H e arrived in Nantes during t h e winter of
1779-80 on his way to Madrid, under the patronage
of Mr. J a y , our stern and able minister to the court
of Spain. H e was then a mere youth, of fine manly
figure, with a dark, penetrating black eye, and a
physiognomy peculiar and striking. At t h a t early
period he was regarded as a prodigy of genius and
acquirements. When I again heard of him he had
separated from Mr. J a y ' s family, and entered as a
volunteer aide to the Duke de Cuillon at the siege of
K

no

r

II1ST0BICAL

EXVUESIONS.

Minorca. At the attack of Gibraltar he was on one
of the floating batteries, and was blown up, but
saved. H e participated in a conspicuous manner in
the thrilling incidents of t h a t memorable siege.
After his catastrophe in the floating b a t t e r y he got
a situation on the Spanish admiral's ship, and in one
of the engagements he stood upon the quarter-deck
during the battle and sketched the various pontoons of
the fleet. On the r e t u r n of the Spanish fleet to
Cadiz he was sent with an officer to Madrid with
dispatches, and exhibited to the minister a curious
and scientific view of the battle, and was received
with great applause and distinction at the court of
Madrid. In the April following the close of t h e
war I dined with him at Dr. Franklin's, in Passy,
and saw the sketch. At Paris and Versailles he
moved in t h e first circles and attracted m a r k e d
attention. In J u n e he made a visit to my bachelor
hall in Berkeley Square, London. I never saw him
again. H e made the tour of Europe and established
himself at Warsaw, and became, in effect, P r i m e
Minister, went to St. P e t e r s b u r g as ambassador
from Poland, acquitted himself with distinguished
ability, and became one of the favorites of the
Empress Catherine," &c.
The following letter of Lewis Littlepage to Lewis
Holliday takes up the story of his life where
Watson's narrative ends, and completes the account
of his eventful career in Europe.
ALTONA, 9th January, 1801.
DEAR SIR :-—

I have this day received your letter of the 22nd August,
1800 . . . Since my existence is called in question, I give you,
for the satisfaction of my family and friends, a short account

LEWIS L1TTLEPAGE.

m

of all that has happened to me in Europe since 1785. On the
2nd March, 1786, I was sworn into the King of Poland's
Cabinet as his first confidential secretary, with the rank of
Chamberlain. In February, 1787, I was sent to negotiate a
treaty with the Empress of Russia at Kiovia, which I effected.
The same year I was sent as secret and special envoy to the
court of France to assist in the negotiations for the grand
Quadruple Alliance, which failed. In 1788 I was recalled, and
sent to Prince Potemkin's army in the Turkish war, where I
commanded a division, acting at the same time in a political
character. In 1789 I was compelled to leave Poland and travel
to Italy. Shortly after I received orders to repair to Madrid
upon a high political mission, in which I completely suc­
ceeded. In 1790 I was recalled from Spain and ordered to
wait ultimate instructions at Paris. I afterwards received
orders to repair by the way of Berlin to Warsaw for the
revolution of the 3d May, 1791. In 1792 120,000 Russians
invaded Poland. I was nominated Aide-de-camp-general to
the King, with the rank of Major-General. He signed the
confederation of Fargowitz, and in April, 1793, sent me once
more as his special envoy to Petersburg to prevent the
division of Poland. I was stopped by the Russian Govern­
ment on the road, and the division took place. In 1794
Kosciusko and Madalinski began another revolution in
Poland: On 17th April the garrison and inhabitants of War­
saw rose in arms against the Russians; to save the life of my
unfortunate friend and king I was obliged to take part with
Poland, and that dreadful battle ended in the slaughter of
10,000 Russians. The Empress Catherine II. never for­
gave me my conduct upon that occasion. She was more
irritated against me by hearing that I had consented to accept
as commander-in-chief under the revolutionary government,
although I was destined to act against Russia. My having
assisted in repelling the Russian armies in their attempt to
storm Willna, gave also offence. In short, I had gone so far
in the revolution that I should have gone much farther had I
not been defeated with my friend Prince Joseph Poniatoski,
the King's nephew, by the late King of Russia on the 26th
August, 1794. That event lost me all my popularity. It was
very near getting me hanged, for I was regarded as the acting

ii2

HISTOBICAL

EXCUBSIONS.

person, although, upon my honor, Prince Poniatoski acted
that day against my advice. The King of Russia attacked us
with about three times our force, both in men and artillery,
and Kosciusko afforded us no support until we were beaten
beyond redemption, although neither his left nor centre were
engaged the whole day otherwise than in cannonading.
After the battle of 26th August I took no further part in
military aflairs until the storming of Prague, which cost the
lives of 22,000 Polanders. On the 7th January, 1795, the King
of Poland was taken from Warsaw by the Russians to be con­
veyed to Grodno. I was separated from him by express
orders of the Empress, and it was hinted to me that nothing
less than my former services in the Turkish war could have
saved me from sharing the fate of the other chiefs of the revo­
lution of 1794. After the departure of the King I set out for
Vienna, but was immediately ordered to leave that metropolis,
which produced a public altercation between me and the
Austrian ministry, but which ended to my satisfaction, as
Russia came forward and did me justice. The King of
Prussia, Frederick William II., afterwards allowed me to
return to Warsaw, then under his dominion, where I remained
until the death of the Empress Catherine II. I was then
invited to go to Petersburg with the King of Poland, but
refused unless reparation was made to me for the treatment 1
had recently experienced. The Emperor said that '* all that
regarded his mother; as he had given no offence, he should
make no reparation." I perhaps might have gone at last to
Russia, but was prevented by the sudden death of my friend,
my master, my more than father, Stanislaus Augustus, King
of Poland, who expired at Petersburg 12th Feb'y, 1798. After
that melancholy event a long correspondence took place
between the Emperor of Russia and myself, which ended in
his paying me in a very noble manner the sum assigned me by
the King of Poland as a reward of my long and dangerous
services.
I arrived in Hamburg in October last. My intention was to
go either to France or England, but I found myself strangely
embroiled with both these governments. I have settled
matters in France, but not yet in England. The ministers
there persist in believing me to be sent upon a secret envoy

LEWIS

LITTLEPAGE

113

from the Emperor of Russia, who is now at variance with
England. God knows I am sick of European politics. I
intended to have spent the winter in Hamburg, but was
driven from that sink of iniquity by a most atrocious plot
against my life and fortune. The latter is in safety, and
should I perish even here under the hospitable government of
Denmark, I shall leave nine or ten thousand pounds sterling
so disposed of that my assassins cannot prevent its coming to
my family. That sum is all I have saved from the wreck of
my fortunes in Poland. In the spring I shall proceed to
America, either by the way of France or directly from hence,
provided I escape the daggers and poison with which I am
threatened here.
My duty and affection to my mother, and kindest remem­
brance to all relations and friends.
Ever yours, my dear Sir,
LEWIS LITTLEPAGE.
LEWIS HOLLIDAY.

If the adventurous career of Lewis Littlepage
needed confirmation, incidental proof and illustration
of it will be found in the personal souvenirs devised
by him to Waller Holladay and inherited by Col.
Alexander Holladay, by whom t h e y were kindly
shown to the a u t h o r :
1. The original p a t e n t conferring t h e position of
chamberlain upon Lewis Littlepage upon his entrance
into the Polish Cabinet, 1787, signed by the K i n g .
2. T h e original p a t e n t of Knighthood of the Order
of St. Stanislaus, 1790, signed by t h e K i n g .
3. The letter from the Prince of Nassau requesting
t h e Marshal de Ligne to give Lewis L i t t l e p a g e a
captaincy in the regiment Eoyale PAllemande, re­
citing Littlepage's distinguished service at P o r t
Mahon and Gibraltar.
4. The letter of the Duque de Cuillon assigning
Lewis Littlepage to his staff.

ii4

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

5. The letter of Count Florda Blanca recommend­
ing Lewis Littlepage.
6. The passport of Lewis Littlepage for his mission
to France.
7. Lewis Littlepage's gold-hilted rapier presented
to him by the Queen of Spain.
8. Lewis Littlepage's gold key, his badge as cham­
berlain to the King of Poland.
9. The portrait of the King of Poland presented
to Lewis Littlepage by the King on their final
parting at Grodno.
Dr. Payne has too the insignia of Littlepage's
knighthood, the Star of the Order of Stanislaus.
In the centre is a convex silver plate, on which,
formed of small ruby sets, are the initials S. A. R.,
Stanislaus Augustus Rex ; surrounding this, wrought
with gold thread, is the motto, Incitat Proemiando.
Around this is a brilliant green border with gilt
leaves. The rays of the star are silver spangles.

THE TOBACCO PLANT.
A very curious article might be written on the
literature of tobacco, involving its relation to the
church and the state, and its influence on the indi­
vidual mind and body, on manners and habits, and
the general wealth and happiness of the world.
Such an article might be illustrated by the authority
of statesmen, lawyers, medical men, merchants,
farmers, and political economists, and adorned with
gems of wisdom and of wit from nearly all the Eng­
lish scholars and poets, from King James's " Counter­
blast " to Charles Lamb's " Farewell to Tobacco,"

THE

TOBACCO

PLANT.

"5

in which praises and curses alternate with amusing
felicity. It is interwoven with the history of Vir­
ginia at every stage of its progress. In colonial
times many Acts of Assembly were passed regulat­
ing its culture, and one office of the early vestries
was to appoint reputable freeholders to count tobacco
plants in each parish. Thus, as early as 1728, Good­
rich Lightfoot and Eobert Slaughter counted the
plants from the mouth of Mountain Eun (in what
is now Culpeper) up to Joseph Howe's plantation,
and across to the mouth of the Eobinson Eiver;
Eobert Green and Francis Kirtley on the other side
of Mountain Eun to the North Eiver ; George Woots
and Michael Cook from the mouth of the Eobinson
Eiver up to the Great Mountains. The salaries of
ministers and civil officers were paid in tobacco, and
it, or notes representing it in the warehouses, were
the currency of the country. Some of these notes
are now before us. Parishes too were known as
"Orinoco" and Sweet-scented parishes, according
to the kind of tobacco grown in them. The salary
of a minister was 16,000 lbs. of tobacco, the value of
which varied from £40 to £80 in money. A sweetscented parish was worth much more than an
Orinoco parish. There was a deduction of 8 per
cent, for cash, and tobacco was sometimes as low as
six shillings current money. A minister's tobacco
was worth less than other like bulks of tobacco,
because it was so mixed. Many flourishing towns,
as Dumfries and Falmouth, &c, where Scotch mer­
chants grew rich in this trade, sprang up in Virginia.
In Glasgow there is now a " Virginia Street," and
that city received a great impulse from becoming the
entrepot whence the farmers-general of France de­
rived their supplies of tobacco from Virginia.
u

v

n6

HISTORICAL

EXCURSIONS.

T H E P I N E T R E E AND ITS F R U I T S — S A L A R I E S

PAID I N

TAR.

These t w o were subjects of legislation. T a r was
once in great demand for t a r r i n g the roofs of public
and private buildings. Special instructions were
given by the General Assembly of Virginia for pre­
paring pine-trees by "stripping the bark from the
t r u n k of the trees, eight feet from t h e root, leaving a
small slip to keep t h e tree alive, when in a short
time, it was said, the sun would draw the turpentine
to t h e surface, and the whole t r u n k would become
light-wood.
I t may not generally be known t h a t towards the
N o r t h Carolina line, where little or no tobacco was
grown, the minister was paid in tar, pitch, and p o r k ;
so says the Eev. Mr. Bagg in his report (1724) to the
Bishop of London.

(Sjettjeatjcrflijes
O F SOME OF THE OLD VESTRYMEN AND COMMUNICANTS
OF ST. MARK'S PARISH.

Many of these family-trees had their roots in
Great Britain ages ago ; but it would take too much
space to trace them there. As a general rule,
we limit ourselves to the branches which were
transplanted in Virginia. If our notices of some of
these families are more extended than those of
others, it is because the former were better known
to us. Our design in printing these genealogies is
to gratify a natural desire, which most persons
feel, to know something of their forefathers, and to
show how family-trees in a few generations inter­
lock their branches. It is more creditable to
transmit an honorable name to one's children than
it is to derive it from one's ancestors, and to be
descended from good and true men than from a
long line of unworthy forefathers, even though it be
a line of kings and queens. But it seems to be un­
natural and irrational to attach more value to the
pedigrees of horses and herds than to the pedigrees
of men and women. One end of history is to repro­
duce the past for the gratification and instruction of
the present; and it is surely (at least) an innocent
curiosity to look back at those who in the past
century cleared the land which we now till, and who
laid the foundation of the institutions under which
we live.

n8

GENEALOGIES,

Explanation of the abbreviations to be found in
the genealogies:—m. means married ; ch., child or
children; dau., daughter, and d. s. p. died without
offspring.
f

T H E BAEBOUE FAMILY.
This family is of Scotch origin. There was a
J o h n Barbour who was Archdeacon of Old Aber­
deen as early as 1357. H e was t h e author of t h e
historical poem on the Life and Actions of K i n g
Eobert Bruce. Whether he was t h e root in Scot­
land of the branches of the family in Yirginia, the
writer does not know. Our relations are with
J a m e s Barbour, the first of the name in w h a t
is now Culpeper. H e was one of the first vestry­
men of St. Mark's Parish at its organization at
Germanna in 1731, and served in t h a t office until
the division of the parish in 1740, which t h r e w
him into t h e new parish of St. Thomas in Orange
County, where he lived. If the old register of
St. Thomas Parish had been preserved, we should
doubtless have found his name as v e s t r y m a n
there. Among his children were 1st James, who
represented Culpeper in the House of Burgesses
in 1764. H e was the father of Mordecai Barbour,
who married a daughter of J o h n Strode of Fleet­
wood in Culpeper, and of Thomas, Eichard, and
Gabriel, of whom the last t h r e e migrated to Ken­
tucky. The Hon. J o h n S. Barbour, M. C , brilliant
at the bar and in the legislative halls, was the son
of Mordecai and Miss Strode.
H e married Miss
Beirne of Petersburg, and their children are, 1st.
J o h n S. Barbour, President of the Yirginia Midland
Eailroad, who married a daughter of H e n r y Danger-

THE BARBOUB

FAMILY.

119

field of Alexandria ; 2d. James, member of Assembly
and Convention, who married Miss Beckham; 3d.
Alfred, deceased; 4th. Dr. Edwin Barbour; 5th.
Sally ; 6th. Eliza (Mrs. George Thompson).
Thomas, son of James 1st, represented Orange in
the Assembly in 1775, and St. Thomas Parish in the
Convention in 1785-86-90. He married Isabella
Thomas, daughter of Philip Pendleton. Their child­
ren were, 1st. Dr. Eichard, and 2d. Thomas, who
died in their youth ; 3d. Hon. Philip P. Barbour,
Speaker of Congress, and of the Convention of
1829-30, and Justice of the Supreme Court U. S.
He married Frances Todd, daughter of Benjamin
Johnson of Orange. His children were : 1st. Philippa,
who married Judge Field of Culpeper; 2d. Elizabeth,
who married John J. Ambler of Jacquelin Hall,
Madison County; 3d. Thomas, M. D., who married
Catherine Strother of Rappahannock County, he
died in St. Louis of cholera in 1849 ; 4th. Edmund
Pendleton, who married Harriet, daughter of Col.
John Stuart of King George, and died in 1851; 5th.
Quintus, who married Mary, daughter of James
Somerville of Culpeper; 6th. Sextus, died in St.
Louis; 7th. Septimus, died in infancy. The Hon.
P. P. Barbour died in Washington, attending the
Supreme Court, February, 1841. His widow died
April, 1872, aged 85.
4th James, son of Thomas and grandson of James
1st, was born June 10th, 1775. He was Governor
of Yirginia, Senator of U. S., Minister to England,
Secretary of War, &c. Besides their other qualities,
the two brothers had a wondrous faculty of speech
in conversation and in the forum. James married,
October 29th, 1792. Lucy, daughter of Benjamin John-

i2o

GENEALOGIES.

son. Their children were :—1st. Benjamin Johnson
Barbour, who died in 1820 in the 20th year of his age ;
2. James, who died November 7th, 1857 ; 3. Benjamin
Johnson Barbour, born June 14th, 1821, and married
November 17th, 1844, Caroline Homoesel, daughter
of the late eminent Dr. George Watson of Kichmond.
Mr. Barbour inherits the genius of his father, in­
formed by rare culture, but he follows the example
of his great-grandfather, and is content to be warden
of the church. He was elected to Congress in 1865;
but the representatives of Yirginia of that year
were not admitted to their seats. 4th. Lucy, daughter
of Governor Barbour, married (1822) John Seymour
Taliaferro, who was unhappily drowned in 1830; 5th.
Frances Cornelia Barbour married William Handy
Collins, a distinguished lawyer of Baltimore.
Among the daughters of Col. Thos. Barbour were:
1. Lucy, who married Thos. Newman and had three
daughters, Mrs. Macon, Mrs. Welch, and Wilhelmina,
and one son, James Barbour Newman. 2. Nelly,
married Martin Nalle of Culpeper, father of P. P.
Nalle, warden of St. Paul's Church, who married first
Miss Wallace, and second Miss Zimmerman, and is
the father of Mrs. Steptoe, wife of the Eector of St.
Paul's. Cordelia Nalle married Joseph Hiden of
Orange, father of Kev. J. C. Hiden (Baptist), Green­
ville, S. C. Edmonia Nalle married William Major,
Esq., of Culpeper; Fanny Nalle married John C.
Hansbrough (lawyer); Martinette Nalle married
Blucher Hansbrough of Culpeper; Lucetta Nalle
married George Booton of Madison; Jane Nalle
married George Clark of Washington, D. C.;*Thos.
Nalle married Miss Hooe of Fredericksburg; Ben­
jamin Johnson Nalle died unmarried; and Sarah

THE

CAB TEE FAMILY.

i

2 1

Ellen Nalle married Col. Garrett Scott, father of Eev.
T. G. Scott of Christ Church, Gordonsville, Va.
Sally, daughter of Thomas Barbour, married Gabriel
Gray, and had daughters, Mrs. S. F. Leake, Mrs.
William Anderson, Mrs. E. W. Anderson, and Mrs.
Cowles. Mary, daughter of Thomas Barbour, married
Daniel Bryan — children, Mrs. Lathrop, Mrs. Judge
Wylie, Mrs. Brown, and two sons, B. Bryan and Wm.
Bryan.
James Barbour, the head of the foregoing family,
took out a patent for land on the Eapidan in 1734.
On the farm of Col. Garrett Scott in Orange is a
granite tombstone just as old as St. Mark's Parish.
The inscription is as follows: Here lyeth the body of
Jane, wife of John Scott, who was born ye 28th JDec.,
1699, and departed this life ye 28th April, 1731. This
farm is in direct lineal descent to the present owner
from a grant known as the " Todd Grant," from the
Crown of England.
THE CAETEE FAMILY.
The first of this name in Virginia was Jno. Carter
of Corotoman, who died in 1669. A chart of his
descendants would fill this book. I limit this notice
to those known to the writer in St. Mark's Parish.
Eobert, called King Carter, was the son of John 1st,
by his wife Sarah Ludlowe. Eobert m. (1688) Judith
Armstead, and among their children was John, who
(1723) m. Eliza Hill of Shirley, and their third son
Edward of Blenheim m. Sarah Champe, and their
daughter Eliza m. William Stanard of Eoxbury,
Spotsylvania, who was the grandfather of Virginia
Stanard, who m. Samuel Slaughter, the old churchL

122

GENEALOGIES.

warden of St. Mark's, and was the mother of Mrs.
William Green of Eichmond, of Mrs. Dr. Daniel
Green, of Sally C , wife of Kev. William Lockwood
of Md., of Marcia (Mrs. John B. Stanard). Elizabeth
Stanard m. Jno. Thompson, father of Fanny, wife of
Eev. John Cole, of Miss Eliza Thompson, and of Mrs.
Buffington. Jane, daughter of Edward of Blenheim m.
Major Bradford of the British army, father of Samuel
K. Bradford of the Eevolution, whose son, Samuel
K. Bradford, vestryman of St. Mark's, m. Emily,
daughter of Samuel Slaughter (churchwarden of St.
Mark's), and was the father of S. S. Bradford,present
churchwarden; of Mrs. Gen. Wright, U. S. army;
of Mrs. Professor Nairne of Columbia College, New
York; of Dr. Eobert B. Bradford, and of Mrs. Yan
Schaik of New York City, William Champe Carter
of Farley, Culpeper County, sixth son of Edward of
Blenheim, m. Maria Farley, and their daughter Eliza
Hill m. Col. Samuel Storrow, the father of Mrs. Judge
Bell, of Mrs. Dr. Wm. Thompson, of Mrs. Weston,
of Mrs. Green, of Samuel and Farley. Charles
Carter of Cleve, son of King Carter by his second
wife Mary Landon, had a daughter Sarah who m.
William, a son of Eev. J"ohn Thompson of St. Mark's,
who was the father of Commodore Charles Carter
Byrd Thompson, U. S. navy, of Gilliss and of Wil­
liam Thompson.
THE CAYE FAMILY.
Among the members of the first vestry of St.
Mark's in 1731 was Benjamin Cave. I have in my
possession the original patent for 1000 acres of land
on the Eappidan (sic) Eiver, to Abraham Bledsoe and

THE CAVE FAMILY.

123

Benjamin Cave, " to be held in free and common
socage, and not in capite or knight service, by pay­
ing yearly the free rent of one shilling for every fifty
acres, on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel";
signed by William Grooch, Lieut.-Governor and Com­
mander-in-Chief of the Colony and Dominion of
Yirginia. Done at Williamsburg, under the seal of
the Colony, 28th September, 1728.
Benjamin Cave was vestryman of St. Mark's until
1740, when St. Thomas Parish was cut off from St.
Mark's; and he and David Cave, who was Lay
Eeader at the old Orange Church near Euckersville,
became members of the new parish (St. Thomas) in
Orange County, where they lived. The records of
St. Thomas being lost, their relation to it cannot be
traced. It is known, however, that the family ad­
hered to the Church of their fathers; and one of the
old ministers, about 1740, lived with Benjamin Cave,
Sr., whose residence was within reach of the first
chapel (near Brooking's) and the old Orange Church.
I have in my possession some original poems in
MS., entitled " Spiritual Songs," written by a sister
of Benjamin Cave, Sr., endorsed 1767. It is very
pleasant to find one of these old-time church people,
who some modern people think had no religion,
giving utterance to her pious emotions in songs
which are evidently the outpourings of a truly devo­
tional spirit. It is said that Benjamin Cave used to
repeat the church service from memory, chanting the
psalms.
The first Benjamin Cave lived for a time at what
is now known as Ehodes in Orange, and then moved
to land on the Upper Eapidan near Cave's Ford,
which derives its name from him.

124

GENEALOGIES,

Benjamin Cave represented Orange in the House
of Burgesses in 1756. He m. Hannah, dau. of Wm.
and sister of Abraham Bledsoe; ch. David, John,
Wm., Eiehard (who moved to Kentucky), Ann (to
.North Carolina); Sally m. a Strother, Hannah m.
Capt. Mallory; ch. Elizabeth m. Oliver Welch.
Another daughter m. Capt. Eobert Terrill, the father
of Mrs. Eobert Lovell. Another daugher m. Oliver
Terrill, the father of Dr. Uriel Terrill, Delegate from
Orange. Another daughter m. Welch. William
Mallory m. Miss Gibson, and was the father of Eobert
Mallory, late M. C. from Kentucky. Uriel Mallory
was the father of Mrs. John Taliaferro. Phil.
Mallory lived near Eaccoon Ford. Elizabeth, dau.
of Benjamin Cave m. Col. Wm. Johnson ; ch. 1. Valen­
tine m. Elizabeth Cave, ch. Belfield m. Miss Dickerson.
2. Fontaine m. Miss Duke. 3. Lucy m. Mr. Suggett.
4. Sally m. Mr. Dickerson. 5. Benjamin m. Miss
Barbour (see Barbour genealogy). 6. Col. Eobert m.
Miss Suggett; ch. 1. Eiehard M., Yice-President and
hero of the "Thames"; 2. J. T. Johnson (M. C);
3. James; 4. Benjamin. Benjamin Cave, son of first
Benjamin, m. a dau. of Dr. John Belfield of Eichmond
County; ch. Belfield m. Miss Christy; ch. Belfield,
Clerk of Madison County, m. Miss Jones, and was
the father of Mrs. Governor Kemper. Emily m. Col.
Cave; Sally m. Shackleford; Hudson wa3 Professor
at Chapel Hill, N. C; Benjamin m. Miss Glassell
(father of Mrs. John Gray, Jr., of Traveller's Eest).
Benjamin, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth, m. Miss
White ; ch. William, Belfield, John and Margaret, all
settled in Kentucky. Sarah, dau. of Benjamin, m.
Wm. Cassine; ch. Mary, who m. Mr. Taliaferro.
William, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Cave, m.

THE

CLAYTONS.

"5

Miss Smith; ch. John, William, and Hudson, settled
in Kentucky. Elizabeth m. John Bell, father of
Nelson H. Bell of Baltimore, who m. Hannah Cave.
Another dau, m. Mr. Irvine. Richard Cave m. Miss
Porter; ch. Thomas, Capt. William (father of Mrs.
Cornelia Thompson), F^lix, Elizabeth, Mary, Cor­
nelia, Anne, and Hannah.
I am indebted to Mrs. Thompson for contributions
to the above notice.
THE CLAYTONS.
The first person of this name who appears in the
history of Virginia was the Rev. John Clayton, who
had been Kector of Crofton in Yorkshire. In 1683
he addressed to the Eoyal Society in England, at
their request, several letters giving an account of
what he calls " Several Observables" in Yirginia.
These letters discuss the soil, climate, natural history
and agriculture of the colony of that day. They
display great acuteness of observation, fulness of
learning, and practical suggestions. He seems to
have been the first to point out the value of marl and
muck as fertilizers, and suggest to the planters the
advantages of draining the tidewater swamps. And
when his opinion was laughed at and rejected by the
overseers, he went to work and put them to shame
by laying dry a pond of water, bringing to the light
of the sun an inexhaustible soil.
The next man of mark of this name was the Rev.
David Clayton, minister of Blissland Parish, New
Kent Co., Yirginia, from 1704 to 1724. In his
parochial reports to the Bishop of London he says
(1724) that his Parish was sixty miles long, that he

126

GENEALOGIES,

had under his charge 136 families and about seventy
communicants.
There is John Clayton at Williamsburg, Attorney
General, and a friend of Spotswood, who accom­
panied Mr. Fontaine in the first trip to Germanna in
1714. There was also a Clayton a vestryman and
justice in Essex Co. The family tradition is that
Major Philip Clayton came to Culpeper from New
Kent through Essex. What was his precise relation
to the foregoing clergymen is not certainly known.
His name first appears in our church records in the
year 1741, when he was chosen vestryman of St.
Mark's, and a patent for land from Lord Fairfax to
John Brown (now before us) is endorsed as having
been surveyed by Philip Clayton, 1749. He was
the deputy, doing all the duties of the office for
Eoger Dixon, Clerk of Culpeper, who lived in the
lower country. He married Ann, sister of Eobert
Coleman, on whose land the courthouse was built.
He had one son, Samuel (his successor in the vestry),
who married his cousin Ann Coleman, and among
their children were Major Philip Clayton the second,
an officer of the Eevolution, whose daughter Sarah
Ann married Dr. James B. Wallace.
Nancy, sister of the last Philip, and daughter of
Samuel, married Jeremiah Strother, and was the
grandmother of the Eev. J. S. Hansbrough, and Mrs.
Judge Williams of Orange C. H., Colonel Woodson
Hansbrough, and Mrs. Waldridge.
Lucy, daughter of the first Philip, married William
Williams (vestryman), and their children were
Major John, General James, both officers in the
Eevolution, Philip of Woodstock, William Clayton of
Eichmond, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Green. (See
Williams genealogy).

THE

CLAYTONS.

I2

7

Susan, another daughter of the first Philip, mar­
ried Colonel James Slaughter, father of Captain
Philip Slaughter. (See Slaughter genealogy).
Another daughter married Nathaniel Pendleton,
brother of Judge Edmund Pendleton, President of
the Court of Appeals (see Pendleton genealogy).
Another daughter married a Crittenden, and was
the mother (I believe) of Senator Crittenden of
Kentucky.
Major Philip Clayton the elder lived at Catalpa,
so named from a Catalpa tree he transplanted from
Essex, the first of its kind in the county.
Philip Clayton went from Virginia to Georgia,
where he died, and was buried at Sand Hills, near
the city of Augusta. His children were first, George
Eoots of Milledgeville, cashier of State Bank and
treasurer of the State, highly honored and esteemed.
2. Augustine Smith Clayton, of Athens, graduated
at Franklin College, distinguished at the bar, Judge
of the Western Circuit, and Member of Congress,
where he won a national reputation. He was an
able statesman, jurist, and man of letters, and left
his impress upon the policy and literature of the
State. He died a Christian, on 1st of June, 1839, in
the 56th year of his age, leaving nine children, viz.
George Eoots, Augustine Smith, Wm. Wirt, Cashier
Merchants Bank, Atlanta; Philip, consul at Callao,
and churchwarden, St. Paul's, Greensboro, died 1877 ;
Almyra ; Dallas; Edward P., cotton factor and com­
mission merchant of Augusta, and churchwarden of
St. Paul's ; Julia; Claudia, and Augusta.

128

GENEALOGIES.

THE COLEMAISTS.
Eobert Coleman. 1st of the name in Culpeper, m.
Sarah Ann Saunders. The town of Fairfax (Cul­
peper) was founded on fifty acres of his land in 1759.
He had one son, Eobert, who emigrated to Ken­
tucky and m. Mrs. Thompson, a sister of Major
Philip Lightfoot.
Gilly, dau. of the 1st Eobert and Miss Saunders,
m. General Edward Stevens, the Eevolutionary hero
and elector, who cast the vote of the district for
Washington, and whose son John m. Polly, dau. of
the 1st William Williams.
Ann, 2d dau. of 1st Eobert, m. Samuel Clayton.
(See Clayton genealogy.)
Eosa, 3d dau., in. Foster of Tennessee, one of
whose ch. was the Senator in Congress from that
State.
Another dau. of 1st Eobert m. Col. John Slaughter,
son of the 1st Francis of that name.
Another dau. m. Francis Slaughter, brother of the
foregoing John. (See Slaughter genealogy.)
Another dau. m. a Yancey.
Lucy, another dau., m. French Strother, so long
representative of Culpeper in the General Assembly
and in the Convention of 1775-6, and whose oldest
dau. P. French was first wife of Capt. P. Slaughter.
(See Slaughter genealogy.)
The 8th dau. of 1st Eobert m. a Crutcher, and one
of their daughters m. a Foushee.
Eobert Coleman, in his will (1793) recorded in
Culpeper, leaves legacies to his daughters Ann
Clayton, Sarah Slaughter, Lucy Strother, Francis
Crutcher and Susanna Yancey. Philip Clayton was
his executor.

TEE CONWAY FAMILY.

129

THE CONWAY FAMILY.
This family has been identified with the Episcopal
Church from the earliest times. You may trace
the name through the vestry-books from the first
settlements in the Northern Neck to the present
time. I have in my possession the will of Edwin
Conway, dated 19th of March, 1698. In the grave­
yard of Whitechapel, Lancaster County, there is a
tombstone of Mary Ball, daughter of Edwin Con­
way, and one of James Ball, her husband, who was
a near relative of Gen. Washington's grandfather,
who was the son of Col. Wm. Ball, the first of the
name who came from England in 1650 and settled
at the mouth of Corotoman River. I transfer from
the will the following clauses: — "First and princi­
pally, I bequeath my soul to the God that gave it,
in certain hope, notwithstanding my unworthiness,
to receive pardon of all my sins, through the blessed
merits of my dear Redeemer; and by no other way
or means do I hope for pardon. My body I commit
to be buried in my burying-ground at Lancaster, by
the left side of my dear wife Sarah, in certain hope,
thro' the merits aforesaid, that soul and body will
have a joyful meeting at the resurrection of the
just." He gives to his son Francis and to his heirs
lawfully begotten 706 acres of land in Essex; to the
child or children " whereof my wife now goeth
withal" the crop of sweet-scented tobacco on the
lower plantation. To his son Edwin all the lands in
Lancaster given him by deed, with his mathematical
books and instruments, and all " the cloth and stuff
sent for to England." He appoints his friend An­
drew Jackson, Reuben Conway and H. Thacker to

130

GENEALOGIES.

be overseers of his will, desiring them to carefully
advise and instruct his children in their persons and
estates and to be assistants to his dear wife.
The aforesaid E. Conway married Elizabeth
Thompson. Their son Francis, near Port Eoyal,
Caroline, married Kebecca, daughter of Jno. Catlett
and Elizabeth Grimes. (This John Catlett was son
of the John Catlett killed by the Indians while
defending the fort at Port Royal.) Nelly, daughter
of Francis and granddaughter of Edwin Conway,
married James Madison, Sr., and was the mother of
President Madison, who was born at Port Conway,
opposite to Port Royal, where his mother was
visiting, at 12 o'clock at night between the 5th and
6th of March, 1751, and was baptized the 31st of
March by the Rev. Win. Davis, and had for god­
fathers John Moore and Jonathan Gibson, and for
godmothers Mrs. Rebecca Moore and Misses Judith
and Elizabeth Catlett.
The author of this will was the great-grandfather
of old Capt. Catlett Conway, of Hawfield, in Orange
(now owned by ffm. Crenshaw, Esq.,) who was the
father of the late Francis, Catlett, John, and Henry
Conway, of Orange and Madison; of Mrs. Hay
Taliaferro, of Rose Hill, Orange County, and of Mrs.
Fitzhugh, of Bedford, King George. Dr. Charles
Conway (vestryman) is a direct descendant of the
old vestryman, the first Edwin Conway of Lancaster.
THE FIELDS.
The first person of the name in the parish register
is Henry Field, Sr., a member of the first vestry
chosen by the freeholders and housekeepers of St.

THE FIELDS.

13*

Mark's Parish, at Germanna, in January 1731. The
next is Abraham Field, elected vestryman at the
Great Fork Church in 1744, and served till his
death in 1774, a term of thirty years. He had a son
John, who represented Culpeper in the House of
Burgesses in 1765. He was probably the Col. John
Field who had served in Braddock's War, and who
fell, fighting gallantly at the head of his regiment, at
the battle of Point Pleasant. One of his daughters
married Lawrence Slaughter, an officer of the Revolution, and who was the father of John Field
Slaughter, who married Miss Alexander of Prince
William. Another of Col. John Field's daughters
married Col. George Slaughter, who raised one of
the first companies of minute-men in Culpeper; and
after the war moved to Kentucky with George
Rogers Clarke, commanded a fort at the Falls of the
Ohio, and was one of the founders of the city of
Louisville, which was then in the State of Yirginia.
Henry Field, Sr., the vestryman of 1731, served in
that office and as churchwarden till 1762, a term of
thirty-one years. He executed many commissions
for the vestry, such as going to Williamsburg on
horseback several times on their behalf, and paying
quit-rents for the churches and glebes. He and
Francis Slaughter and Robert Green chose a site for
a chapel between Shaw's Mountain, the Devil's Run
and Hazel River. He was succeeded in the vestry
by Henry Field, Jr., who served till his removal
from the parish of St. Mark's into Bromfield Parish,
whose records are lost or we should probably have
found his name on the vestry-books there. He rep­
resented Culpeper in the Convention at Williamsburg
in 1774 to consider the state of the country, in the

132

GENEALOGIES.

House of Burgesses in 1775, and with French
Strother in the Convention of 1776 which asserted
the principle of religious liberty, declared American
independence, and adopted the first Constitution.
Henry Field, Jr., died in 1785, leaving six sons—•
Daniel, Henry, George, Joseph, Thomas and John,
who were the ancestors of the families of that name.
The late judge of this court, Eichard H. Field, and
his brothers Yancey and Stanton, were the sons of
Daniel Field of what is now Madison. He (the
Judge) married first Matilda, daughter of Eobert
Slaughter of the Grange, and second Philippa,
daughter of the Honorable Philip P. Barbour. His
three sons were killed in battle during the late war,
and his daughter (Mrs. Norvell) is the only surviving
child. Gen. James Field of the Culpeper bar, who
lost a limb at the battle of Slaughter's Mountain, is
a son of Yancey Field. He married Miss Cowherd
of Orange.
THE FEY FAMILY.
The ancestor of the Frys who once so abounded
in Culpeper, was Col. Joshua Fry, an Englishman
educated at Oxford. He lived some time in Essex,
was Professor of Mathematics at William and Mary
College, a member of the House of Burgesses, com­
missioner to run one of the lines between Virginia
and North Carolina, and negotiator of the treaty
of Logstown. He, with Peter Jefferson, made a map
of Virginia in 1749. He commanded a regiment
against the French and Indians, of which Wash­
ington was lieutenant-colonel. I am indebted to his
lineal descendant Francis Fry, of Charlottesville, for

THE FRY

FAMILY.

i33

a copy of his commission, from the original in Mr.
F r y ' s possession :—
"To

JOSHUA F B T E .

" His Majesty, by his royal instructions, commanded me to
send a proper number of forces to erect and maintain a fort at
the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers; and having a good opinion
of your loyalty, conduct and ability, I do hereby institute,
appoint and commission you to be Colonel and Commanderin-chief of the forces now raising, to be called the Virginia
Regiment, with which and the cannon, arms and ammunition,
necessary provisions and stores, you are with all possible
dispatch to proceed to said fork of Monongahela, and there act
according to your instructions."
Col. Joshua F r y married Mrs. Hill, t h e d a u g h t e r
of Paul Micon, a French H u g u e n o t physican. H e
was the father of the Eev. H e n r y F r y , who lived in
t h e fork of Crooked E u n and t h e .Robinson E i v e r ,
and occasionally preached in t h e Episcopal church
near Orange C. H . when t h e y had no minister,
always prefacing his sermons with the old church
service, says Col. F r a n k Taylor, a vestryman of t h a t
church. H e was one of those good and guileless men
whom all Christians respected and loved. His son
Eeuben m. Ann dau. of Col. J a m e s Slaughter, and
their ch. were J u d g e Joseph F r y , of Wheeling,
H e n r y , Senator of K a n a w h a , and Philip S., late
clerk of Orange and father of Philip, present clerk,
William, Thomas and L u t h e r . Thomas W., son of
Eev. H . F r y , m. 1st Mrs. Slaughter, whose maiden
name was Bourn, and 2d Ann dau. of Col. Abram
Maury of Madison. H e with t h r e e ch. moved to
K e n t u c k y (1816). Joshua m. Miss Walker, and Mrs.
Willis dau. of William T w y m a n . H u g h and J o s h u a
F r y , of Eichmond, were his sons. H e n r y m. Mildred
M

»34

GENEALOGIES.

dau. of Eev. Mat Maury. Frank Fry, Sr., of Char­
lottesville, is their son. John m. Miss Heywood, of
Culpeper, and lived at the Warm Springs. Mrs.
Dr. Archer Strother was his dau. Wesley m. 1st
Miss Walker, and 2d a French lady, Miss Leflet, and
had thirteen children. Thornton m. a dau. of Hon.
Philip E. Thompson, and their ch. were Gen. Burkitt
Fry, C. S. A., Dr. Frank and Mrs. Jno. L. Bacon, of
Eicbmond. Margaret dau. of Eev. Henry m. Philip
Lightfoot and moved to Kentucky. Martha m.
Goodrich Lightfoot and had ten cA., of whom Edward
Lightfoot, of Madison, is the only survivor. Maria
m. Hugh Walker and went to Kentucky, and had
many children.
Col. Joshua Fry, the head of this family in Vir­
ginia, patented 1000 acres of land on the Eobinson
Eiver in 1726, and 400 acres "in the fork of the
Eobinson " i n 1739. Charles Meriwether Fry, of the
Bank of Kew York, who m. Miss Leigh, is the son of
Belville, who was the son of Joshua, who was the
son of Eev. Henry Fry.
THE GAENETT FAMILY.
The chief seat of this family in Virginia was the
county of Essex, where many of this name occupied
a high social position and filled many places of public
trust. The Hon. James M. Garnett was a member
of Congress from 1805 to 1809. The Hon. Eobert S.
Garnett was in Congress from 1817 to 1827. The
Hon. Muscoe Garnett was also a member of Congress
and of the State Convention of 1850. Dr. A. Y. P.
Garnett, who married the daughter of Governor
Wise, has been for many years a leading medical

THE GARNETT

FAMILY.

135

man of Washington City. There was a General
G-arnett of the Confederate army who fell in battle,
whose sister married Professor Williamson of the
Virginia Military Institute; and there is now a
Professor Garnett in the college at Annapolis, Md.
I have been disappointed in receiving the informa­
tion which would have enabled me to show the
connecting links between these several members of
the family in Yirginia. The first of the name in
Culpeper was Anthony Garnett, who came from
Essex, and from the names James, Muscoe and
Eeuben, which are common to both families, they
probably sprang from the same stock. Anthony
Garnett was a vestryman, churchwarden and lay
reader of St. Mark's Parish from 1758. He lived at
the Horse Shoe, where Joseph Wilmer, Jr., now
resides, and when there was no minister of the
parish, was in the habit of burying the dead with
the church service. He married Mrs. Bowler (Miss
Jones), and his children were Robin, who moved to
Kentucky and died in his ninety-eighth year. His
daughter married Stokely Towles of Madison, and
their daughter married James L. Waggener of Russelville, Ky., father of Professor Waggener, of Bethel
College, Ky. James, son of Anthony, was minister
of Crooked Run Church. He married Miss Rowe,
and was the father of Edmund, who was the father
of the late Rev. James Garnett, whose sons, Joel,
Absalom and Franklin, and daughter Tabitha, still
survive. James, Sr., was the father of the present
James, whose children are Muscoe and others. John,
son of Anthony, moved to Kentucky. Thomas mar­
ried Miss Hawkins. Reuben, son of Anthony, mar­
ried Miss Twyman, and was the father of the venei>

136

GENEALOGIES.

able Miss Tabitha Garnett, who, like her namesake
in the Bible, is kind to the poor. Lucy married a
Tinsley, Sally married a Stepp, and Betsy married
William Willis of Culpeper, the father of the late
Isaac Willis, who has many descendants, among
whom is the Eev. John C. Willis of Indian Town,
Orange County.
THE GLASSELL FAMILY.
The Glassell (originally Glassele) family went from
Poictiers, France, with Mary Queen of Scots on her
return to her native country. John Glassell of Eunkan, Scotland, m. Mary Coalter, a warm Covenanter,
and their son Eobert m. Mary Kelton, and their son
Andrew Glassell was born at Galway, Dumfriesshire,
Scotland, near Torthorwald, " Castle of the Dou­
glass," Oct. 8th, 1738, and emigrated to Madison
County, Yirginia, in 1756. He imported mechanics
from Scotland, and built a large brick residence on
his fine estate on the upper Eobinson Eiver, known
as Torthorwald. He m. (1776) Elizabeth dau. of
Erasmus Taylor of Orange County, and died July
4th, 1827, aged 89. Their children were —
1. Millie Glassell m. Eeuben Smith. Issue 1. Jane
m. in 1822 Hon. Jeremiah Morton (M. C ) ; issue one
son, died in infancy, and one daughter, Mildred m.
J. J. Halsey, issue 1. Fannie M.; 2. Anna Augusta
(Mrs. Alexander); 3. J. Morton m. Miss Stearns; 4.
E. Ogden m. Miss Walker, and 5. Joseph J. Halsey.
2. George A. Smith (now of Bell County, Texas), m.
Julia dau. of James Somerville of Culpeper Co.;
issue 1. Eudora G. (Mrs. Lees); 2. Jane M. (Mrs.
Ware); 3. Mary S. (Mrs. Coffee); 4. Margaret (Mrs.

THE GLASSELL FAMILY.

i37

Russell), and several sons unmarried. 3. Dr. William
R. Smith (late of Galveston), m. first Mrs. Middleton,
no issue; m. second Mary Mayrant, issue John M.
m. Miss Terry, and Mildred (Mrs. Crosby of NewYork City).
2. John Glassell m. first Louisa Brown. Issue 1.
Dr. Andrew m. Miss Downing; 2. Fanny (Mrs. Ware);
3. Mary (Mrs. Conway); 4. Louisa (Mrs. Eno of
Pennsylvania). John Glassell m. second Mrs. Lee,
nte Margaret Scott; issue Mildred S. (Mrs. Covell)
and John m. Miss Thorn. John Glassell m. third
Mary Ashton, by whom no issue.
3. Mary Kelton Glassell m. Michael Wallace. Issue
1. Ellen (Mrs. Somerville); 2. Gustavus; 3. H.
Nelson; 4. Elizabeth (Mrs. Wallace); 5. Louisa (Mrs.
Goodwin); 6. James, and 7. Marianna (Mrs. Conway).
4. Helen Buchan Glassell m. Daniel Grinnan. Issue
1. Robert A. m. Robertine Temple; 2. Cornelia (died
1864); 3. Andrew G. m. George S. Bryan; 4. DaniellaM.
5. Jane M. Glassell m. Benjamin Cave. (See Cave
genealogy,)
6. Major James M. Glassell, U. S. Army, m. Eudora
Swartout.
7. Andrew Glassell m. Susan Thornton. Issue 1.
Andrew m. Miss Toland; 2. Capt. William S. Glassell;
3. Susan S. m. first Colonel George S. Patton (see
Williams genealogy); m. second George H. Smith of
California.
8. William E. Glassell m first Margaret Somerville.
Issue one child living, Margaret (Mrs. Weeks of
Louisiana). M. second Harriet Scott.
John Glassell, brother of Andrew, came to Fred­
ericksburg long before the Revolution. He was a

i38

GENEALOGIES,

merchant of large transactions, having branch estab­
lishments in Culpeper and Fauquier, and became
very rich. He returned to Scotland before the Eevolution. He married Helen Buehan, of the family of
the Earl of Buehan. One of her sisters married an
Erskine, and another Dalhousie; and Lord Erskine
and the Earl of Dalhousie were her nephews. John
Glassell's only daughter, Johanna, married Lord
Campbell, who became Duke of Argyle, and the
present Duke of Argyle is her son.

GENEALOGY OF THE GEEEN FAMILY.
Eobert Green, the first of the family who came to
this country (son of William, an Englishman, an
officer in the body-guard of William, Prince of
Orange), arrived here about the year 1712, and
settled with his uncle, William Duff, a Quaker, in
King George County. He was born in the year
1695. When a young man he married Eleanor
Dunn, of Scotland, and settled in Culpeper, in St.
Mark's Parish, near what is now Brandy, a station
on the Washington City and Virginia Midland Eailroad. He had seven sons: William, Eobert, Duff,
John, Nicholas, James and Moses.
1. William m. Miss Coleman of Caroline, died in
Culpeper County and left eight children.
2. Eobert m. Patty Ball of Northumberland, died
in Culpeper and left five children.
3. Duff m. first Miss Thomas, m. second Miss
Willis, left five children. Gen. Duff Green of Wash­
ington City was his grandson.
4. John (Col. John Green of the Eevolution) m.
Susanna Blackwell; issue, 1. William m. Lucy

THE GBEEN

FAMILY.

139

Williams, issue, one child to live, John W. Green,
Judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. Judge
Green m. first Mary Browne; issue, 1. William Green
(the eminent lawyer) m. Columbia, daughter of
Samuel Slaughter of Culpeper; issue, John, killed in
battle in 1863, and Bettie (Mrs. Hayes of Fredericks­
burg). 2. Ealeigh B. Green died unmarried. 3.
Dr. Daniel S. Green, formerly of the U. S. Navy.
m. Virginia, daughter of Samuel Slaughter of Cul­
peper; issue, Dr. Wm. Green, Professor in Balti­
more Medical College, Mollie (Mrs. Morton of Balti­
more), and Samuel Green, a lawyer at Charlestown,
West Virginia. Judge Green m. second Miss Cooke
(a granddaughter of George Mason, author of the
Virginia Bill of Eights) ; issue, 1. John C. Green (for
twenty years Commonwealth's Attorney for Cul­
peper) m. Lucy, daughter of Dr. George Morton of
Culpeper; 2. Thomas C. Green (Judge of the Court of
Appeals of West Virginia) m. Miss McDonald ; 3.
George M. Green m. Miss Ashby of Fauquier; 4.
James W. Green (a lawyer at Culpeper) m. Miss
McDonald ; 5. Lucy W. Green died unmarried.
2. John, second son of Col. John Green, was killed
in a duel, at 18 years of age, at Valley Forge.
3. .Robert, third son of Col. John Green, m. Miss
Edmunds, had two children — a son and a daughter;
son left no children ; daughter m. Eobert Payne,
lived in Nicholas County, Kentucky, had children.
4. Duff, fourth son of Col. John Green, died young.
5. George, fifth son, died an infant.
6. Moses, sixth son of Col. John Green, m. Fanny
Eichards ; issue, 1. John died at 22 years of age; 2.
Julia m. Bernard Peyton; issue, Green Peyton m. a
daughter of Dr. Charles Carter of Charlottesville,

140

GENEALOGIES.

and Thomas Jefferson Peyton m. a daughter of
Bishop Johns; 3. Thomas Green (now of Washing­
ton City) m. first Miss Lyons, m. second Miss Eitchie*,
m. third Miss Lomax. His children are Mary (Mrs.
Stone of Washington City) and Thomas Eitchie
Green ; 4. William Green m. Miss Saunders, has
children; 5. A. Magill Green m. Miss Farish, had
children,
7. Thomas, seventh son of Col. John Green, m.
first Miss Miller; issue, Edward H. m. first Miss
Short, m. second Miss Ward. Thomas Green m.
second Lucy Peyton of Stafford County, Va., and
moved to Christian County, Kentucky; issue:
1. Ann Augusta Green m. Edward Eandolph;
issue, Bathurst E. Eandolph m. Lizzie Glass, and Dr.
Thomas G. Eandolph m, Anne Edgar.
2. Lucy Williams Green m. first Daniel Henry ;
issue, 1. Lucy Ann m. John Nelson, 2. Mary Green
m. George Champlin (a lawyer at Hopkinsville, Ky.)
3. Dr. Green Henry m. Kate Mansfield.
Lucy
Williams Henry m. second James C. Moore; issue, 1.
Lucy W. m. Charles Dade, 2. Mattie P., 3. James C ,
4. Gustavus H.
3. Mary Peyton Green m. first Thomas Edmunds ;
issue, John T. Edmunds m. Mollie Campbell. Mary
Peyton Edmunds m. second Col. William S. Moore,
of Alabama; issue, 1. James H., 2. Lucy Peyton m.
Ecksteine Norton, of New York city, 3. Lizzie McA.
m. John D. Tyler, 4. William S., 5. Fannie Peyton,
6. Caroline Green.
4. John E. Green m. Elizabeth Nelson, issue 1.
William m. Miss Armstead, 2. Wallace m. Miss Somerville, 3. Edward m. Miss Hartman, 4. Lucius m. in
California, 5. John E. m. Miss Phelps, 6. Eosalie m.

THE GREEN FAMILY.

141

Hunter Wood (a lawyer at Hopkinsville, Ky., and
district attorney) 7. Lizzie m. Nicholas Edmunds, 8.
Anna m. William T. Townes, 9. Eobert, 10, Nelson.
5. Thomas Green m. first Caroline Venable, issue
Lucy P. m. Kandolph Dade, 2. Bettie m. Bankhead
Dade, 3. George m. Lizzie Dade, 4. John E. Thomas
Green m. second Mary T. Moore, issue 5. Thomas,
6. James.
8. Elizabeth, daughter of Col. John Green m. John
Hove, of Fauquier County, no issue.
Nicholas, the fifth son of Eobert Green, m. Miss
Price, had a number of children who moved to Ken­
tucky. >
James, the sixth son of Eobert Green, m. E. Jones,
issue 1. Gabriel m. Miss Grant, moved to Kentucky
on Green Eiver, 2. James m. Miss Jones, issue Jones,
James, Strother, Charles, Duff and others (Mrs.
Howard Shackelford, now of Charlottesville, is a
daughter of Jones, and CoL John Shackelford Green,
a gallant officer in the late war, is a son of James),
3. Duff died a bachelor, 4. Jones m. Miss Neville, 5.
Eobert m. Miss Edmunds, 6. John m. Miss Catlett,
of Fauquier, moved to Henderson Co., Ky., 7.
Dolly m. Nimrod Turner, 8. Elizabeth m. W. Pea­
cock, died in England, 9. Lucy m. a Glasscock,
moved to Missouri, 10. Polly m. a Catlett, 11. Austin
m. Miss Ball, moved to Kentucky.
Moses, the seventh son of Eobert Green, m. Miss
Blackwell (sister of Susanna), issue two daughters,
1. Sally died without issue, 2. Eleanor m. Gen. James
Williams, issue 1. William m. Miss Stubblefield, 2.
James died single, 3. Sally m. George Strother,
member of Congress from the Culpeper district (see
Strother and Williams genealogies).

142

GENEALOGIES.

There has been a continuous succession of vestry­
men in this family, from Eobert of 1731, who was a
member of the House of Burgesses, to Major J. W.
Green, now a leading member of the Culpeper bar.
THE LIGHTFOOTS.
The Lightfoots were among the early colonists in
Virginia. They seem to have settled originally in
Gloucester and James City, when the latter embraced
what is now Charles City County. Colonel Philip
Lightfoot was a vestryman of Petsworth Parish as
early as 1683. By his last will he devised his lands
to his eldest son Francis, remainder to his son Philip.
Francis devised his lands to his daughter Elizabeth,
who married Peter Eandolph of Henrico; remainder
to his brother Philip Lightfoot. The entail was
docked by the House of Burgesses in 1740, and by
agreement between the parties these lands were
vested in Philip Lightfoot.
The present writer remembers to have seen at
Sandy Point in Charles City, when it was owned and
occupied by Col. Eobert B. Boiling, divers portraits
of the old Lightfoots. There were three William
Lightfoots in succession at Sandy Point, and their
tombs are still there. The first died in 1727, the
second in 1809, and the third in 1810. We have in
our possession now a copy of Bayles' folio dictionary,
in ten volumes, with the name and coat-of-arms of
William Lightfoot Tedington on each volume. Tedington was one of the four farms which composed
the splendid estate of Sandy Point, between the
James and Chiekahominy Eivers. Three of these
farms were inherited by Miss Minge (Mrs. Eobert
B. Boiling), and the fourth was added by Mr. Boiling.

THE

LWIITFOOTS.

H3

Thjere is a family of Lightfoots at Port Eoyal,
Caroline, represented by the late Philip Lightfoot
and his sons, Lewis Lightfoot and his brother John.
In 1726 we find the name of Major Goodrich
Lightfoot as a member of the vestry of St. George's
Parish, Spotsylvania, when that parish and county
embraced what was afterwards the parish of St.
Mark's and county of Culpeper. He was one of the
lay readers at the Germanna Church, and he and
Kobert Slaughter were appointed to count all the
tobacco plants from the mouth of the Eapidan to the
mouth of Mountain Eun, and up Mountain Eun and
across to the mouth of the Eobinson Eiver, in obedi­
ence to an Act of the Assembly limiting the number
of plants to be cultivated by each planter.
At the organization of St. Mark's Parish, at Ger­
manna in 1731, he was chosen a member of the first
vestry by the freeholders and housekeepers of St.
Malik's, his home being within the limits of the new
parish. He served as vestryman and churchwarden
till his death in 1738, and was succeeded by Captain
Goodrich Lightfoot in 1741, who served till his
removal from the parish in 1771. William Light­
foot was also a vestryman from 1752 to 1758, when
he moved out of its bounds to the parish of Bromfield, which had been cut off from St. Mark's in 1752.
William, we think, was the father of Goodrich, who
married the daughter of the Eev. Henry Fry, who
lived in the fork of Crooked Eun and the Eobinson
Eiver. Goodrich Lightfoot lived opposite to the
present home of George Clark, Esq., on the Eobinson
Eiver. He was the brother of the late Major Philip
Lightfoot of the Culpeper bar, and of Walker Light­
foot (clerk), and he was the father of Frank Light-

144

GENEALOGIES.

foot, clerk of Culpeper, who married Miss Fielder
(father of Col. Charles E. Lightfoot), and of Edward
of Madison, who married Miss Conner, and is the
father of Virginia; and John, who married Miss
Turner, the granddaughter of Major John Eoberts
of the Eevolution, whose wife was the daughter of
the old vestryman Captain Eobert Pollard.
From the names of Philip, John, and William,
which were common to these several branches of the
Lightfoots, the presumption is that they sprang
from the same stock.
THE MADISON FAMILY.
From the record of James Madison, Sr., the father
of the President, and from the record of James
Madison, Jr., the President.
The first of the name in Yirginia, John Madison,
patented land in Gloucester County in 1653. His
son John was the father of Ambrose, who married
Frances, daughter of James Taylor, Aug. 29th, 1721.
Their son, James Madison, Sr., was married to
Nelly, daughter of Francis Conway of Caroline,
Sept. 13th, 1749. James Madison, Jr., (the Presi­
dent) was born at Port Conway at 12 o'clock (mid­
night) 6th March, 1751, was baptized by Eev. Wm.
Davis, March 31st, and had for godfathers John
Moore and Jonathan Gibson, and for godmothers Mrs.
Eebeeca Moore and Misses Judith and Elizabeth
Catlett. Frances, daughter of James, Sr., born June
18th, 1753, baptized by the Eev. Mungo Marshall, July
31st; godfathers, Eichard Beale and Erasmus Taylor ;
godmothers, Miss Milly Taylor and Mrs. Frances
Beale. Ambrose, son of James, Sr., born Jan. 27th,

THE MADISON FAMILY.

MS

1756, baptized by Rev. Mr. Marshall, March 2d;
godfathers, James Coleman and George Taylor;
godmothers, Mrs. Jane Taylor and Alice Chew.
Catlett, son of James, Sr., born Feb. 10th, 1758, bap­
tized by Rev. James Maury, Feb. 22d; godfathers,
Col. Wm. Taliaferro and Richard Beale ; godmothers,
Mrs. E. Beale and Miss Milly Chew.
Nelly,
daughter of James, Sr., (Mrs. Hite) born Feb. 14th,
1760, baptized March 6th by Rev. Wm. Giberne ;
godfathers, Larkin Chew and William Moore; god­
mothers, Miss E. Catlett and Miss C. Bowie.
William Madison born May 1st, 1762, baptized May
23d by Rev. James Marye, Jr.; godfathers, William
Moore and James Taylor; godmothers, Miss Mary
Willis and Miss Milly Chew. Sarah (Mrs. Thomas
Macon), born Aug. 17th, 1764, baptized Sept. 15tb,
by Rev. James Marye; godfathers, Captain R. J.
Barbour and Andrew Shepherd; godmothers, Mrs.
Sarah Taylor and Miss Mary Conway. Elizabeth
Madison born Feb. 19th, 1768, baptized Feb. 22d by
Rev. Thos. Martin; godfathers, Major T. Burnley
and Ambrose Powell; godmothers, Miss Alice and
Miss Nelly Chew. Reuben Madison born Sept. 19th,
1771, baptized Nov. 10th by Rev. Mr. Barnett; god­
fathers, Francis Barbour and James Chew; god­
mothers, Alice and Nelly Chew. Frances Taylor
Madison (Mrs. Dr. Robert Rose) born Oct. 9th, 1774,
baptized Oct. 30th by Rev. Mr. Wingate ; godfathers,
Thomas Bell and Richard Taylor; godmothers,
Miss Frances Taylor and Miss Elizabeth Taylor.
Here the old family record closes. It is a model
record, which others would do well to imitate. In
it we have the succession of the ministers of the
parish, Wingate being the last of the colonial clergy.
N

146

GENEALOGIES.

James Madison, Jr., was chairman of the Committee
of Public Safety and an active vestryman.
The living representatives of James Madison, Sr.,
so far as is known by the writer, are :
1. The oldest child (Nelly) of Ambrose, eldest son
of James Madison, Sr., married Dr. Willis, and their
living descendants are Col. John Willis of Orange
and his children.
2. Of General William Madison, 2d brother of
James Madison, Jr., (President) the living descend­
ants are Wm. Madison and children of Texas, Dr.
James Madison of Orange, and the children of Col.
John Willis through their mother; the wife and
children of Wm. P. Dabney of Powhatan; the
children of Eobert Marye; the wife and children of
Dorsey Taliaferro of Texas; the children of Major
John H. Lee by his second wife Fanny, daughter of
Lewis Willis and Eliza Madison ; Dr. Eobert Madi­
son (the son of Eobert) and his children, Virginia
Military Institute; the children of Daniel F.
Slaughter by his first wife, Letitia Madison; and
the children of Dr. Thomas T. Slaughter by his first
wife.
Of Frank, third brother of the President, the
representatives are the children of Alexander and
Thompson Shepherd.
The eldest sister of the President, Nelly (Mrs.
Hite), left a son and daughter. Her son, Madison
Hite, left two sons and a daughter (Mrs. Baker), all
believed to be living. Her daughter Nelly married
Dr. Baldwin. Miss Baldwin, the untiring Missionary
in Greece, and now at Joppa, is the illustrious off­
spring of this marriage.
The second sister of the President, Sarah, marri&d

THE MADISON

FAMILY.

M7

Thomas Macon. Of a number of children of this
marriage, two only left issue. 1. Conway Macon
left a son and three daughters. The son, who was
killed at Manassas, left an only son, Edgar, now
living. Conway Macon's daughters married Wash­
ington, Cave and Smith; the first and last of whom
are living and have several children. 2. James
Madison Macon's daughters, Mrs. Hite and Mrs.
Knox. There was also a Thomas Macon, Jr., and
that mother in Israel, the late Mrs. Reuben Conway,
was a daughter of Thomas Macon, Sr., and Sarah
Madison.
The youngest sister of the President, Fanny, mar­
ried Dr. Robert Rose and they emigrated to Ten­
nessee about 1822 or '23, with children, Ambrose,
Hugh, James, Robert, Erasmus, Henry, Sam, Nelly,
Frances and Mary. Of these, Dr. Erasmus Rose, if
living, is a resident of Memphis.
James Madison, Sr., the zealous old vestryman, had
a habit of making short sketches of sermons he
heard. Col. John Willis had some of them. His
great son, the President, left among his papers com­
ments on the Grospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
Among these are the following :—"Christ's Divinity
appears in St. John, eh. xx. v. 28." On the words
of Christ to St. Paul, " Arise and go into the city,
and it shall be told thee what thou shalt do," his
comment is, " It is not the talking, but the walking
and working person, that is the true Christian." I t
was he that furnished a list of theological authors
for the Library of the University of Virginia. There
are doubtless other descendants of James Madison,
Sr., but the author of this notice is unable to trace
the line of their connection with him.

GENEALOGIES.

148

THE PENDLETON

FAMILY.

The Pendleton family of Virginia deduce descent
from H e n r y Pendleton of Norwich, England, whose
t w o sons, Nathaniel (Minister of the Established
Church of England, died without issue) and P h i l i p
emigrated to t h e colony in 1674, and settled in t h a t
portion of N e w K e n t County which now forms
Caroline County.
P h i l i p b. 1650, visited England in 1680, r e t u r n i n g
m., 1682, Isabella H u r t , d. 1721; issue:
i. E l i z a b e t h m. Samuel Clayton of Caroline
C o u n t y ; issue, P h i l i p of " Catalpa." (See Clayton
genealogy.)
ii. B a c h e l m. J o h n Yass.
ili. C a t h e r i n e m. J o h n T a y l o r ; issue, " J o h n
Taylor of Caroline," U . S. S., &c.
iv. H e n r y b. 1683, m. 1701, Mary dau. of J a m e s
Taylor, b. 1688. H e d. May, 1721, his wife surviving
him m. 2d E d . Watkins and d. 1770.
v. I s a b e l l a m. Eichard Thomas, from whom were
descended Gov. J a m e s and J u d g e Philip Pendleton
Barbour of Orange County.
vi. J o h n b. 1691, removed to A m h e r s t Co., m.
Tinsley of Madison Co.; he d. 1775. Descendants
in Amherst, H a n o v e r and other counties.
vii. P h i l i p b.
, m. Elizabeth Pollard.
1

1

2

3

2

2

8

2

2

2

2

2

Issue of H e n r y and M a r y (Taylor) Pendleton :
i. J a m e s b. 1702, d. 1761; m.
; issue, J a m e s ,
H e n r y , P h i l i p and A n n e m.
Taylor.
ii. P h i l i p m. and dying 1778, left 15 children, w h o
intermarried with t h e Gaines, Barbours, Turners,
&c.
3

4

4

4

3

4

THE PENDLETON

FAMILY.

149

8

iii. Nathaniel 6. 1715, m.
his second cousin,
dau. of Philip Clayton; he d. 1794, in Culpeper Co.,
Va.
iv. Johri b. 1719, m. and dying April, 1799, left
daughters. Descendants in King William and King
and Queen Counties.
v. Edmund b. September 9, 1721, d. Eichmond,
Va., October 23, 1803 ; patriot and jurist; m. twice ;
1st, Jan. 1741, Elizabeth Koy who d. in Nov. fol­
lowing ; 2d, June 1743, Sarah Pollard. There are on
record in the Virginia Land Eegistry Office grants
in his name numbering nearly 10,000 acres of land.
vi. Mary m.
Gaines.
vii. Isabella m.
Gaines. She was the grand­
mother of Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines, U. S. A.
8

8

8

3

4

8

James (James ) Pendleton m.
Bowie dau.
of Gov. Bowie of Maryland; issue :
i. John m.
Taylor; issue, James , John T. ,
Thomas , Catherine .
ii. Margaret m. 1st E. Slaughter, 2d
Morris.
iii. Nancy m. 1st
Brown, 2d Valentine
Johnson ; issue, James Bowie , Thomas M. m. Jane
Farmer. Their descendants in Illinois and Missouri.
iv. Catherine m. Archibald Tutt.
v. James Bowie d. unmarried.
vi. Thomas m.
Farmer.
vii. William m. Nancy, dau. of Capt. John
Strother.
viii. Catlett d. unmarried.
ix. Elizabeth m. Henry Pendleton, her cousin, and
removed to Kentucky.
6

6

6

6

6

5

5

6

6

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

Issue of William and Nancy (Strother) Pen­
dleton :

GENEALOGIES.

ISO
6

i. John Strother (Mem. of House of Del., Ya., M.
C, served seven years in diplomatic service) m. Lucy
Ann Williams.
ii. Albert Gallatin (House of Del., d. 1875) m. Elvira
Chapman; issue, three daughters who married re­
spectively P. W. Strother, Wm, Taliaferro and
Crockett.
iii. James French (Supt. Ya. Penitentiary) m.
Nareissa P. Cecil; issue, Albert G. , John S. , James
F . , William C. , Edmund .
iv. William d. young and unmarried.
v. French d. young and unmarried.
6

6

7

7

7

7

7

6

6

4

3

Henry (James ) Pendleton (Member of Culpeper
Committee of Safety, 1775, and of Patriot Conven­
tion, 1775-6) m.
Thomas of Orange Co.; issue:
i. Dau. m.
Browning; issue, dau. m. Capt.
French Strother, now residing in Missouri.
ii, Dau. m.
Smith.
iii. Dau. m,
Green.
iv. Edward m. Sarah Strother.
v. Henry m. Elizabeth Pendleton, his cousin.
vi. Edmund m. Elizabeth Ward ; issue :
i. Edward d. without issue.
ii. William d. without issue.
iii. Daniel d. without issue.
iv. Theodrick settled in Clarke Co., Ya.
v. Eobert W. resides in Baltimore, Md., (Pres.
Yalley E. E. Co.)
vi. Peter . Peter is President of Yalley E. E.
Eobert W. died a retired merchant in '58 or '59.
vii. George W . removed to Arkansas, d.
viii. Mary Ann m. Wm. Foushee who d.
ix. Elizabeth W. m. E. B. Long of Baltimore
who d.; issue, dau. m. Geo. W. Williams.
5

5

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

7

THE PENDLETON

FAMILY.

IS'

2

Issue of John and
(Tinsley) Pendleton.
i. Benjamin emigrated immediately after the
Bevolutionary War to Kentucky.
ii. Isaac emigrated immediately after the Bevo­
lutionary War to Kentucky.
iii. John emigrated immediately after the Bevo­
lutionary War to Kentucky, where himself, wife and
two children were captured by the Indians and never
afterwards heard from.
iv. Edmund .
v. Bichard m.
Tinsley his first cousin; issue,
William , Betty , Lucy , Sarah , James , Pauline ,
Beuben , Polly , Bichard , Henry .
vi. Beuben #/. Ann Garland of Amherst Co., Ya.
vii. James m.
Bucker. Numerous descend­
ants.
viii. William d. unmarried.
ix. Polly m.
Whitten.
x. Sarah m.
Mahone.
xi. Frances m.
Camden.
xii. Betty tn.
Baldock.
siii. Margaret m.
Miles.
3

3

8

3

3

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

3

3

3

3

8

3

3

Issue of Beuben and Ann (Garland) Pendleton :
i. William Garland , Clerk of Bichmond Chancery
Court, Begister of State Land Office 1814-23,
member State Council, Proctor Univ. of Va., m.
Mary G. Alexander of Campbell Co.
ii. James S. m.
Aldridge, of Amherst Co., d.
in California 1851.
iii. Nancy m. Capt. —— Ware.
iv. Sophia m.
Powell.
v. Polly m. 1st
Wills, 2d
Seay, 3d
Nowlin.
4

4

4

4

4

GENEALOGIES.

152
4

vi. Eliza m. Walter Scott.
vii. J a n e m.
Crow.
viii. Martha m. 1st
Lueas, 2d
Stovall.
ix. Frances m.
Staples.
x. Harriet d. unmarried.
xi. Micajah (M. D.) b. 1796, d. Oct. 1861, M. D.
U. of JSTew York 1816, U. of Penn. 1819, m. 1822
Louisa Jane Davis 6. Dec. 29, 1806, d. Sept. 21.1840.
(Great-granddaughter of Eobert and
(Hughes)
Davis, who settled in Amherst about 1720 upon a
tract of land numbering 10,000 acres. Their de­
scendants by marriage are connected with the
Beverleys, Byrds, Dudleys, Eaglands, Burks, Ellises
and other prominent Virginia families.) Micajah
Pendleton m. 2d, 1844, Mary Ann Cooper.
4

4

4

4

4

4

Issue of William Garland and Mary G. (Alexan­
der) Pendleton :
i. Alexander , officer in the .National Obser­
vatory, d.
ii. Stephen Taylor , Principal High School, Eichmond.
iii. Douglas , engineer.
iv. Mary m.
High tower.
v. Eliza m.
Eeid.
5

5

5

5

Issue of James Shepherd and
(Aldridge) Pendleton:
i. Eobert (clerk of Amherst Co).
ii. James Shepherd m.
Mills, of Eichmond,
Ya.
iii. Nancy m. William H. Eose.
5

5

5

4

Issue of Micajah and Louisa Jane (Davis) Pen­
dleton, M. D., (his first marriage) :

THE PENDLETON FAMILY.

i S3

5

i. Edmund m. Cornelia Morgan, of Cinn., 0. (nowliving at Buchanan in Botetourt Co., Ya.) Issue :
William W. , Lizzie C. , and E. Morgan .
ii. Ann Garland m. Lewis Bough, of Amherst Co.,
who d. leaving issue, Cornelia P . m«
Clark, of
Ga., Louisa Jane , Virginia Grove , Alice Dudley ,
Nannie Lewis .
iii. James Dudley (M. D.) Assistant Clerk Virginia
Senate, m. Feb. 22, 1853, Clara Pulliam dau. of
William Eock, then living in Buchanan Co. Issue :
William Dudley , E. Edmond D .
6

6

6

5

6

6

6

6

6

5

6

6

4

Issue of Micajah and Mary Ann (Cooper) Pen­
dleton, M. D., his second marriage:
iv. William .
v. Charles d. aged 7 years,
vi. Elizabeth ,
vii. Walter ,
viii. Louisa .
5

5

5

5

5

5

4

Issue of Thomas (James ) and —— (Farmer)
Pendleton :
i. William .
ii. James w.
Conner.
iii. Daniel m. Simms.
iv. John .
v. Alexander .
vi. George W .
vii. Anne m. John Menefee.
viii. Eliza m.
Haynes.
6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

8

2

1

Issue of Nathaniel (Henry , Philip ) and
(Clayton) Pendleton :
i. Nathaniel b. 1746, d. in New York, Oct. 20,
182J. Entered Eevolutionary army in 1775, aide-de^
4

GENEALOGIES.

154

camp to Gen. Greene; prominent lawyer and jurist
in New York; second of Alexander Hamilton in his
duel with Aaron Burr; m. Susan Bard.
ii. William b. 1748, settled in Berkeley Co. Ya.,
and was a faithful lay-reader of the Church of
England, as was also his son William who was the
father of the late Eev. William H. Pendleton.
iii. Henry b. 1750, d. in S. C. Jan. 1789. Eminent
as jurist and patriot; numerous descendants in S. C;
Pendleton District in that State named in honor of
him.
iv. Philip b, 1752, Martinsburg, Va.
v. Mary m. John Williams. (See Williams gene­
alogy-) ^ ° issue.
vi. Elizabeth nt. Benjamin Tutt.
vii. Susanna in.
Wilson.
4

5

6

4

4

4

4

4

4

Issue of Nathaniel and Susan (Bard) Pendleton:
i. Edmund H . Judge, M. C. Left no issue.
ii. Nathaniel Greene b. Savannah, Ga., Aug. 1793,
d. June 16, 1861. Aide to Gen. Gaines 1813-16;
member Ohio Senate 1825-6; M. C. 1840 2 ; father
of Hon. Geo. H. Pendleton .
iii. John Bard , left no issue.
iv. James M. m. Margaret Jones; issue Capt.
James M .
v. Anne F m. Archibald Eogers.
5

5

6

5

6

6

5

4

3

Issue of Philip (Nathaniel ) and
Pendleton :
i. Philip C. (U. S. District Judge) m.
; left
issue, Philip , Edmund (Judge Circuit Court), E.
Boyd .
ii. Edmund , (Washington, D. C.) m.
, issue
Isaac Purnell , Serena m.
Dandridge.
5

6

6

6

5

6

6

THE PENDLETON

FAMILY.

'55

5

iii. Anne m.
Kennedy.
iv. Sarah m. 1st
Hunter; issue, Hon. E. M.
T. Hunter; m. 2d.
Dandridge; issue, 7 children.
v. Maria m. John K. Cooke (celebrated lawyer) ;
issue, Phil. Pendleton (poet), John Esten (novelist).
vi. Elizabeth m.
Hunter.
5

5

5

5

Issue of Anne (Pendleton) and •
Kennedy :
i. John Pendleton 6. Baltimore, Oct. 25, 1795, &
Newport, R. I., Aug. 18, 1870. (LL.D. H. U. 1863,
author and politician, M. C , Sec. U. S. Navy 1852,
prolific writer.)
ii. Andrew .
iii. Philip P .
iv. Anthony , U. S. Senator.

%

5

5

5

5

Issue of Elizabeth (Pendleton) and
Hunter:
i. Philip Pendleton .
ii. David .
iii. Andrew , Charlestown, W. Ya. (distinguished
lawyer.)
iv. Edmund P .
v. Elizabeth m.
Strother; issue, Gen. David
Hunter Strother, "Porte Crayon."
vi. Mary Matthews .
vii. Moses H .
viii. Louisa Brooke .
ix. Nancy m. Rev. John Hpge, D.D.; issue, John
Blair (Circuit Judge W. Ya.)
6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

4

3

Issue of Elizabeth (Pendleton, Nathaniel ) and
Benjamin Tutt:
i. Mildred m. Burkett Jett of Loudon Co., Ya.
ii. Dau. m. John Shackleford (for many years
Commonwealth's Attorney, Culpeper Co., Ya.)
5

5

GENEALOGIES.

XS6
5

iii. Dau. m. Capt. John Williams. (See Williams
genealogy.)
iv. Dau. m. William Broaddus (Clerk of Culpeper
Co., Va.)
v. Elizabeth d. unmarried.
vi. Anne m. Robert Catlett of Fauquier Co., Ya.,
of which issue one dau. m. Lewis B. Williams, another
Philip Williams (see Williams genealogy). Nath­
aniel P. m. Betty Breckinridge, Richard H. m. 1st
Molly Patton, 2d Miss Gay, John R. m. 1st Miss
Swann, 2d Miss Henry, and left two sons by last wife.
vii. Charles P . in.
; issue, dau. m. Charles
Bonnycastle (Prof. Univ. of Va.), another dau. m.
Josiah Colston, another m. Major
Throgmorton
of Loudon Co.
6

5

5

5

6

6

Issue of
(Tutt) and John Shackleford :
i. Henry (State Judge). .
ii. B. Howard d.
iii. John L.
iv. Dau. m.
Gibson.
v. Dau. m.
Spots wood.
6

6

6

6

6

2

1

Issue of Philip (Philip ) and Elizabeth (Pollard)
Pendleton:
i. Benjamin m. Mary Macon,
ii. Dau.
3

8

8

Issue of Benjamin and Mary (Macon) Pendleton :
i. James (Officer in the Rev. Army.)
ii. Philip from whom the Pendletons of King
and Queen Co. are descended,
iii. Dau. m.
Holmes.
4

4

4

THE SLAUGHTER

FAMILY.

iS7

Explanation of A rrangement and Abbreviations.
This genealogy is recorded in regular succession
as to generation, and in the order of birth of the issue
of each marriage, as nearly so, or as accurately as the
information gathered has afforded; but as to the last
there are doubtless errors. The number of genera­
tion is denoted by a small Arabic numeral placed on
the right of each Christian name, and a little above
the text, commencing with Philip Pendleton the
emigrant and common ancestor of the family as
Philip , the order of birth of his children being
indicated by the Eoman numerals i., ii., &c. To
avoid confusion and to facilitate reference the descent
is arranged lineally in the order presented by the
second generation or issue of Philip , from whom for
extended deduction we first take Henry , the data
for such purpose not being within our knowledge as
to his sisters preceding him. Abbreviations have
been used as follows: b. born, d. died, dan. daughter,
m. married. Such other forms, &c, as are used are
so palpably self-indicative that they cannot fail to be
intelligible to all.
1

1

2

THE SLAUGHTER FAMILY.
It is not worth while to trace this family to the
stock from which they spring in England. We limit
our notice to the two brothers who were first trans­
planted in this parish early in the eighteenth century.
Eobert and Francis Slaughter were the first church­
wardens of St. Mark's Parish, chosen by the first
vestry in 1731.
Eobert's sons were: 1. Eobert, 2. William, 3.
Thomas, 4. Francis, 5. James, 6. Lawrence, 7. George,
o

158

GENEALOGIES.

The sons of Eobert (the 2d) were: James, Charles,
Gabriel, Jesse, and Augustine. William, son of 1st
Eobert m. Miss Zimmerman and moved to Jefferson
County; children, Thomas, William, John, Gabriel,
and Smith. William m. Miss Briscoe, and Smith m.
Miss Crane of Jefferson, and represented that county
for many years. Francis, son of Eobert 1st, m. Miss
Suggett, and represented Dunmore County (Shenan­
doah) before the Eevolution.
Thomas, son of Eobert 1st, m. Miss Eobertson;
children, Eobert of the Grange m. Miss Stanton;
children, Thomas, Henry, Stanton (High Sheriff) m.
Miss Pickett; ch. Arthur, Augustine, William Stan­
ton, and Martin of the Culpeper bar, who m. Miss
Boiling of Petersburg. Anne, daughter of Stanton,
m. Eittenhouse Stringfellow; children, Wm. Stanton,
Martin, and Eev. Frank Stringfellow (Gen. Lee's
famous scout), Augustine was surgeon in the Eevolution. Sarah, daughter of Eobert of the Grange, m.
George Hamilton of Spotsylvania; children, Dr.
Hugh Hamilton m. Miss Scott, Sarah (Mrs. Eoots
Thompson), Charlotte (Mrs. Dr. Thornton), Eobert,
who m. a daughter of Judge Brooke, Maria (Mrs.
Page), Mrs. George Thornton of Newport, Ky., and
Mrs. John L. Marye.
James, son of Eobert 1st, commanded a regiment
at the battle of G. Bridge. He m. Susan, daughter
of Major Philip Clayton; children, 1. Capt. Philip
Slaughter (6. 1758, d. 1849) m. first a daughter of
French Strother (see Strother genealogy); children,
1. Mrs. Isaac H. Williams (see Williams genealogy),
2. Susan (Mrs. Dr. Maconickie), father of Mrs.
Strother of Tennessee, 3. Mrs. Frank Conway;
children, Dr. Philip C , Dr. Albert Conway, Mrs.

THE SLAUGHTER, FAMILY.

*59

Eobert Shepherd, and Mrs. P. Clayton. 4. Eliza
(Mrs. J. B. Bade); children, Captain Townshend,
Philip, and Mrs. Edward Smith. 5. Sally m. Philip,
son of Judge Slaughter of Kentucky; ch. Dr. D. F.
Slaughter of Shelbyville, Ky. 6. Daniel French
Slaughter (late Senator) m. first Letitia, daughter of
Gen.Wm. Madison (see Madison genealogy); children,
Gen. James E. Slaughter and Major P. Slaughter.
D. F. Slaughter m. second a daughter of Wm.
Winston (see Winston genealogy), Captain Philip
Slaughter m. second a daughter of Col. Thomas
Towles; children, 7. Dr. Thomas T. Slaughter m.
first Jane, daughter of Eeynoids Chapman ; children,
Capt. Chapman Slaughter, Col. P. P. Slaughter
(badly wounded at Eichmond), Dr. Alfred Slaughter
(Surgeon C. S. A.), Thomas (killed at Eichmond),
Lieut. Mercer Slaughter, James, deceased, Eichard
(C. S. N.). Dr. Thomas T. Slaughter m. second Miss
Bradford; children, Eobert and Jane. 8. Mary S.,
daughter of Capt. Philip Slaughter, m. Eobert A.
Thompson (grandson of Eev. John Thompson), M.
C. of Virginia and Judge in California; children,
Captain Eeginald Thompson, Sarah E. (Mrs. Dr.
Hine), Mercer (Mrs. Gen. Ord, U. S. A.), Eobert and
Thomas, Editors of Sonoma Democrat, California,
and Frank, State Printer. 9. Eev. Philip Slaughter,
D. D., m. daughter of Dr. Thos. Semmes of Alexan­
dria. 10. Anne Mercer m. first Edward Eobertson;
ch. Cornelia (Mrs. Dr. Long); ch. Mary Mercer,
Anne Mercer m. second Philip, son of Col. John S.
Slaughter; children, Dr. Philip Slaughter, Thomas F.
Slaughter, Bessie, and Mercer (killed in battle).
Samuel (son of Col. James Slaughter) m. first Miss
Banks; children, 1. Emily m. S. K. Bradford; ch. 1.

i6o

GENEALOGIES.

S. S. Bradford m. Miss Walden of Fauquier, 2. Louisa
m. General Wright, U. S. A., 3. Eobert, 4. Eose m.
Professor Nairn, Columbia College, New York, 5.
Maria Champe m. Mr. Yan Schaik. 2. Col. William
Albert B. Slaughters, daughter of Judge Slaughter­
ed. Mary. 3. Col. Henry Slaughter m. daughter of
William Long; ch. Burgess. 4. Maria m. Professor
Bailey of West Point; ch. Loring, Whittaker, and
S. Slaughter. 5. Louisa m. General Merrill, U. S. A.;
ch. Wm. Emory, Sam. Slaughter, Mary, Loring. 6.
Dr. P. C. Slaughter m. Miss McDowell; ch. Ella,
John, Clayton, Wood, and Clarie. 7. Isabella m.
Col. Burbank, TJ. S. A.; ch. Sully, Fanny, and another
son. 8. Lavinia ni. Mr. Jack of Louisville, Ky.; ch.
Matilda, Frances, Eebecca, and others. Samuel
Slaughter m. second Miss Yirginia Stanard (see
Carter genealogy) ; ch. 1. Columbia m. William Green,
LL.D., of Eichmond, 2. Yirginia m. Dr. Daniel
S. Green, TJ. S. and C. S. N., 3. Sally Champe m. Rev.
William F. Lockwood of Maryland; ch. Dr. Lockwood and others, 4. Marcia m. Major J. B. Stanard
(see Carter genealogy).
Thomas Smith (son of Col. James Slaughter), State
Senator and Jackson Elector, Ky., £.1778, d. 1838,
M. Miss Bibb, children, 1. John of St. Louis left 3
sons and 2 daughters; 2. Thomas J., merchant,
New York, m. Miss Henry (relative of P. Henry),
c hildren, 4 sons and 3 daughters (names not known
to the writer); James (son of Col. James), Judge, of
Bardstown, Ky., m. Miss Gray, children Philip,
James Clayton (orator and poet), Dr. Samuel
Slaughter of Cheneyville, La., Dr. Harvey Slaughter
of Elizabethtown, Ky., (names of wife and children
not known to writer) and Gustavus. Eobert, (son

THE SLAUGHTER

FAMILY.

161

of Col. James) m. Margaret, daughter of James Pen­
dleton of Culpeper, ch. John Pendleton (died in Culpeper), Philip, G-eorge, Clayton, James m. Miss Fer­
guson of Culpeper, ch. James Burr of Louisville, who
m. 1st daughter of Judge Carpenter of Bardstown, m.
second daughter of Rev. Frank Thornton. George
Clayton, son of Col. James, married and died in
Culpeper. Ann, daughter of Col. James, m. Reuben
Fry (see Fry genealogy). Another daughter m. a
McLaughlin, another m. Judge Speed, and another,
Bell. Lawrence, son of 1st Robert, m. daughter of
Col. John Field, killed in battle of Point Pleasant;
children, John F., Lawrence, George and Robert.
John F. m. first Miss Alexander of Prince William,
ch, Jane, lately died, m. second a daughter of Robert
of the Grange, ch. a son in Alabama. George, son
of Robert the 1st, m. a daughter of Col. John Field.
He raised one of the first companies of " minute-men
of Culpeper," and after the Revolutionary War went
to Kentucky with George "Rogers Clarke, com­
manded a fort at Falls of Ohio, and was one of the
founders and first trustees of the City of Louisville,
died in Columbus (1815), no issue. James, son of
Robert the second, m. Miss Hampton. His brother
Charles m. Miss Poindexter of Louisa, and settled in
Campbell County; ch. John, Robert, Mary and
Elizabeth. 1. John m. Miss Armistead; ch. Charles,
Sarah and Pauline. Charles m. Miss Coleman an d
moved to Tennessee. 2. Dr. Robert Slaughter m. a
daughter of Rice Garland ; ch. 1. Charles (lawyer of
Lynchburg and member of State Convention) m.
Kate Garland; ch. Lilian, Mary, Charles A. and
Kate; 2. Dr. Samuel Slaughter m. Miss Henderson ;
3. John F. (lawyer) m. Miss Harker; ch, Charles,

162

GENEALOGIES.

John F., Kobert, Safnuel, Edith and Susan; 4.
Austina m- E. W. Broadnax, ch, Mary, Celeste.
Gabriel, son of Kobert 2d, M. first Miss Slaughter,
m. second Miss Hoard of Caroline; ch. John.
Gabriel was the Governor Slaughter of Kentucky,
and the officer who was so highly commended by
General Jackson for his gallantry in the battle of
New Orleans. Jesse, son of Eobert 2d, m. Miss
Slaughter, and Augustine m. Miss Fisher and lived
near Harrodsburg, Ky.
Francis Slaughter, brother of Eobert, and a
churchwarden of 1731, owned a large body of land,
including the site of the old glebe. He served as
vestryman from 1731 to his death. His sons were
Francis, John, Cadwallader and Eeuben. Francis
and John both married daughters of Eobert Coleman,
on whose land Culpeper C. H. was founded. Francis
2d had several sons, of whom only one (Francis) is
known. He married Miss Holloway, and his son
Henry (M. D.) moved to the south. Eeuben, son of
Francis 1st, with his sons Goodrich, Joseph, William
and Eobert, moved to Bedford, where Joseph mar­
ried and has descendants (Harrises). Cadwallader,
son of Francis 1st, moved with his sons, Eussell and
Presley, to Kentucky. John, son of Francis 1st, m.
Milly Coleman, had six sons. Eobert m. the sister
of Governor Slaughter of Kentucky, and had two
sons, Charles and Edmund, and several daughters.
Cadwallader, son of John, m. first Miss Yancey, m.
second Miss Hampton. He went to Kentucky in
1809, with his sons, Eichard, John H., Eobert,
Edmund and Cadwallader, and several daughters.
Francis and Thomas K., sons of John, went to Ken­
tucky. John S., son of John, m. Susan, daughter of

THE SLAUGHTER

FAMILY.

163

Capt. William Brown, and raised thirteen children.
1. Col. John Slaughter of Culpeper m. daughter of
Major Gabriel Long, and had four daughters, Mrs.
C. C. Connor, Mrs. Gabriel Long, Mrs. George
Slaughter, and Emily. 2. William m. Miss Ficklin,
children, Franklin m. Miss Gill, Montgomery m.
Miss E. Lane Slaughter, J. Warren m. Miss Sallie
Braxton, Elizabeth m. E. Garnett, Sallie m. John F .
Ficklin, Jennie m. Dr. Kerfoot, Matilda and Eliza
are with their mother in Fredericksburg. 3. Samuel,
son of John S., m. Miss Allen. 4. Philip, son of
John S., m. first Eliza, daughter of William Lane,
m. second Mrs. Fletcher, m. third Mrs. Eobertson.
5. Eeuben, son of John S., m. Emily, daughter of K.
Long of Baltimore, children, Albert m. Miss Eogers,
Frank m. Miss Motley, Ann T. m. Dr. Boulware, and
Maria in. Eev. Mr. Buckner of Caroline. 6. T.
Jefferson, son of John S., m. daughter of Capt. E.
Moore, children, Eeuben m. Miss Turner, Susan m.
Col. Coons, Ann m. Lieut. Wingfield, killed at Spot­
sylvania C. H. (1864). 7. Albert G., son of John S.,
(Commander TJ. S. N.) m. Miss Eandall of Baltimore,
children, Josephine, Emily m. Mr. Stuart of Balti­
more, Kate m. Mr. Drake of Staunton, and Lewis
(of the house of Majors, Eussell & Waddell at Hong
Kong, China). 8. James M., son of John S.,*#. Miss
Long, child, Mollie m. Eev. J. G. Minnigerode of St.
Mark's Parish. 9. Mary, daughter of John S. m,
John S. Long of Kentucky. 10. Elizabeth, daughter
of John S., m. Mr. Downman, and, with eleven
children, lived in Kentucky. 11. Lucy, daughter of
John S., m. first Thomas Long, m. second Gabriel
Long, children, John S., Gabriel, Nancy, Susan,
Ellen, Lucy, and Thomas. 12. Nancy, daughter of

164

GENEALOGIES,

John S., tn. Eeese Jury, children, John S. m. Miss
Wolfe, Lewis C. m. Miss Holt, and lives in New
Orleans, Mary m. Edward E. Gaines, children, Dr.
John Gaines, surgeon C. S. A., m. Miss Smith of Md.,
Edwina tn. John Long of Ky., Catharine m. J. M.
Lewis, Betty ;w. Eev. Mr. Huff; Susan, Margaret, Lucy
and Frances are single. 13. Susan, daughter of John
S., m. Eoberts Menefee and went to Missouri.
William, brother of John S. m. Lucy Brown;
children, 1. William tn. Fanny Brown, and their son
Alfred is Principal of Prairie Home Institute, Mo.,
and their son, Capt. Daniel Slaughter, C. S. A.,
tn. Miss Berry, and lives in Madison; 2. Catherine,
daughter of William, m. William Armstrong; chil­
dren, John, William, Einggold, Lucien and Edward,
and a daughter, Mary Ann ; 3. John, son of William,
tn. Miss Harper and moved to Zanesville, Ohio,
Eeuben went to Tennessee, Gabriel to Missouri,
George tn. first Miss Adams, tn. second Miss Slaughter,
Elizabeth (Mrs. Yates) Ellen, daughter of William,
m. Benjamin Ficklin; children, Slaughter W. tn.
Caroline Wilkins of Baltimore, Benjamin F. had an
adventurous life, and died in Georgetown, D. C.
Lucy Ann (Mrs. Brockman), Elizabeth (Mrs. Dunkum), Ellen (Mrs. Dr. Brown), Susan (Mrs. Dr.
Hardesty), Lucy, daughter of William, tn. W. W.
Covington ; children, John, Warren and William,
D. C. The last was captain G. S. A. Nancy,
daughter of William, tn. G. W. Thomas, and their
daughter m. Fenton Henderson of Leesburg and left
several children.
Of the Slaughter family of Culpeper there were
seven officers of the Eevolution. Col. James and
Col. John were members of the Committee of Safety

THE SPOTSWOOD

FAMILY,

z6

5

of Culpeper. Eobert, Francis, Col. Eobert, Col.
James, Thomas, Eobert, Jr., Lawrence, Cadwallader,
Samuel, William B., and Philip, Jr., were vestrymen
of St. Mark's Parish.
Dr. E. Coleman Slaughter of Evansville, Indiana,
and Thomas C. Slaughter of Corydon are descend­
ants of the 1st Francis. Some members of the
family may be interested in knowing that its chief
seats in England were Hertfordshire, Gloucester, and
Worcester, and that the first of the name who took
up lands in Yirginia were John 1620, Eichard 1(552,
'55, 79, '89, '95, 1710; George 1710, '19, '32. Eobert
first churchwarden St. Mark's 1732-35.
THE SPOTSWOOD FAMILY.
Alexander Spotswood, Governor of Yirginia, and
Ann Butler his wife, had four children.
1. John m. (1745) Mary dau. of Wm. Dandridge
of the British Navy, ch. 1. Alexander, General in
the army of the Eevolution, who m. Elizabeth dau.
of Gen. Wm. Augustine Washington and niece of
Gen. George Washington; their ch. were 1. John,
Captain in the American Eevolution, wounded at
Brandywine, 2. George W., 3. William, 4. Elizabeth
(Mrs. Page), 5. Mary (Mrs. Brooke), 6. Ann (Mrs.
Taliaferro), 7. Henrietta (Mrs. Taliaferro), 8. Martha.
Capt. John m. Sally Eowzie, ch. Mary, John, Susan,
Eobert, Dandridge, forborne, Berkeley, Lucy and
Ann.
Ann Catherine, dau. of the Governor, m. Bernard
Moore, of Chelsea, King William Co., ch. Augustine
m* Sarah Eind and their only dau. m. Carter Braxton ;
Bernard Moore, Jr., m. Lucy Ann Liepex\ of Phila-

x66

GENEALOGIES.

delphia, their ch. were Andrew, Thomas, Elizabeth
and Lucy. Elizabeth, dau. of Bernard Moore, Sr.,
m. John Walker, of Belvoir, Albemarle Co., ch.
Mildred m. Francis Kinloch, M. C , of South Carolina,
and their ch. Eliza m. Judge Hugh Nelson, of Belvoir.
(The tradition is that when Congress was sitting at
Philadelphia, Francis Kinloch met Mildred Walker
on the street as she was returning from her hair­
dresser, and fell in love with her at first sight and
afterwards married her.)
Ann Butler Moore dau. of Bernard Moore, Sr., m.
Charles Carter, of Shirley, ch. 1. Eobert m. Mary
Nelson, of York, 2. Ann Hill m. Gen. Henry Lee (his
second wife), ch. 1. Charles Carter, 2. Eobert Edward
(the great Confederate general), 3. Captain Sidney,
U. S. and C. S. Navy, 4. Ann, 5. Mildred. Bernard
Moore Carter, son of Charles Carter of Shirley and
Ann Butler Moore, m. Lucy dau. of Governor Henry
Lee and Matilda (his first wife). Catharine Spotswood Carter m. Carter Berkley, ch. Elizabeth, Ed­
mund and Farley. Williams Carter m. Charlotte
Foushee. Lucy Carter m. Nat Burwell, of Eoanoke.
Dorothea Spotswood dau. of the Governor, m.
Captain Nat West Dandridge of the British Navy,
ch. 1. John m. Miss Goode, 2. Eobert m. Miss Alien,
3. William m. Miss Boiling, 4. Nat m. Miss Watson,
5. Mary married Woodson Payne, 6. another
daughter m. Archy Payne, 7. another m. Philip
Payne, 8. Anna m. John Spotswood Moore, 9. Doro­
thea m. Patrick Henry, the orator (see Henry gene­
alogy).
For other branches of this family see Spotswood
genealogy by Charles Campbell, the historian, a de­
scendant of Gov. Spotswood.

THE SPOTiSWOOD
THE

PRELIMINARIES

OP

FAMILY.

MARRIAGE

IN

x6

7

ANTE-KEVO-

LUTIONARY T l M E S .

T h e following correspondence will show how
courtships were conducted by our forefathers. T h e
patriarchal authority was recognized, and y o u n g
folks did not make love until the preliminaries were
arranged by their fathers. We are indebted to Mr.
K. Nelson, a lineal descendant of the parties, for t h e
original l e t t e r s ; and as the old folks have been dead
for more t h a n a hundred years, we presume no one's
delicacy will be offended by the exposition of these
illustrations of a past age. In the foregoing Spotswood genealogy will be found the relations of t h e
parties to t h e past and the present generations.
May 27th, 1764.
DEAR SIR :—My son, Mr. John Walker, having informed me
of his intention to pay his addresses to your daughter Elizabeth,
if he should be agreeable to yourself, lady and daughter, it may
not be amiss to inform you what I think myself able to afford
for their support, in case of an union. My affairs are in an
uncertain state; but I will promise one thousand pounds, to be
paid in the year 1765, and one thousand pounds to be paid in
1766; and the further sum of two thousand pounds I promise
to give him, but the uncertainty of my present affairs prevents
my fixing on a time of payment: — the above sums are all to
be in money or lands and other effects at the option of my said
son, John Walker.
I am, Sir, your humble servant,
JOHN WALKER.
COL. BERNARD MOORE, Esq.,

in King William.
28th May, 1764.
DEAR SIR :—Your son, Mr. John Walker, applied to me for
leave to make his addresses to my daughter Elizabeth. I gave
him leave, and told him at the same time that my affairs were

i68

GENEALOGIES.

in such a state that it was not in my power to pay him all the
money this year that I intended to give my daughter, pro­
vided he succeeded; but would give him five hundred pounds
next Spring, and five hundred pounds more as soon after as I
could raise or get the money; which sums, you may depend, I
will most punctually pay to him.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
BERNARD MOORE.
T H E EEY. JAMES STEYENSON.
The official history of Mr. Stevenson is given in
t h e body of this work. H e tn. F a n n y Littlepage, a
sister of Gen. Lewis Littlepage, whose brief and
brilliant career is delineated in this volume. H e had
nine children, v i z : — J a m e s , Edward, Nancy, J a n e ,
Sarah, Carter, Lewis, Eobert, and Andrew. 1. J a m e s
(M. D.) died in New Orleans, 2. Sarah m. Bev. J o h n
Woodville of St. Mark's, 3. E d w a r d was lost at sea,
4. J a n e was lost in the burning of the t h e a t r e at
Eichmond (in 1811), 5. N a n c y never married, 6.
Eobert m. Miss Towles and lived in Lewisburg, Va.;
children, Eobert, James, Charles, and F a n n y Little­
page. 7. Andrew Stevenson (Speaker of Congress
and Minister to England) m. first Miss White,
d a u g h t e r of a clergyman of South Carolina. T h e
H o n . John White Stevenson, late Governor of Ken­
tucky and Senator of the U. S., is their son. Gov­
ernor Stevenson m. Miss Winston. Hon. Andrew
Stevenson m. second Sarah, daughter of J o h n Coles
and Miss Tucker, and their only child, a daughter,
died young. Hon. Andrew Stevenson m. third M a r y
Shaaf of Georgetown, D . C. Lewis Stevenson,
brother of Andrew, m. Miss H e r n d o n ; issue, James,
William, and F a n n y , who m. Dr. Wellford. Carter

THE STROTHER

FAMILY.

169

Stevenson m. Miss Jane Herndon; issue, Fanny
Arnotte (Mrs. Thompson Tyler), Isabella m. Mr.
Carter, Jr. (General C. S. A.), Byrd, and Sally.
THE STEOTHER FAMILY.
Some think this family of Scotch origin, and that
it had then the prefix of Mac. Others insist that it
is Saxon. General Dick Taylor, son of the Presi­
dent, whose mother was a Strother, says, as we
learn from Judge Strother of Giles, that he had
visited the old burial-ground of the family in the
Isle of Thanet, County of Kent, England, and seen
the name in its various transitions from its original
form Straathor to its present orthography. How­
ever this may be, it has long had its present form in
England, for Chaucer has a facetious tale of two
Strothers, the orthography being the same then as
now. The earliest date to which we have traced
the name in Yirginia is 1734, when Anthony
Strother patented a tract of land under the doubletop mountain in what was then St. Mark's Parish,
and is now Bromfield in Madison. The family
abounded in the county of Stafford. John Madison,
clerk of Augusta, father of Bishop Madison, John
Lewis, who so long represented the same county,
and Gabriel Jones, " the Valley Lawyer," all mar­
ried Misses Strother of Stafford. Jeremiah, who
may have been the father or brother of Anthony,
died in what was then Orange County, (Culpeper
not being yet formed) in 1741, leaving his property
to his wife Eleanor, and appointing his sons, James
and William, executors. The will was attested by
Francis Slaughter, G. Lightfoot and Catlett. His
p

i o
7

GENEALOGIES.

children were James, William, Francis, Lawrence,
Christopher, Robert, and several daughters. Francis
married Miss Dabney and died 1752. He was the
ancestor of Gen. Gaines, John S. Pendleton, Gen. D.
Strother (Porte Crayon), Gen. Duff Green, and
Capt. French Strother of Eappahannock. William
married Mrs. Pannill and was the grandfather of
Gen. Z. Taylor.
James, the eldest son, married Margaret, daughter
of Daniel French of King George, whose son
Daniel died in 1771. He gave property by deed to
James Strother's children, who were French, James,
and Mary (Mrs. Gray). James died in 1761 and left
property to his son French. French Strother, the
vestryman of St. Mark's, married Lucy, daughter of
Robert Coleman. He lived where Coleman Beckham
now lives. He became a vestryman in 1772, and
churchwarden in 1780. He • made himself very
popular by releasing a Baptist minister who had
been imprisoned by a Justice of the Peace, by sub­
stituting his man Tom in his place and letting him
out at night. That fact is stated on the authority
of Capt. P. Slaughter, who married his daughter.
He represented the county for nearly 30 years in
the General Assembly; was a member in 1776, and
of the Convention of 1788-9, and voted against the
Constitution and for the famous Resolutions of
1798-99. He was solicited to oppose Mr. Madison
for Congress (see Rives' Madison), but Monroe
became the candidate and was badly beaten. Monroe
had only 9 votes in Orange, Madison 216; Culpeper,
Monroe 103, Madison 256. Col. Frank Taylor in
his diary says, " Col. Pendleton of Culpeper came to
my house from meeting of Sheriffs in Charlottes-

THE STB OTHER

FAMILY.

171

ville, and he says Madison has 336 majority in
the district." In the State papers published by Dr.
Palmer there is a correspondence between him and
Jefferson in 1776 which would seem to show that he
had some local command, perhaps City Lieutenant.
He died on his way from the Senate in Eichmond,
at Fredericksburg, and was buried there. His
executors were Capt. P. Slaughter and his son
Daniel French. His children were Daniel French,
who went to Kentucky and m. Miss Thompson, a
descendant of Rev. Jno. Thompson of St. Mark's;
George French, who represented this district in
Congress 1817-20, and moved to Missouri where he
died. Hon. Geo. F. Strother w. Sally, daughter of
Gen. James Williams; his son, the late James
French Strother, who was a member of the Legisla­
ture (Speaker) and of Congress, m. Elizabeth,
daughter of Major John Roberts; children, French,
late Superintendent of the Penitentiary. Captain
John, member of Assembly many years, m. daughter
of Dr. Payne. James French, Judge of Rappahan­
nock County, m. Miss Botts. Philip W., Judge and
Representative of Giles County, m. daughter of
Albert Pendleton.
Jeremiah Strother, late of Culpeper, who m. Miss
Clayton, and is the grandfather of the Rev. J. P.
Hansbrough, is of the same family. So also, we
suppose, was William Strother of Madison, who m.
Miss Medley, and whose daughter Louisa married
Rev. H. Stringfellow, and is the father of Rev. Horace
Stringfellow, D. D., of Montgomery, Ala., (who has
also a son, Rev. James Stringfellow, in the ministry),
and 2. of Charles S. Stringfellow, a leading member
of the Petersburg bar, 3. of the wife of La Fayette
Watkins, also of the Petersburg bar, and of others.

1 2
7

GENEALOGIES.

THE TAYLOK FAMILY.
The root of this family in Virginia was James
Taylor, who, coming from Carlisle in England, settled
on the Chesapeake Bay, and died in 1698. His
daughter Mary m. first Henry Pendleton (see Pen­
dleton genealogy), m. second Edward Watkins. His
son John m. Catharine Pendleton, and was the father
of 1. Edmund m. Anne Lewis, 2. of John, who m.
Miss Lyne, 3. of James, who m. Anne Pollard, 4. of
Philip, who m. Mary Walker, 5. of William, who m.
Miss Anderson, 6. of Joseph, who m. Frances Ander­
son, 7. of Mary, who m. Mr. Penn, 8. of Catharine,
who m. Penn, 9. of Isabella, who m. Samuel, father
of the late Gen. Samuel Hopkins of Henderson,
Kentucky, 10. of Elizabeth, who m. first Mr. Lewis,
m. second Mr. Bullock.
James, son of 1st James, m. Martha Thompson;
issue, 1. Zaehary m. Elizabeth Lee, and their son
Zachary m» Alice Chew, 2. Richard m. Sarah Strother,
and was the father of Gen. Zachary Taylor (Presi­
dent), whose daughter Sarah Knox m. Jefferson
Davis (President C. S.). The present Gen. Dick
Taylor is a son of the President. Another son of
James 2d, George, m. Rachael Gibson and had many
sons, seven of whom were Revolutionary officers.
George was the ancestor of many Kentuckians,
among whom D\\ Frank Taylor, Major Wm. Taylor,
and Edward M. Taylor of Oldham County, Samuel
Taylor of Clark County, and Dr. Gibson Taylor of
Union. Another son of James 2d, Charles, m Sarah
Conway, and was the father of Harriet, who m.
Catlett Conway; another daughter, Matilda, m.
William Moore, and another, Evelina, m. George Mor-

THE TAYLOR

FAMILY.

*73

ton. Erasmus, son of James 2d, m. Jane Moore, and
1. their daughter Milly m. William Morton, uncle of
Hon. Jere. and Dr. George Morton, 2. Frances m.
Garland Burnley, 3, Elizabeth m. Andrew Giassell
(see Giassell genealogy), 4. Lucy m. Eev. Alex. Balmain, 5. John m. Ann Gilbert, 6. Jane m. C. P.
Howard, 7. Robert m. Frances Pendleton; issue, 1.
Robert m. Mary Taylor, 2. Milly m. Hay Taliaferro,
father of Jaquelin, of Dr. Edmund and Mrs. B.
Stanard. 3. Lucinda m. James Shepherd, 4. Jaquelin
P. m. Martha Richardson, 5. Jane m. John Hart, 6.
Dr. Edmund m. Mildred Turner; issue, 1. Elizabeth
M. Rev. Joseph Earnest, late Rector of St. Thomas
Parish, 2. Robenette m. Dr. Thomas Reeveley, 3.
Edmonia, 4. Lucy Jane (deceased), 5. Erasmus m*
Miss Ashby.
Alexander, son of 1st Robert m. Mildred C. Lindsay,
and their daughter Sally m. Col. John M. Patton.
Frances, daughter of James 2d, m. Ambrose Madison
(see Madison genealogy), Martha m. Chew, Tabitha
m. Wild, Hannah m. Battaile, Milly m. a Thomas.
James, son of James and grandson of James 1st, m.
Alice Thornton, and their son James m. first Ann
Hubbard, m. second Sarah Taliaferro, m. third Eliza
Conway and had a numerous posterity, among whom
are Capt. Robert Taliaferro of Louisville, Ky., and
others.
Major Frank Taylor, from whose diary we have
quoted so lengthily in this volume m. Ann Craddock ;
issue, James, Thornton, Robert, Elizabeth, Sutton,
and Francis Craddock.

*74

GENEALOGIES,

FAMILY OF THE EEY. JOHN THOMPSON.
This gentleman was born at Muckamore Abbeynear Belfast in Ireland, and came to Maryland a
Presbyterian minister. I am indebted to Mrs.
Murray Forbes for documentary proof of this fact in
the form of a letter from the Eev. Jacob Henderson
(Commissary) to the Bishop of London, dated
Maryland, July 30th, 1739, in which he says:—"The
bearer, Mr. Jno. Thompson, has been a Preacher in
the Presbyterian way at Newtown, on the Eastern
Shore of this Province ; but was, by the distractions
of the ministers and people of that persuasion, put
upon considering the terms of communion in the
Church of England; and I do verily believe, upon
full conviction, has embraced it. He appears to be a
person of great candor and sincerity. He has been
intimate with the leading clergymen for some years,
and your Lordship will perceive what a character
they give him in their testimonials. When I was in
the North of Ireland, I had a very good character
given him from many people of different persuasions.
He is desirous of Holy Orders, and has a nomination
from the Eev. Mr. Williamson to be his assistant, and
I recommend him for Holy Orders as a person not
only very deserving, but one that I sincerely believe
will be an ornament to our Church."
The Eev. Mr. Thompson, as we have seen, became
Minister of St. Mark's Parish (1740), and married
(1742) the widow of Governor Spots wood, by whom
he had two children.
1. Ann (b. at Germanna 1744, d. 1815) m. Francis
Thornton of the Falls. Their only son, Francis
Thornton, m. Sally, daughter of Col. Innes; children,

FAMILY

OF THE BEV. JOHN

THOMPSON,

175

1. Sally Innes m. Murray Forbes of Falmouth;
children, 1. Jno. M. Forbes (of the Fauquier bar) m.
a daughter of Dr. Semmes. 2. Delia m. Alfred
Thornton, 3. Frank m. Mercer, daughter of Jno.
Chew, 4. Dr. Wm. Smith Forbes m. in Philadelphia,
5. Alfred m. Miss Bastable, 6. Kate m. daughter of G.
Bastable, 7. David, 8. Mrs. Dr. Taylor, and 9. Mrs.
Stevens Mason, deceased.
2. Betsy, daughter of F. Thornton and Ann
Thompson m. Dunbar of Falmouth; ch. Anna. 3.
Polly m. Dr. Yass of Madison County, 4. Fanny m.
Dr. Horace Buckner of Culpeper, 5. Milly m Col.
Abram Maury of Madison, 6. Dolly m. Samuel
Washington of Culpeper.
William, son of Eev. Jno. Thompson m. Sarah,
dau. of Charles Carter of Cleve by his 2d wife Miss
Byrd; children, 1. Charles Carter Byrd Thompson,
Captain XJ. S. N., who m. in England; no issue. 2.
Gillies m. Mary Carter; children, Charles, and a
daughter reared by Mrs. Judge Brooke. 3. William
m. first Betsy Strother of Culpeper, m. second Caro­
line dau. of John, son of Eev. John ; children, 1. Ann,
2. Wm. Fitzhugh Thompson, father of Mrs. Carrie
Thompson Williams of Henderson, Ky., and of
William, who m. Delia dau, of Frank Thompson ; ch.
Maria.
Eev. Jno. Thompson fli. second & dau. of Philip
Eootes; children, 1. Hon. Philip Eootes Thompson
of Culpeper, M. C. (1801-1807), m. daughter of
Burkett Davenport, vestryman of St. Mark's; ch.
1. Eliza PI. Thornton Fry; children, General Burkett
Fry, C. S. A., Dr. Frank Fry, and Cornelia m. Jno.
Lyddall Bacon, President of State Bank and other
institutions, Eichmond, Va. 2. Eleanor m Wm.

i 6
7

GENEALOGIES.

Thornton, son of Col. Wm. Thornton of Montpelier;
ch. Dr. Thornton m. Charlotte Hamilton, Mrs.
Andrew Glassell, Jr., Mrs. Charles Gibbs, and Philip
Bootes m. Sarah Hamilton. 3. Burkett Davenport
m. Miss Bostwick, 4. Philip Eootes, Jr., m. 1. dan. of
Col. Wm. Thornton, 2. m. Sarah dau. of George
Hamilton.
Hon. P. E. Thompson m. second a dau. of Eobert
Slaughter of the Grange, Culpeper; ch. 1. Dr. John
Thompson m. a dau. of Dr. Geo. Thornton, 2. Hon.
Eobert A. Thompson, M. C. of Ya., and Judge in
California m. first Mary Smith, dau. of Captain P.
Slaughter of Culpeper; children, Sarah E. m. Dr.
Huie. 2. Mercer m. Gen. Ord, U. S. A., 3. Captain
Eeginald H. Thompson, C. S. A., lawyer, Louisville,
Ky., m. Miss Thompson, 4. Eobert m. Miss West, 5.
Thomas m. (name unknown), 6. Frank m. Miss West.
Eobert and Thomas are editors of Sonoma Democrat,
Santa Eosa, California, and Frank, State Printer. 3.
Francis, son of Philip E. Thompson, tn. Caroline,
dau. of Dr. George Thornton ; ch. Mrs. Jno. James
Williams. 4. Benjamin, who m. Elizabeth dau. of
Gen. Andrew Lewis, 5. Wm. Henry, who m. Elizabeth
Huie.
John, son of Eev. John, m. 1784, Elizabeth dau. of
Dr. Howison of Culpeper, and moved to Kentucky,
1793, and was afterwards Judge in Louisiana ; chil­
dren, six sons and six daughters, of whom Mildred
Ann of Louisville, Ky., is the only survivor.
Mildred dau. of Eev. Jno. Thompson m. Capt.
George Gray (Revolutionary officer), and their son,
Jno. Thompson Gray, born at Culpeper C. H. m. Miss
Ormsby, niece of the gallant General Weeden, and
among their surviving children is Henry Weeden
Gray of Louisville, Ky., m. Miss Peers.

TEE WILLIAMS FAMILY.

177

Eev. John Thompson's will was recorded in Culpeper 16th Nov., 1792. Witnesses, Benjamin John­
son and Thomas Walker ; executors, Fielding Lewis,
Jos. Jones, Wm. and Frank Thornton. He devised
to his son William 1550 acres of land in Culpeper
and 19 negroes. To his son John, 2000 acres and
15 negroes. To Francis Thornton and Ann his wife,
800 acres and " a negro wench Queen." To his
daughter Mildred, all the money due from estate of
Governor Spotswood. To his son Philip Bootes,
1979 acres on Summer Duck below Mount Poney
and 12 negroes. To his wife, his mansion, his furni­
ture, his coach, 600 acres of land and 18 negroes.
To his sister Ann Neilson, a home and support. To
his sons William and John, each a lot in Fred­
ericksburg.
Col. William and Col. John Thornton were
brothers of Francis Thornton of Falls, who married
Ann, daughter of Rev. John Thompson. They were
all sons of Francis Thornton the elder, who married
Frances Gregory. Col. Wm. Thornton, who mar­
ried Miss Washington, was the father of Dr. Philip
Thornton, Dr. George Thornton, John, Howard, and
Stuart Thornton. Francis the elder had also a son
George, who was the father of Eeuben, who married
a niece of General Washington, and lived at Green­
wood, near Germanna, and was the father of Charles
Augustine Thornton, now of Enfield, North Carolina.
THE WILLIAMS FAMILY OF CULPEPER.
This family, in every generation staunch adher­
ents of the Episcopal Church, is descended from
Pierre Williams, sergeant-at-law of London. Three

i?8

GENEALOGIES.

of his grandsons emigrated to America, John,
William and Otho. John settled in South Carolina,
William in Virginia, and Otho in Maryland. From
him was descended General Otho H. Williams of the
Revolution.
William had two sons, John and
William, who owned large tracts of land near Culpeper C. H. John died childless. William married
a daughter of Philip Clayton, and left children
John, James, Philip, William, and Mary. Of these—
John m. Miss Hite, ch. Isaac H., John and Ellen.
Of these Isaac H., eminent as a lawyer, m. Lucy dau.
of Capt. Philip Slaughter; ch. 1. Ophelia m. Rev. Geo.
A. Smith of Alexandria. 2. P. French m. John M.
Patton, acknowledged as head of the bar in Yirginia
in his day, and served in Congress with conspicuous
ability for eight years. 3. Eleanor m. Dr. Hite of
Amherst County. 4. Eliza died in girlhood. 5 and
6. Lucy Ann and Isaac H., who never married, and
7. John James m. Miss Thompson and is a leading
lawyer in California.
Mrs. Smith's children were, 1. Isaac, a distin­
guished engineer in Oregon and California, and
Capt. of Engineers in the late war. 2. George
Hugh, Col. in the Confederate service. 3. Henry,
Capt. in the same. 4. Mrs. Dunbar Brooke. 5.
Eliza (Mrs. Corse). 6. Eleanor, deceased, and 7.
Belle.
Mrs. Patton's children were, 1. Robert W., who
died recently. 2. John M. m. Miss Taylor. 3.
Isaac W. m. Miss Merritt. 4. Geo. S. m. Miss
Glassell. 5. W. Tazewell. 6. Hugh M. m. Miss
Bull of Orange. 7. James F. m. Miss Caperton dau.
of Senator Caperton. 8. William M. m. Miss Jordan
of Rockbridge. 9. Eliza W. m. John Gilmer of

THE WILLIAMS

FAMILY,

179

Pittsylvania County. Of this family, Geo. S., Col.
of 22dvYirginia infantry, was killed by a shell while
commanding a brigade at the battle of Winchester
in 1864. W. Tazewell, Col. of 7th Virginia infantry,
killed while leading that regiment in the memorable
charge of Pickett's division on the heights of Gettys­
burg in 1863. John M., Col. of the 21st Yirginia
infantry, commanded a brigade from the battle of
Winchester in 1862 to the close of the Yalley cam­
paign under Stonewall Jackson. Isaac W., Col. of
a Louisiana regiment, was made prisoner at the fall
of Vicksburg, and afterwards commanded one of the
forts in Mobile Bay to the end of the war. Hugh
M., a Lieutenant, was wounded at 2d battle of
Manassas, and James F., a Lieutenant, was wounded
at Cold Harbor.
Mrs. Hite's children were Isaac, Edmund, Fontaine,
Mary and Eliza.
John James' children are Frank, Henry, Thornton.
The second son of John, the son of William, was
named John, or as he was familiarly known " Captain
Jack." He m. Miss Tutt. His ch. were John, who
m. Miss Mason, and Mary Stevens, who m. Henry
Porter. John died leaving two ch., James and
Mary, now living in Giles County, and Mrs. Porter
moved to Tennessee.
The daughter of John, the son of William, was
named Ellen and m. Nimrod Long, a soldier of the
Kevolution and Captain in 1812; ch. 1. Mrs. Turner,
mother of Judge E. H. Turner and S. Smith Turner.
2. Mrs. Lovell, mother of Judge John T. Lovell of
Front Eoyal, and 3. John.
James, the second son of William, entered the Eevolutionary army in 1775, served throughout the war

i8o

GENEALOGIES.

and attained the rank of Captain. In the \.._ ^t
1812 he was Major General, and commanded the
Virginia militia. He m. first Miss Green, ch. William,
James and Sarah Green,
1. William m. Anne Stubblefield, of Orange Co., ch.
James m. Rosalie Fitzhugh, George S. emigrated to
Kentucky, William m. Miss Pannill, Ellen m. Ennis
Adams, Anne m. Dr. Alfred Taliaferro, and their dau.
m. James Yass, Fanny m. Joseph Pannill, Sarah G.w.
E. S. Taliaferro, Lucy A. m. Thomas Fitzhugh, and
Charles B. died unmarried.
2. James died at an early age.
3. Sarah m. George F. Strother (see Strother gene­
alogy). The ch. of James, the second son of William^
by his second wife, were Fanny, Charles Bruce,
William B., Lucy Ann, Philip and Elizabeth.
1. Fanny m. Fayette Ball and died childless,
2. Charles Bruce m. Ann M. Hackley, 3. Lucy Ann
m, John S. Pendleton of Culpeper (see Pendleton
genealogy), 4. Philip m. Mildred Catlett, and 5. Eliz­
abeth m. Dr. George Morton.
Charles B. had a large family of children, viz:
Fanny, second wife of E. S. Taliaferro, Dr. James
Edward, who m. Miss Harrison, Bessie, who m. Geo.
Reid, Janet B., who m. William L. Hill, Harriet, who
m. C. D. Hill, and Charles W., a lawyer and member
House of Delegates m. a dau. of Isaac Davenport of
Richmond.
William B. had no family.
Lucy Ann (Mrs. Pendleton) died childless.
The children of Philip were Robert, LieutenantColonel and Brevet-Brigadier General United States
Army, who m. Mrs. Adele C. Douglas, widow of
Senator Stephen A. Douglas, George M. who m. Miss
Long of Baltimore, and Betty Bruce.

THE WILLIAMS

FAMILY.

181

"""Tri^ children of Elizabeth were William J. and
George Philip, both of whom died unmarried ; Lucy
P. who m. John C. Green, son of Judge John W.
Green, and for nearly twenty years Commonwealth's
Attorney for Culpeper, Jeremiah, who m. Miss
Turner, Charles B. who tn. Miss Dickinson, Thomas
D. who tn. Miss Pannill, and James W. who m. Miss
Harper. John Pendleton died.
Philip, the third son of William, was for fifty-five
years the clerk of the courts of Shenandoah County.
He tn. Miss Croutson, ch. 1. James PI. Miss Ott, 2.
Philip tn. 1. Miss Hite, tn. 2. Miss Dunbar of Win­
chester ; 3. Samuel C, who represented Shenandoah
County in the Legislature and Conventions of 1860
and 1861, and succeeded his father as clerk; 4. Ann
tn. Mr. Jones, 5. Lucy m. Capt. A. P. Hill of Culpeper,
6. Sarah m. Col. Travis J. Twyman, and 7. Ellen tn.
Kev. Dr. Boyd of Winchester. Of these James left
a daughter who tn. Mr. Miller. Philip, eminent as a
lawyer and one of the most-prominent laymen in the
Episcopal Church of Yirginia, left two ch. by his first
wife, Philip C , a prominent physician of Baltimore,
and Anne, who married T. T. Fauntleroy, of Win­
chester, and by his last w ife six, 1. Mary L. m. Eev.
James B. Avirett, 2. Philippa died young, 3. John J., a
lawyer of Winchester, 4. T. Clayton, M. D., 5. Sally,
and 6. Lucy.
Samuel C. tn. a Miss Ott, of Woodstock, and left a
large family, 1. James H. a prominent lawyer of
Winchester, 2. Samuel C, Jr., and 3. William, lawyer
(both of Woodstock), 4. Lucy m. Judge John T.
Lovell of Front Eoyal, and was killed by lightning
while visiting in Missouri, 5. Betty m. Thomas Mar­
shall killed in battle 1863, 6. another daughter who
m. L. Wagner, druggist of Richmond.
T

Q

l82

GENEALOGIES.

Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Twyman died childless; Mrs.
Boyd left three sons, Holmes, lawyer, and Philip,
merchant of Winchester, and Hunter, a lawyer in
Maryland.
The fourth son of William, William Clayton, was
for many years a leading lawyer of Bichmond. He
m. Miss Burwell, ch. John Green, Lewis B. and Lucy.
1. John Green m. Miss Cringan of Bichmond, ch.
William Clayton, D. D., of Georgia, John G., a
lawyer in Bichmond, died unmarried, Channing M.,
Episcopal Bishop of Japan, Bobert F., a merchant
in Bichmond, Mary Ogilvie m. Hubert P. Lefebore,
principal of a flourishing female school at Bichmond,
and Alice m. Carter Harrison, a major in the Con­
federate army, killed at first Manassas in 1861. His
second son Lewis B., the veteran Commonwealth's
Attorney for Orange County, m. 1. Mary Catlett, m.
2. Charlotte Blair, m. 3. the widow O'Bannon, for­
merly Miss Biley of Winchester. He had no ch. by
his second or third wife; those by his first wife were
William G., Judge of Orange Co., m. Miss Boberta
Hansbrough, Lewis B., Jr., Col. of 1st Virginia In­
fantry, killed at Gettysburg while leading the charge,
Mary Blair m. Mr. Leigh of King William Co.,
Mildred P. m. B. S. Booton of Madison Co., John G.
m. Miss Willis of Orange, Ann m. Mr. Caldwell of
King William, and Alice.
Lucy the daughter m. J. Adams Smith, for many
years the honored cashier of the Farmers' Bank of
Virginia, ch. Bathurst. now living in Tenn.
Lucy the oldest dau. of William m. John Green
and left one son John W. who was one of the judges
of the Court of Appeals, and one of the ablest judges
who ever sat there (see Green genealogy). Mary

THE

WWSTON-HENRY

GENEALOGY.

183

the youngest dau. of William, m. J o h n Stevens, son
of Gen. Stevens of the Eevolution, and died childless.
THE WINSTON-HENRY

GENEALOGY.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, September 21st> 1876.
M R S . D A N I E L SLAUGHTER.

Dear Madam:—1
have been informed t h a t y o u r
maiden name was Winston, and t h a t you have a
family-tree. As I am very anxious to learn accu­
rately the Winston ancestry of m y grandfather,
P a t r i c k H e n r y , I t r u s t you will pardon me for
asking a copy of the tree, or if it is a very large one,
of that p a r t which relates to his ancestry.
I am, very respectfully,
WM.

WIRT

HENRY.

CULPEPER, VIRGINIA, October 10th 1876.
t

DEAR

SIR:

My sister, Mrs. Daniel Slaughter, has requested
me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of t h e
21st ultimo, and to answer it. The account of t h e
Winston family in our possession was written for the
satisfaction of her own family by m y grandmother,
whose maiden name was L u c y Coles, a grand­
daughter of Isaac Winston the e m i g r a n t ; and she
married her cousin Isaac Winston, a grandson of
the same emigrant. I will compile a genealogy of
the family from m y grandmother's record, and from
information of a later date derived from other
sources. I have compared her record with t h e old
wills, also in our possession, and I find it correct for
two generations.
Isaac Winston, the most remote ancestor of t h a t

%

184

GENEALOGIES.

name that I can trace back to, was born in York­
shire, England, in 1620. A grandson of his pursued
his fortunes in Wales, where he had a large family.
Three of his sons emigrated to America, and settled
near Eiehmond, Virginia, in 1704. Their names
were W illiam, Isaac, and James. It is the genealogy
of the descendants of Isaac, the second of these
brothers, that my grandmother has written.
Isaac Winston, the emigrant, married Mary
Dabney, and died in Hanover County in 1760,
leaving six children, William, Isaac, Anthony, Lucy,
Mary Ann, and Sarah.- I do not mention them in
the order of their births; on the contrary, I think
Sarah, the last mentioned, was the oldest.
1. William, son of Isaac Winston, the emigrant,
(" He was said to have been endowed with that rare
kind of magnetic eloquence which rendered his
nephew, Patrick Henry, so famous."—Campbell's
History of Virginia, p. 520. See also Wirt's Life of
Henry), m. Sarah Dabney, issue, Elizabeth, Edmund
(Judge Winston) and Mary Ann. 1. Elizabeth m.
Peter Fontaine; issue, 1. John m. Martha Henry
dan. of Patrick Henry, issue, Patrick Henry (other
children not known). 2. Sarah Fontaine m. Charles
Eose; issue, John, Peter, Sarah and Alexander. 3.
William Fontaine m. Ann Morris. 4. Mary Fontaine
m. first Bowles Armstead ; issue, William, Elizabeth,
Mary and Peter; m. second John Lewis, a nephew
of General Washington; issue, Frances, Howel and
Mary Ann. (The other children of Peter Fontaine
and Elizabeth Winston were James, Edmund, Judith
and Susanna, but their marriages are not given in the
record. The Eev. William Spotswood Fontaine, now
of Eeidsville, N. C , and the Eev. Edward Fontaine,

THE

WINSTON-HENRY

GENEALOGY,

185

now of New Orleans, belong to this branch, and are
grandsons of John Fontaine and his wife Martha
Henry.) 2. Edmund (Judge Winston) m. first his
cousin Alice Winston ; issue, 1. George m. Dorothea
Henry dau. of Patrick Henry; issue, James, a dis­
tinguished lawyer and politician of Mo., (died in
1852). 2. Sarah m. Dr. Geo. Cabell. 3. Alice m.
Frederick Cabell. 4. Mary m. Mr. Jones of Buck­
ingham. 5. Edmund m. Eliza Wyat.
Judge
Edmund Winston m. second the widow of Patrick
Henry, no issue. His descendants are scattered in
N. C , Mo., and Miss. Dr. William Winston, now of
Toccapola, Miss., is his great-grandson. 3. Mary Ann
Winston m. Dr. John Walker ; issue, Benjamin, John,
Frances and Edmund.
2. Isaac, son of Isaac Winston the emigrant, m.
Marianna dau. of Rev. Peter Fontaine, Hector of
Westover Parish, (great-great-grandson of John de la
Fontaine, martyred in France A. D. 1563, ancestor of
all the Fontaines and Maurys in Virginia); issue, two
sons. 1. Peter (see Valentine Supplement to this
genealogy). 2. Isaac m. bis cousin Lucy Coles ;
issue, Mrs. Garland Anderson, who left one son
Alfred, who emigrated to Kentucky, Walter, Mrs.
Armstead and Mrs. Dr. Beckwith, all of whom
moved to Alabama years ago ; Dr. Isaac Winston of
Alexandria,'who survived all his children and left
no grandchildren, and last William A. Winston,
who m. Mary Wallace ; issue, 1. Walter died unmar­
ried. 2. Martha m. Dr. Payne; issue, William Henry.
3. Mary m. Daniel F. Slaughter; issue, Mary, Eliza,
Caroline, John and Daniel. 4. James m. in Cal. 5.
Wallace. 6. Isaac (your correspondent). 7. Caro­
line m. John S. Hamilton ; issue, Hugh and Mary.
8. Arthur, and 9. Lucien.

i86

GENEALOGIES.

3. Anthony, son of Isaac Winston the emigrant,
m. Alice dau. of Col. Edmond Taylor of Caroline;
issue, 1. Sarah died single. 2. Anthony (whose
children moved to Ala., their names were John J.,
Anthony, Governor of that State, Edmund and
Isaac, and a daughter, Mrs. Peters). 3. Alice m.
Judge Edmund Winston. 4. Mary.
4. Lucy, dau. of Isaac Winston the emigrant, m.
first William Dabney; issue, William; ra. second
William Coles; issue, 1. Walter m. Miss Darricott;
issue, Walter. 2. Lucy m. Isaac Winston (as before
mentioned). 3. Mary m. John Payne of Phila­
delphia; issue, Walter, William Temple and Isaac
(all died unmarried). 4. Dorothea or Dolly m. first
John Todd; issue, John Payne and William Temple
(both died unmarried); m. second James Madison
(President of the U. S.), no issue. 5. Lucy m. first
George Washington, nephew of Gen. Washington ;
issue, George, William and Walter; m. second Thomas
Todd of Kentucky. 6. Anne m. Eichard Cutts of
Washington City; issue, Mary, Eichard and James
Madison Cutts, whose dau. Adele m. first Stephen A.
Douglas, Senator in Congress from Illinois, m. second
General Eobert Williams, U. S. Army. 7. Mary m.
John G. Jackson; issue, Mary, and 8. John Payne
m. Clarissa Wilcox; issue, sons and daughters in
Kentucky.
5. Mary Ann, dau. of Isaac Winston the emigrant,
m. John Coles, brother of William Coles; issue
Walter, Isaac, Sarah, Mary and John. 1. Walter m.
Mildred Lightfoot; issue, Mildred m. Col. Carrington, Sarah m. Mr. Bruce, and Isaac died unmarried.
2. Isaac (if he married, not known). 3. Sarah m.
but no issue. 4. Mary m. Mr. Tucker; issue, a dau.

THE

WINSTON-HENBY

GENEALOGY.

187

who m. J u d g e Carrington. 5. John m. Miss Tucker;
issue, 1. J o h n m. Miss Skipwith. 2. W a l t e r m. Miss
Cocke. 3. Isaac m. Miss Strieker. 4. Tucker m.
Miss Skipwith. 5. E d w a r d m. Miss Eoberts. 6.
Mary m. Kobert Carter. 7. Eebecca m. Mr. Single­
ton.
8. Sarah m. Andrew Stevenson (Minister to
England). 9. Elizabeth never married. 10. Emily
m. Mr. Rutherford.
6. Sarah, dau. of Isaac Winston the emigrant, m.
first J o h n Syme ; issue, J o h n ; m. second John H e n r y ,
a Scotch gentleman ; issue, 1. J a n e m. Samuel Mere
dith. 2. William m. but no issue. 3. Sarah (mar­
riage not mentioned). 4. Patrick (Governor H e n r y )
m. first Sarah Shelton, m. second Dorothea Dandridge. 5. L u c y m. Valentine Wood. 6. Mary m.
L u k e Bowyer. 7. Anne m, J o h n Christian.
8.
Elizabeth m. first Gen. Campbell, m. second Gen.
Russell. 9. Susanna m. Thomas Madison.
I find from this genealogy t h a t we are relations.
My great-grandfather, Isaac Winston, and y o u r
great-grandmother, Sarah Winston, were brother and
sister. I annex to the genealogy a copy of the will
of our common ancestor, Isaac Winston the emigrant.
Y e r y truly yours.
ISAAC WINSTON.
W M . WIRT HENRY,

Esq,

Richmond, Va.
Supplement to the foregoing genealogy by Wm.
W i r t H e n r y of Richmond:
Sarah, daughter of Isaac Winston the emigrant,
m. first J o h n S y m e ; issue, J o h n , member of t h e
House of Burgesses and of the Convention of 1775,
one of his daughters m. a F l e m i n g ; and J o h n Syme,
once an editor in Yirginia, was his descendant.

i88

GENEALOGIES,

Sarah Syme tn. second John Henry (a Scotchman, a
nephew of Dr. William Eobertson, the historian,
and a cousin of Lord Brougham); issue:
1. Jane Henry tn. Col. Samuel Meredith ; issue, 1.
Samuel tn. Elizabeth dau. of Gen. John Breckenridge, 2. Sarah tn. Col. Wm. Armstead, 3. Jane tn.
Hon. David S. Garland.
2. William Henry tn. but died without issue.
3. Sarah Henry tn. Thomas Thomas of Bristol,
England.
4. Susanna Henry tn. Gen. Thomas Madison. The
Bowyers and Lewises of Botetourt County are des­
cendants.
5. Mary Henry m. Mr. Bowyer.
6. Anne Henry m. Gen. Wm. Christian, killed by
the Indians in Kentucky, one dau. m. Governor Pope
of Kentucky. From Mrs. Christian are descended
the Warfields, Bullitts, and Dickinsons of that State.
7. Elizabeth Henry m. Gen. William Campbell, the
hero of King's Mountain ; their only child Sarah m.
Francis Preston; issue, 1. William C. Preston, the dis­
tinguished Senator in Congress from South Carolina,
2. Eliza Preston tn. Gen. Carrington of Halifax Co.,
3. Susan Preston tn. Governor James McDowell, 4.
Sophonisba Preston tn. Rev. Robert J. Breekenridge,
D. D., of Kentucky, 5. Sarah Preston tn. Governor
John B. Floyd, 6. Charles Campbell Preston, 7.
Maria Preston tn. John H. Preston, 8. Gen. John S.
Preston (C. S. A.), 9. Col. Thomas L. Preston (C. S.
A.), 10. Margaret Preston tn. Gen. Wade Hampton of
S. C. After the death of Gen. Campbell, his widow
tn. Gen. Wm. Russell.
8. Lucy Henry tn. Valentine Wood of Goochland;
issue, 1. Mary tn. Major Stephen Southall of the

THE

WINSTON-HENRY

GENEALOGY.

189

Eevolutionary army ; issue, 1. Dr. Philip T. Southall,
father of Professor Stephen O. Southall of the Uni­
versity of Yirginia, 2. Valentine W. Southall, late of
Charlottesville, father of William Southall, James C.
Southall, V. W. Southall, Mrs. Charles Venable of the
University of Va., and Mrs. Charles Sharpe of Nor­
folk. By a second marriage, the widow of Major
Southall had issue, Joseph Stras and several daugh­
ters. 2. Martha, daughter of Valentine and Lucy
Wood, m. Judge Peter Johnston of Prince Edward,
a Lieutenant in the Army of the Eevolution, and a
distinguished Legislator and Judge; issue, 1. John
Warfield Johnston, 2. Gen. Peter Carr Johnston, 3.
Hon. Charles Clement Johnston, 4. Edward William
Johnston, 5. Algernon Sidney Johnston, 6. Beverly
Eandolph Johnston, 7. Valentine Johnston, 8. Gen.
Joseph Eggleston Johnston of the late Confederate
army, 9. Benjamin Johnston, 10. Jane Wood John­
ston who m. Henry Michel of Washington, D. C.
(The daughters of Sarah Henry were women of
remarkable talents.)
9. Patrick Henry m. first Sarah Shelton in 1754;
issue, 1. Martha Henry m. John Fontaine; issue,
Wm.Winston Fontaine, father of Eev. William Spotswood Fontaine, now of Eeidsville, N. C. 2. Anne
Henry m. Judge Spencer Eoane of the Court of
Appeals; issue, 1. Wm. H. Eoane, U. S. Senator, who
left one child, Mrs. Edward Harrison, 2. Fayette
Eoane, who moved to Kentucky and died, leaving a
daughter. 3. Betsy Henry m. Philip Aylett of King
William; issue, a daughter who m, Eev. Wm. Spotswood Fontaine, and a son Gen. Aylett, father of
Patrick Henry Aylett, killed in the Capitol disaster,
' of Col. Wm. Aylett of King William, of Pattie

xo
9

GENEALOGIES.

Aylett who m. Henry Ware of New York, and of
Eosalie Aylett who m. Mr. Sampson of Brooklyn. 4.
John Henry, who left one son, Edmund, who settled
in Tennessee. 5. William Henry died childless.
Patrick Henry m. second, 9th Oct. 1777, Dorothea
Dandridge, granddaughter of Governor Spotswood.
The issue by this marriage were 6. Dorothea Spotswood Henry m. George D. Winston; issue, Patrick,
George, Edward, Fayette, James, Edmund, Sally, and
Elvira. These went to North Carolina, Missouri and
Mississippi. 7. Sarah Butler Henry m. first Eobert
Campbell, brother of Thomas Campbell the poet, no
issue; m. second Alex. Scott of Fauquier; issue, 1.
Henrietta m. Gen. Wm. H. Bailey of Louisiana, 2.
Catherine m. Dr. Eobert Scott, 3. P. H. Scott m.
Mary Yancey and left six children. 8. Martha
Catherine Henry m. Edward Henry of Northumber­
land, son of Judge James Henry, and died leaving a
daughter, Dorothea Dandridge, who died unmarried.
9. Patrick Henry m. Elvira Cabell, daughter of Wm.
Cabell of Union Hill, Nelson County, and had issue
a daughter Elvira, who m. William H. Clark of
Halifax, and had issue, 1. Elvira C. ni. Augustine
Claiborne, 2. Nannie m. Thomas Bruce, 3. John, 4.
Patrick, 5. Eliza m. Alfred Shields of Eichmond, 6.
Martha m. Lyle Clark, 7. Ellen m. George Lee of
Eichmond, 8. Eosa m. Mr. Wilkins.
10. Fayette Henry m. Miss Elcan, of Buckingham,
and died childless.
11. Alexander Spotswood Henry m. Paulina
Cabell dau. of Dr. George Cabell of Lynchburg.
Issue, 1. Geo. Fayette; 2. Patrick; 3. John Eobert;
4. Lewis Cabell; 5. Sallie m. Dr. Geo. Cabell Carrington; 6. Paulina m. Mr. Jones; 7. Marion m.
Sam'l Tyree; 8. Maria Antoinette.

THE WINSTON-HENBY

GENEALOGY.

191

12. Nathaniel Henry m. Virginia Woodson. Issue,
1. Capt. P. M. Henry; 2. Lucy m. John Cardwell;
3. Mary m. Mr. Garrett; 4. Martha m. Mr. Ward ;
5. Dorothea Virginia m. Mr. Beasely.
13. Eichard Henry died in infancy.
14. Edward Winston Henry m. Jane Yuilie. Issue,
1. Dr. Thomas Y. Henry; 2. Patrick Fayette; 3.
Maria Eosalie m. Dr. William B. Lewis ; 4. Lucy D.
m. Mr. Leighton; 5. Celine m. Eobert Catlett; 6.
Ada B. m. John G. Smith; 7. Edward Winston.
15. John Henry m. Elvira McClelland, grand­
daughter of Col. Wm. Cabell of Union Hill. Issue, 1.
Margaret Anne m. Wm. A. Miller; 2. Elvira M. m.
first Jesse A. Higginbotham; m. second Alexander
Taylor; 3. William Wirt Henry; 4. Dr. Thomas
Stanhope Henry; 5. Laura m. Dr. James Carter; 6.
Emma C. m. Major James B. Ferguson.
Supplement to the foregoing Winston genealogy by
Edward V. Valentine, (the Virginia sculptor).
Peter Winston, son of Isaac Winston and Mari­
anne Fontaine, m. Elizabeth Povall. Issue, 1. Isaac
m. Miss Burton; 2. Mary Ann m. Alexander Jones;
3. Peter m. two sisters, Misses Jones; 4. Elizabeth
m. Hesekiah Mosby; 5. Susanna m. Mr. G-rubbs; 6.
John Povall m. Miss Austin; 7. Sarah m. John
Mosby; 8. William m. Martha Mosby; 9. Ann m.
Benjamin Mosby.
The children of Alexander Jones and Mary Ann
Winston were John Winston, Eliza and Gustavus.
John Winston Jones, (Speaker of the U. S. House
of Eepresentatives), m. Harriet Boisseau, issue, 1.
Mary m. George W. Towns, (Governor of Georgia).
Issue, Harriet Winston, Margaret, John, Mary Wins-

192

GENEALOGIES,

ton, Anna, Lou Morton and George W. 2. James B.
Jones m. Ann Crawley Winston, daughter of Peter
Winston, son of Peter, issue John Winston, Peter E.,
William Gustavus, Loui'v.-Winston and Augustus
Drewry ; 3. Alexander Jones.
2. Eliza Jones m. John Mosby. Issue John A.
Mosby.
3. Gustavus Jones M. Elizabeth, daughter of Wm.
Winston of Half-Sink, Henrico County, and moved
to Paducah, Ky.
The children of Benjamin Mosby and Ann Winston
were 1. Peter Winston, 2. Elizabeth, 3. John O., 4.
Eobert P., 5. Mary Ann, 6. Sarah Winston, 7. Ben­
jamin, 8. Lucy, 9. Patrick Henry, 10. William H.,
11. Susanna Virginia.
Elizabeth Mosby m. Mann Valentine. Issue 1.
Elizabeth Ann m. William F. Gray, 2. Mann S. m.
Ann M. Gray, 3. Benjamin Batehelder, 4. William
Winston, 5. Eobert Mosby, 6. Mary Martha m. J. W.
Woods, 7. Sarah Benetta, 8. Virginia Louisa, 9.
Edward Virginius Valentine m. Alice C. Kobinson.
P. B. Jones of Orange County belongs to this
family, but the author does not know the connecting
links.
KEV. JOHN WOODVILLE, EECTOE OF ST.
MAEK'S.
He was born in the north of England, and was the
son of a captain, either in the merchant service or
Eoyal Navy. Rev. John Woodville m. Sarah, daughter
of Eev. James Stevenson. Issue James Littlepage,
born 1791, who m. Miss Mary Lewis and left one
son, James Littlepage, who m. Miss Breckenridge of

LIEUT.-GENERAL

AMBROSE

POWELL

HILL.

193

Botetourt Co., Ya. F a n n y , daughter of Eev. J o h n
Woodville, born 1793, m. William Payne, and their
son, Dr. J o h n J . W. P a y n e of Eiver Side, Tennessee,
m. first M a r t h a Y., daugh
t)f William A. Winston
of Culpeper (see Winston genealogy), and m. second
Elizabeth E., daughter of Col. Eufus K. Anderson of
Alabama, a son of Col. William Anderson (U. S.
Infantry), Tennessee. William P a y n e , who m. F a n n y
Woodville, and whose piety and devotion to the
Church is so touchingly described by Bishop Green
of Mississippi in his charge to t h e last Convention,
was a son of the old vestryman of St. Mark's, Richard
P a y n e of Culpeper, Ya., who was the son of George
P a y n e of Westmoreland (1716), who was the son of
J o h n P a y n e of Lancaster (1679), who was t h e son of
Eichard P a y n e of Northumberland (1633), whose
father came to Yirginia in 1620 (see Smith's History
of Yirginia, p. 52). The E e v . J . Walker Woodville
(b. 1799) m. Miss Mary E. Carmach. Sarah Ann,
daughter of Eev. J o h n Woodville, (6. 1802) died
single.
LIEUT.-GEJSTEEAL A M B E O S E P O W E L L H I L L .
Among the men of Culpeper who deserve com­
memoration is General Ambrose Powell Hill (one of
Jackson's favorite lieutenants), who illustrated his
knightly prowess on many a battle-field, sealing his
patriotism at last with the blood of m a r t y r d o m . H e
was the son of the late Major Thomas Hill, and a
lineal descendant of Capt. Ambrose Powell, the old
vestryman of Bromfield Parish, Culpeper, in 1752.

R

194

GENEALOGIES.

THE BKOADUS FAMILY.
Another man of mark to whom Culpeper gave
birth, is the Eev. John A. Broadus, D. D., Professor
in the Baptist College, Greenville, South Carolina, a
scholar of rare culture, and a preacher who exempli­
fies many of the best precepts in his excellent work
on the art of preaching with power. He is a son of
Edmund Broadus, who so long represented Culpeper
in the General Assembly. Edmund was the son of
Thomas, who was the brother of the Eevolutionary
officers, Ensign James and Major William Broadus,
vestryman and lay delegate, who married Mrs.
Jones, the daughter of the first churchwarden of St.
Mark's, Bobert Slaughter. Their daughter Patsey
married William Mills Thompson, vestryman of St.
Mark's, who was the father of the Hon. Eichard
Wigginton Thompson, the present Secretary of the
Navy. Major William Broadus married second Miss
Eiehardson and left several children, among whom is
Miss Sarah A. Broadus of Charlestown, W. Ya.
Major Broadus was* Paymaster at Harper's Ferry
when he died, about 1830.
The first Broadus of whom I find any trace in Cul­
peper was Edmund, who patented land in what is
now Madison County in 1736. The Eev. William F.
Broadus of Fredericksburg was a son of Thomas,
and James M. Broadus of Alexandria is a son of
Edmund, and brother of Dr. John A. Broadus. Wm.
Broadus, clerk of Culpeper, was the son of Major
Wm. Broadus.

^tisctllmitons

%ttms.

THE BROWN FAMILY.
There lies before me a patent for land in the South
Fork of the Grourdvine Eiver, from Lord Fairfax,
proprietor of the Northern Neck, to John Brown;
he paying every year the free rent of one shilling
sterling for every 50 acres, on the Feast of St.
Michael the Archangel. It is dated 22d June, in the
20th year of our Sovereign Lord George II., by the
grace of God King of Great Britain, France and
Ireland, and Defender of the Faith, A. D. 1749.
(Signed)

FAIRFAX.

This land was surveyed by Major Philip Clayton,
and it adjoins the land of Thomas Howison and Wm.
Brown. It appears in the vestry-book that Daniel
Brown was sheriff and collector of the parish levy.
Coleman Brown was clerk and lay reader in the
church.
Thomas Brown was undertaker of a
chapel in the Little Fork; and Capt. Wm. Brown
was the contractor for an addition to Buck Run
Church. These are the ancestors of the late Armistead and Daniel Brown and their families.
MEDICAL MEN IN COXPEPER BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.

The vestries having charge of the poor, boarded
them among the planters, and furnished them with

J9&

MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS,

medical attention. The first physician employed by
the vestries, as early as 1734, was Dr. Andrew Craig,
then Dr. Thomas Howison, then Dr. James Gibbs, and
in 1755 Dr. Michael Wallace, ancestor of the Winstons
now living in Oulpeper, and of the Wallaces of
Fredericksburg and Stafford County. Dr. Michael
Wallace was born in Scotland, and apprenticed in his
youth at Glasgow to Dr. Gustavus Brown of Port
Tobacco, Maryland, to learn medicine. The inden­
ture is now in the possession of one of his descendants
in Kentucky. That seems to have been the way
(before medical schools) to make a doctor.
THE LAWYEKS.
Lawyers who served as counsel to the vestries of
St. Mark's were, 1st. Zachary Lewis 1731 to 1750,
2d. John Mercer 1752, 3d. John Lewis 1754, and
lastly, Gabriel Jones, the eminent "Valley Lawyer,"
who married Miss Strother of Stafford County, sister
of Mrs. Madison, the mother of Bishop Madison.
The present Strother Jones of Frederick is the greatgrandson of Gabriel Jones the lawyer. Mercer was
the author of Mercer's Abridgment of the Laws of
Virginia. He was the father of Judge James
Mercer, of Ch. Fen ton Mercer, and of John F.
Mercer, Governor of Maryland.
TOWJSS IN CULPEPEE.
The first town, by Act of Assembly, was Fairfax
in 1759. The name has unhappily been changed to
Culpeper. After the Revolution there was a furore
for towns, under the impression that they would
draw mechanics and increase trade.

MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS.

197

STEVENSBURG

Was established in 1782, on 50 acres of land where
William Bradley then lived. French Strother, B.
Davenport, Eobert Slaughter, Kobert Pollard, and
Eichard Waugh were the first Trustees, all vestry­
men but one. In 1799 t h e Academy was estab­
lished by Act of Assembly, and its first Trustees
were E o b e r t Slaughter, Charles Carter, David
Jameson, E . Zimmerman, Wm. Gray, Gabriel Gray,
Philip L a t h a m and Wm. C. Williams.
CLERKSBURG, NOT

CLARKSBURG.

In 1798, 25 acres of J a m e s Baysj^'s land vested in
Thomas Spilman, H e n r y Pendleton, Jr., B y w a t e r s
and Eeid.
JEFFERSON.

On 25 acres of Joseph Coons' land, vested in J o h n
Fishback, Thomas Spilman, John Spilman, Thomas
and Eobert Freeman, P. L a t h a m , F . Payne, F . F .
Furgurson and J o h n Diilard.
SPRINGFIELD.

On 25 acres of J o h n Sp'ilman's land, vested in J o h n
and Thomas Spilman, and Messrs. Matthews,
Fletcher and T a p p .
Clerksburg, Jefferson and
Springfield are in the Little Fork.
They yet
survive, but have not realized the anticipations of
their founders, whose names we have reproduced
above.
JAMESTOWN.

I t will be news to some t h a t we have a Jamestown
in Culpeper. 25 acres of land were set apart by the
General Assembly to be called Jamestown, and

u,8

MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS.

Gabriel Green, A. Haynie, and Messrs. Grant, Corbin
and Howe were Trustees to lay it off into conve­
nient lots and streets. Who will recognize in James­
town our modest J a m e s City ?
B E I C K MAKUSTG I N V I E G I N I A .
The prevailing opinion t h a t our colonial churches
were built of imported brick is an error. As to
those in the interior of the country, the transporta­
tion of the brick was an insuperable obstacle. I t is
possible t h a t a few of the churches on tidewater
may have been made of imported brick, but as to
m a n y of these there are unquestionable traces of
brick-kilns very near them, in some cases within the
churchyard.
The following bill will show t h a t
bricks were made even at Williamsburg as early as
1708:
HENRY CARY to the Council, 1708.

150 loads of wood at 12s.=£6 7 6.
Moulding and burning 70,000 bricks at 3s. 6d. per M.
Laborer's work resetting and burning 3s. 3d.
Y E S T E Y M E N O F ST. M A E K ' S .
The names of the old vestrymen wilt all be found
in order in the text. The following is an imperfect
enumeration of the successors:—The last • vestry
under the old regime (1785) was composed of the
following persons, viz. French Strother, Sam. Clay­
ton, Ed. Yancey, William Ball, James Pendleton,
B u r k e t t Davenport, Cadwallader Slaughter, Law­
rence Slaughter, J a m e s Slaughter. Then followed
P . E . Thompson, P . Slaughter, J n o . Jamieson, E t .
Slaughter, David Jamieson, G. Jones, Wigginton,

MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS.

j 99

Wm. Broadus, Ed. Payne, Et. Freeman, Thos. Free­
man, John Spilman, Thos. Spilman, Peter Hansbrough, Isaac Winston, Waller Winston, Samuel
Slaughter, John Thom, Geo. Fitzhugh, Jno. Wharton,
W. Williams, Fayette Maury, Dr. Thos. Barbour,
Et. A. Thompson, P. Slaughter, Jr., James Farish,
Moses Green, Spilman, Ed. Eandolph, Wm. Payne,
S. E. Bradford, Garland Thompson, John Cooke
Green, Wm. B. Slaughter, Dr. A. Taliaferro, Ed.
Cunningham, T. S. Alcock, S. S. Bradford, Frank
Lightfoot, Jere. Morton, Geo. Morton, P. P. Nalle,
Jno. Knox, Downman, Dr. Hugh Hamilton, John
Porter, Et. Stringfellow, Jas. W. Green, Jas. Williams,
L. P. Nelson, Thos. Freeman, Geo. Hamilton, Wallace
Nalle, Martin Stringfellow, S. Wallis, F. B. Nalle,
Et. Davis, A. G. Taliaferro, C. C. Conway, P. B.
Jones, Jr., Et. Maupin, J. P. Alexander, Jos. Wilmen
Jr., Dr. Payne, Wm. S. Peyton, E. Keerl, Burrows,
J. W. Morton, Jas. Crawford, Spilman, Jas. Bo wen
Jr. These names are from memory and therefore
are not in exact order of time, and doubtless unin­
tentionally omit some who have been or are vestry­
men. The author has failed to receive the full list,
for which he asked repeatedly.
An analysis of the families of the old ministers
and vestrymen of St. Mark's yields some curious
results. Among their descendants were two Presi­
dents of the United States, viz. Madison and Taylor;
a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,
viz. P. P. Barbour; several Governors of States, as
Barbour of Virginia, and Slaughter, Morehead and
Stevenson of Kentucky; several United States Sena­
tors, as Barbour of Virginia, Morehead and Stevenson

2oo

MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS.

of Kentucky; members of Congress, P. K. Thompson,
Geo. F. Strother, Jno. S. Barbour. Jno. S. Pendleton,
Et. A. Thompson, Jas. F. Strother, B. Johnson
Barbour, and Pendletons of Ohio; legislators and
judges of circuits in great numbers, among whom
Judges Pendleton of South Carolina, of New York
and Ohio, Judge Green of the Court of Appeals of
Virginia, and Judges Field, Shackleford, Williams,
&c. These are but a few of the examples of this
truth. It is also a curious fact that every Episcopal
minister within the bounds of the original St. Mark's
at this date, viz. Scott of Gordonsville, Hansbrough
of Orange, Slaughter, Minnegerode and Steptoe of
Culpeper, is a lineal descendant of the ante-revolu­
tionary vestrymen, or he married one of their lineal
descendants.

ERRATA.
P. 22, Note, next to last line, read New Post instead of Newport.
P. 97, read " T h e German people is a potent" instead of "political."
P. 106, Capt. Slaughter's Diary, read " I am this day 91 years old."
P. 137, 19th line from top, read " 3. Andrew G. m. Georgie."
P. 141, 10th line from top, read Hooe instead of "Hove."
P. 175, 6th line from top, should read " 5 . Alfred m. daughter of G.
Bastable, 6. Kate m. G. Bastable."
P. 177, 2d line from top, for "1792" read 1772. ,
P. 185, 17th line from top, read Marianne.
In map of route of Gov. Spotswood, "Mitchele Sta." should read
Mitchell's.
The map on p. 27 is Mayo's map, by which the controversy between
Lord Fairfax and the Crown was settled.
The plat facing p. 28 is General Washington's, when Surveyor of the
County of Culpeper.

^ildeitiess

£ortRepiibIi<

MAPOE
IN AUG. & SEPT.1716

From Germanna to Shenandoah river
as indicctiB(LbyJourncdofJokn^FoRtai^
The Knights of the GoldertHorse Shoe