Notes: Alastair Macdonald
St. Martin’s Parish History Notes by Historian Alastair Macdonald
Parish History Notes #1: The Early Parishes of Hanover
In 1654 New Kent County was formed from York County, which was one of the eight original shires of the Colony of Virginia. The New Kent officials governed an area that extended to the headwaters of the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers. Certainly this western land would have been sparsely populated, except by Native American Indians, and it would not even have been very well explored by the European settlers until later in the seventeenth century. In addition to its duties of establishing counties, the General Assembly of Colonial Virginia was charged with defining ecclesiastical borders for the Church of England. By 1679 the liturgical equivalent to New Kent County was named St. Peter’s Parish, and the current parish church, St. Peter’s, was in use by 1704.
The Anglican Church of the seventeenth century performed many responsibilities that have been assigned to governments today. The size of St. Peter’s Parish made it difficult to administer these duties. As of June 1, 1705, because of “Sundry and divers Inconveniencys” and “the largeness of the Extent of said parish,” St. Paul’s Parish was divided from the west side of St. Peter’s. In 1720 Hanover County was established, using essentially the same boundaries as the recently-formed parish. The chapel that predated Fork Church was built on the frontier of St. Paul’s Parish. Then, in May 1726, again because of travel difficulties, St. Martin’s Parish was formed, to include “All that part of St. Paul’s Parish lying in the fork of the Pamunkey (formed by the junction of the North Anna and the South Anna rivers) together with all that part of the original parish lying north-west of Stone Horse Creek, which flows north-east into the South Anna.”
Soon population increases created the need for a larger church to serve the area of the Forks. The building we know as Fork Church was constructed in the early days of St. Martin’s Parish. Then, in 1742 Fredericksville Parish and Louisa County were formed to define the western border and complete the boundaries of the area that is still recognized as our parish and our county.
Parish History Notes #2: The Chapel in the Forks
We are forced to make many assumptions about the construction of Fork Church because the St. Martin’s Parish records do not survive. Paradoxically, we have more information about the predecessor building known as the Chapel in the Forks. That structure was completed while western Hanover County was under the ecclesiastical charge of St. Paul’s Parish, and the Vestry Books from St. Paul’s Parish survive. They were edited by Dr. Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne and published in 1940 by the Library of Virginia.
In a meeting on March 27, 1722, the vestry ordered the construction of two chapels, one at Allens Creek “on the South Side of the South River, and one…at or near one John Thomason’s in the Forks of our River.” Each chapel was to be 36 feet by 20 feet “framed work and well built.” In the currency of the day, 21,000 pounds of tobacco was authorized to finish the two chapels, and 7,000 pounds of tobacco was authorized to pay for their books and ornaments. Inspection of the finished chapels was ordered on April 16, 1723. Over the next two years further funds were appropriated for railing the Fork Church yard (3,200), tarring the 2 chapels (1,000), a chest for the Fork Chapel (150), and benches for Fork Chapel (120). The total cost of the one chapel, then, is about 17,970 pounds of tobacco, which is about one-half of the annual budget of the parish, a very small sum by today’s building standards.
Parish History Notes #3: Where Was the Chapel?
In 1957, while workers were excavating to install the heating system under the northeast corner of Fork Church, they made a “startling” discovery. Judge Leon M. Bazile, a noted local historian, was consulted, and the men described to him a 15-inch brick wall and a large area covered with bricks. Headlines in the May 30, 1957, Herald Progress declared that a 222-year-old mystery was solved: the Ancient Chapel was located at last! All historical literature before this date stated that the chapel is believed to have stood not far from the existing church, but no historian has challenged the judge’s conclusions since that time.
With respect for the workers, who were relying on feeling more than sight in the dark crawl space under the church, and certainly respectful of the aging Judge Bazile, who could only rely on their descriptions, it is now clear that the chapel has not been located. When the pews and floors were removed during renovations in 1997, we had a much better opportunity to observe and study the long-hidden areas under the church. The brick wall was clearly a partially-abandoned portion of the structure of the existing church, and the brick paving was compacted brick dust remaining from the time of construction.
It is not likely that the Chapel in the Forks contained a single brick. The 36-foot by 24-foot framed structure would have rested on timber piers. There would certainly not be a 15-inch brick foundation. Also, at a time when church attendance was virtually mandatory, the chapel would not have been torn down before the church was ready for occupancy. There is no documentary or physical evidence that the chapel burned. There is archaeological evidence of two postholes, which could relate to the railing that was placed around the chapel by 1724. It is logical to assume that the site of the chapel is nearby, but for now we are essentially back to our pre-1957 knowledge, with only the suspicion that the two structures stood side-by-side for a brief period of time.
Parish History Notes #4: When Was Fork Church Built?
This, unfortunately, is one of our many mysteries. Because the early St. Martin’s Parish records do not survive, we have no primary documentary sources related to the construction of Fork Church. We tend to assume a construction date of 1735. After all, the church was significantly renovated exactly a century later, when the vestry minutes and construction records were still intact. Also, the community was expanding rapidly by this date, and there was certainly the need for a parish church.
The brick masonry is compared to that of Hanover Courthouse, which many historians have dated 1735. Recent research by Carl Lounsbury, though, favors a date of 1740 for the courthouse. In his recent book, The Courthouses of Early Virginia, Dr. Lounsbury points out that construction of the courthouse was delayed at least two years by complaints and appeals from the inhabitants of northwestern Hanover.
Construction disputes seem to have been common in early Hanover County. On June 9, 1736, the minister and a few of the vestry of St. Martin’s Parish signed a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the site chosen for a new church, so we know that construction of the church had not begun at that time. An advertisement in the Virginia Gazette for June 22, 1739, mentions an existing church on a tract of land “10 miles above Hanover Court House on the second fork of the Pamunkey.” It is reasonable to assume that these two documents refer to our church, so they provide time brackets for its construction. Allowing time to settle the issues and two years to complete the work, my favorite date for occupancy of Fork Church is circa 1739.
Parish History Notes #5: Magnetic North
As early as the fifteenth-century, navigators were aware that the compass provided only an approximation of true north. Actually, in the year 1600 the needle was aiming at a spot in the Arctic Ocean a thousand miles away from the North Pole. This magnetic pole has wandered extensively since that time. The first map of compass deviation was published in 1701, so by the eighteenth century it was possible for sailors to set their courses with accuracy.
Church builders also learned to pay attention to the magnetic deviation. Consistent with Medieval traditions, Episcopal churches, and many other houses of worship, are constructed with the congregation facing an altar placed on the east side. But how concerned were colonial church builders with the accuracy of this orientation? We can observe that early Virginia churches, including Jamestown, Ware, Bruton Parish and Merchants Hope, are oriented more simply with reference to magnetic north. On the other hand, by the 1730’s builders were more likely to place a foundation with correction for the compass error.
The compass orientation is potentially important for the archaeological study of Fork Church because posthole features found under the building are aligned with magnetic north, while the church itself is constructed to align with true north. The postholes, then, may have secured the fence that we know was installed around the Chapel in the Forks in 1724. This evidence supports the assumption that the chapel occupied space immediately next to the church. Some future research will either prove or challenge the theory.
Parish History Notes #6: The Brick Dust
During the 1997 excavation under Fork Church the layers of stratigraphy were identified on our log by letters, while the features or disturbances through the layers were designated by Roman numerals. Perhaps the most significant level, Layer D, was a consistent, salmon-colored powder that accumulated to a depth of 4 inches midway between the aisle and each side wall and became thinner, but did not disappear, as it approached the aisle and the walls. This powder was, in fact, an accumulation of dust from the cutting and polishing of the bricks by the masons as they created the exterior walls. The layer became an important orientation feature for us because it defined the construction date of the church. Any posthole or other feature that was sealed below Layer D had existed before the construction of the church, while a feature that pierced this layer was created later than the date of construction. For example, an item related to the period of the Chapel in the Forks would have to be sealed by Layer D.
It’s fun to imagine the scene, circa 1738: a number of brick masons standing high on a rough-hewn scaffold creating a pink atmosphere below them as they demonstrated their skills on this bold religious icon at the frontier of European settlement. What a help they were to 20th century archaeology, too, by creating Layer D.
Parish History Notes #7: The Contact Layer
As we mentioned in Note #6, the 1997 archaeological excavation uncovered a layer of brick dust from the construction of Fork Church. This brick dust sealed a thin brown loam layer with some interesting artifacts. A small, excavated area of “Layer F” produced over 30 quartz flakes, sometimes called “debitage,” that were byproducts of the manufacture of Indian arrow points and other tools.
Sealed in the same layer was a Spanish silver coin, a 1 real “cobb,” minted in Mexico City during the reign of Charles II. Charles ruled over Spain from 1661 to 1700, and it would not be unusual for Spanish coinage to be recognized as legal tender in the colonies. The 8-real Spanish dollar became the famous “pieces of eight” in the eighteenth century.
Layer F, then, defined the “contact period,” when European settlers and Native American Indians lived in close proximity of time and/or space.
As soon as all artifacts are photographed and studied, they will be boxed and presented to the vestry of Fork Church for permanent storage or display.
Parish History Notes #8: Reverend Zachariah Brooke
In October 1721 this well-educated and distinguished man became the first parish minister of St. Paul’s. He had recently arrived from England, where he was born in 1676. His father and two brothers were Anglican priests.
By 1724 the parish included two churches and two chapels. The chapels were Allen’s Creek and our Chapel in the Forks. Rev. Brooke preached in the two churches on Sundays and, for an extra 8,000 pounds of tobacco per year, gave nine weekday sermons per year at each chapel. When St. Martin’s Parish was established in 1726, a new rector was assigned, and Rev. Brooke stayed with St. Paul’s Parish. Undoubtedly Rev. Zachariah Brooke was the first minister to conduct a service at the location of Fork Church.
Thank you to Rev. Charles Joy, whose “Biographical Sketches” written in 1976 provide a primary source of information for some of these History Notes.
Parish History Notes #9: Reverend William Swift
William Swift was born in London in 1696 and was ordained priest (“granted the Kings Bounty”) by the Bishop of London on December 20, 1719. In May 1722 he married Diana Hodgkin at St. Dunstons Parish Church of London. When his first child was born in 1723, Swift was serving the church in Bermuda. In 1728 he came to Virginia, and Gov. Gooch sent him to be the first minister of the new St. Martin’s Parish. At that time the parish included the Chapel in the Forks, Allen’s Creek Chapel and a “mountain chapple” in what is now western Louisa County. Rev. Swift did not live to see the construction of a designated parish church. He died in 1734, but his wife Diana and children, William, Thomas, Richard and Mary, continued to live in the parish.
Parish History Notes #10: Appearance of Fork Church circa 1738
If we could pierce the dimension of time and visit the church of St. Martin’s Parish in 1738, what would we see? The overall exterior appearance is familiar, except there are no porches, so decorative brickwork is visible on the wall above each entrance. The North and East facades are uninterrupted [the chimney and access door come 220 years later] and, of course, there is no cemetery.
The paneling and hardware around both entrances reflect the highest quality of workmanship offered by local artisans. As we pass through the front entrance we enter immediately into the nave area. The gallery exists above, but there is no partition forming a room on either side. The pews are box-style, with tall sides and with bench seats around the interior perimeter of each compartment. Any heat is provided in vessels brought by members of the congregation for use in their personal boxes. Light is provided by sunshine and candles. A familiar pulpit is positioned on a square box high above the pews between the third and fourth windows on the North side of the church, with steps down to the chancel. [There are two vertical shadows that are still visible in the plaster where the pulpit had been attached to the wall.] The gallery has a level floor, and is used for servants. No musical instrument can be seen. There is only a pitchpipe to keep the congregation in tune. The communion railing is square and massive.
Back to the present, with electricity, heat and even a little plumbing, we can appreciate how much remains similar or unchanged from the builder’s concept. We can still touch much of the original material.
Parish History Notes #11: Duties of the Colonial Parish Vestry
Colonial Virginia parishes were governed by the General Assembly of the colony. In the days before the American Revolution, many responsibilities that we now ascribe to local, state or federal governments were performed instead by the churches. A large part of a parishioner’s church donation, or tithe, was used to fund these community services.
One of the vestry’s secular responsibilities was “processioning,” where appointed men would walk property lines with adjacent neighbors to confirm an understanding of the boundaries between them. The General Assembly of 1662 provided that each vestry should divide its parish into precincts and appoint “at least two intelligent honest freeholders of each precinct to see such processioning performed.” The law also stated that “bounds three times processioned should be considered settled and determined forever.”
Roads were surveyed, cleared and maintained by the local vestries. Property holders who would benefit from the improvements were ordered to contribute labor for these efforts. “In Obedience to an order of Court dated may 20th 1720 Ordering Thomas Stanley to Clear a Road, from Ceder Creek to the road that goes to new market Mill, its Ordered, that the said Stanley have all the Tithables between Newfound river, & Ceder Creek, until he Comes to the Gang, Belonging to Mr. John Glenn.”
The church compensated individuals who provided housing for an elderly or infirm person or an orphan. An example from 1706: “Ordered, that William Stephens has Six hundred pounds of good Sweet Tobacco Convenient, for keeping Susannah Copes, one whole year.” An example from 1717: “Ordered that Richard Anderson have 1000 Tobacco Convenient, for keeping Mary Clark one year from this time, to this time twelve months, and if he make a Cure of her foot & Leg, to have five hundred pounds Tobacco more.”
When all disbursements were determined, the vestry assessed each member for his share. For the year 1736 the net payout for St. Paul’s Parish was 38415 pounds of tobacco, and there were 1332 “tithables” in the parish. Each member was assessed 29 pounds of tobacco, “only theres a Ballance of 213, to lie in the Church Warden’s hands till next year.”
Parish History Notes #12: The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Thomas Jefferson’s eloquent opposition to the established church was expressed by the statute that he drafted in 1777 and presented to the General Assembly of Virginia on June 12, 1779. It finally became law, with James Madison’s leadership, on January 16, 1786. The statue declared that “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever,” and that “all men shall be free to profess…their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”
This “Disestablishment” destroyed the position and authority of the Anglican Church in Virginia. No other law has had a more harmful effect on so many parishes and parish properties in the commonwealth. Churches and glebe properties were abandoned or sold to emerging denominations. In some counties the overseers of the poor were instructed to seize the personal property owned by the parishes, including “Plate, Bells, Books and Ornaments,” and sell these to offset general county taxes.
For two generations after the American Revolution a sharp decline in total membership was evident in every local Episcopal congregation. Because of the lack of resources and leadership, the surviving church buildings suffered from neglect, and evidence of this neglect remains visible in the fabric of today’s historic religious structures.
Parish History Notes #13: The Lean Years
The colonial years at Fork Church concluded under the leadership of Rev. Robert Barret, who had previously been head of the Indian School at the College of William & Mary. He had served as rector for a very long time by 1786, the date of disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Virginia, and, being at least 73 years of age, he retired soon after.
Rev. Peter Nelson succeeded Rev. Barret and served until about 1808 when he gave up, leaving to become a member of the Baptist Church. Rev. Mr. Talley of St. Paul’s became a Universalist. For several years Fork Church has no rector, and Rev. Mr. Boggs of Spottsylvania visited both St. Martin’s and St. Paul’s Parishes to conduct services occasionally. Bishop Meade refers to Boggs’ efforts by explaining “so low was the condition of the church, and so few disposed to respond, that he used to read only such parts as needed no response, and not all of them.”
The Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia suffered another attack after disestablishment, when the General Assembly passed legislation to seize property formerly held by the Anglican Church. The logic of this law was that these properties were purchased with money levied by taxes (tithes) on citizens. Church lands and other properties were placed in the hands of county overseers of the poor, and these individuals occasionally were the principal beneficiaries of the revenues earned. Vacant church buildings were appropriated for use by other denominations.
The year 1812 is often considered the beginning of the resuscitation of the Episcopal Church in Virginia. Still, in 1824 it was reported that there were only seven male communicants among all three churches in the St. Martin’s Parish.
Parish History Notes #14: Rube Goldberg Repairs
Reuben Lucias Goldberg, the artist and inventor of the 20th century, would not appreciate being identified with the 18th century improvisations that supported the Fork Church floor for well over a century. Some of our repairs could be considered outlandish enough, but they were less practical and far less clever than Rube’s “inventions.”
The original construction of Fork Church included two parallel brick foundations that extended on both sides of the aisle and then all the way to the east side under the altar. These walls supported sills that held the joists on which the floor rested. At some point sections of these foundation walls were removed, and it appears that the same bricks were used to raise the level of the floor by adding two more brick courses to the remaining parts of the walls. More bricks were used to make piers to raise the sills along the outside walls. These piers were crudely stacked and provided irregular support, and when they were finally replaced in 1997, there was evidence of several subsequent efforts to adjust and reinforce them.
The reason for these changes to the interior foundation is unclear, and there is no available evidence to determine a date for the alterations and repairs. All we can say is the quality of the work implies a time during the “lean years,” when the church had little able help and few resources to make what must have been necessary structural adjustments. The pews were held up by faith, and little else.
Parish History Notes #15: Rev. John Cooke and Trinity Church
John Cooke was born in 1801 in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, and was a member of the second graduating class of the Theological Seminary in Alexandria. After serving briefly as deacon in Petersburg he was appointed to St. Martin’s Parish. Rev. Cooke began his ministry here in 1825, and, thanks to his youth and energy, Fork Church and its congregation began a gradual recovery from the apathy that characterized the first quarter of the century.
On April 28, 1831, at Airwell, he married a young widow, Elizabeth Edmonia Berkeley, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Churchill of Wilton, Middlesex County. He designed a house and built in on a tract of land already known as Dewberry, and they moved there in 1833. In the following year Mr. Cooke resigned as rector, and from then on he devoted most of his time to experimental agriculture at Dewberry and to the management of his wife’s vast estates. He also visited other rural counties to perform services for many Episcopal congregations that had no ministers.
Trinity Church, which was constructed while Mr. Cooke was rector, stands as evidence of the recovery of support for the Episcopal doctrine during his time in charge of the parish. Mr. Cooke died in Henrico County in December 1861. His wife continued to be a faithful member of the parish until she died at Airwell on June 28, 1888. Their remains are interred beneath the pulpit of Trinity Church.
Parish History Notes #16: Are there Burials under Fork Church?
Rev. John Cooke and his wife Elizabeth are buried beneath nearby Trinity Church. Are there any burials under Fork Church? We know of none, but given that the early parish records do not exist, we cannot be sure.
Burial locations can be determined archaeologically from soil disturbances. In the limited 1997 excavations there was no evidence of any such disturbance, but the excavators did not have access to the area under the altar, where remains would most likely be placed. A brief examination under the altar area revealed nothing but extensive groundhog activity, so no conclusions could be drawn from this visual search.
There will be no need or opportunity to pursue a search for physical remains in the near future. In the meantime, though, we can try to make a list of all likely candidates for the honor and then attempt to determine if their burial locations are known. Our most likely decedent would be a well-liked rector who was still serving at the time of his death or who retired and remained prominent in the community. We can identify the place of internment for all who meet these criteria, so for now we must assume that there are no human remains that have been placed in this sacred location.
Parish History Notes #17: The Renovations of 1835
Fork Church was certainly in need of repair by 1834, when Rev. William V. Bowers was ordained priest and became rector of St. Martin’s Parish. In a letter dated March 16, 1877, now held by the Virginia Historical Society, he describes the necessary repairs that were made to the church immediately after his arrival:
The back end wall was cracked and an iron bar was inserted in the wall from side to side. A new roof was put on, and the plastering (which was very much fallen) was thoroughly repaired and the whole wall whitewashed. The pews were after the old English style of boxes with seats all around and so deep, or high, that only adult’s heads could be seen above the tops of them. These were all taken out, the floor cleaned and repaired, and the pews in their present form… replaced, being constructed of the old materials. The pulpit & chancel were entirely removed. The present “tub” pulpit stood on an unsightly square box which was a receptacle for dust and trash. The pulpit was placed on the present support, its depth was lessened, and had new flights of stairs put up, and was hung with purple or blue tapestry. The old chancel railing was square, massive, & made of pine or poplar, the desk & communion table of the same material, all in the plainest style, without hanging drapery…. The floor of the gallery was altered and newly seated and the underneath of it partitioned off, and a robbing room made on the north side, there being none before. The windows were generally repaired and largely reglazed. The church was not painted without or within and I think never had been up to that time.
Thanks to Rev. Bowers, we know a great deal about the early configuration of the church. For example this is our primary source for the description of the original pews. It is also confirmation that the replacement pews were made from the original material.
*ERATUM:
To correct a sentence in Parish History Notes #17, it is not known where Elizabeth Randolph Price (1784-1873) is buried. It is a later descendent, Elizabeth Price Dabney (1854-1925), who is interred with the Dabneys. Thank you to Mrs. Nancy Houston of Charlottesville for spotting my error.
Parish History Notes #18: The Cemetery
In the few cities and towns that existed in colonial Virginia, churchyards were used as the final resting places for distinguished citizens, paupers, and all between. Outside of the population centers, though, Virginia’s economic and social life revolved around the farms and plantations, and each family would maintain its own graveyard on its own property. This tradition continued as common practice through much of the nineteenth century. Church burials became more common with the advent of the memorial parks, such as Hollywood in Richmond, and the trend toward community graveyards continued as properties were less likely to be held by multiple generations of the same family.
The earliest stone at Fork Church, at least the first that we know of, marks the grave of Capt. Thomas Price, born October 29, 1754, died December 21, 1836. Capt. Price lived at Coolwater, where he raised 12 children with his wife Barbara Winston Price. Thomas, Barbara and at least one daughter, Ann Price Callis, are interred inside the brick wall on the east end of the church structure. [Another daughter, Elizabeth Randolph Price is buried in the Dabney lot.]*
Even though the cemetery became an integral part of the Fork Church landscape, families were expected to maintain their own lots. In about 1918 Heyward Hunter assumed responsibilities for the common maintenance of the property. With financial help from Thomas Nelson Page, grass was planted uniformly and graveled walkways were placed. Rev. Philip Mason established a separate cemetery fund, and in 1959 the first certificates of lot ownership were issued.
Today the cemetery is divided into 20 sections, with additional space for expansion to the East and South. Section 5 defines the area dedicated to unknown Confederate soldiers. Section 14 exists on some maps, but has never been used. There are just under 500 known burials, with about 290 lots unused and another 111 unsold.
Parish History Notes, #19: The Tidewater Migration
The markers in the Fork Church cemetery pay tribute to members of many prominent families of colonial Tidewater Virginia. Soon after the American Revolution, as soil on the original properties was becoming exhausted by the over-planting of tobacco, branches of these families looked to the Piedmont region for new land to till. What we know as Old Ridge Road joined other lanes that linked through New Kent and James City Counties from Yorktown before the end of the seventeenth century, defining a natural migration route.
The tidewater families most represented in the Fork Church cemetery are Nelsons and Pages, with about 33 gravestones. These two names have been closely allied for many generations. In fact, seven children of Gen. Thomas Nelson, signer of the Declaration of Independence, married members of the Page family. The Nelsons had lived at a house called “York,” now known as the Nelson House, in Yorktown. Gen. Nelson moved to Hanover County and died at “Mont Air” a poor man, after exhausting his wealth for the Revolution. His body was returned to Yorktown, but his wife Lucy is buried in this cemetery. Other stones mark the graves of Capt. Thomas Nelson, nephew and son-in-law of Gen. Nelson, Capt. Nelson’s wife Judith, daughter of Gen. Nelson, and at least four of their children.
The Pages of St. Martin’s Parish are descended from Governor John Page of “Rosewell,” Gloucester County. Francis Page, the fifth son of Gov. Page, lived at “Rug Swamp” with his wife Susan, fourth daughter of Gen. Nelson. Francis and Susan are buried at this cemetery, as are two daughters and a son, Maj. John Page, and his wife, Elizabeth Burwell Nelson, who is a daughter of Capt. Thomas and Judith Nelson. Rosewell Page (1858-1939) of Oakland and his wife Ruth Nelson represent the next generation, and the Oakland Pages continue from there. Another early marker defines the resting place of Judith Carter Page, youngest daughter of Gov. Page, who married Dr. Robert Nelson, youngest son of Gen. Nelson and Chancellor of William & Mary College.
Other familiar colonial names in the cemetery are Berkeley, Burwell, Churchill, Dabney, Digges, Grymes, Noland, Pendleton and Taylor, all representing early immigrations from Europe to the tidewater region. Though these are 19th and 20th century burials, they echo the colonial history of eastern Virginia.
Parish History Notes #20: Bread and Wine
Rules of the Church of England (Canon XX of 1604) specified the use of “a sufficient quantity of fine white bread and a good wholesome wine” for the sacrament of Holy Communion. Household bread, in the shape of loaves or rolls, was used from the days of the Chapel in the Forks through most of the nineteenth century. By the turn of the twentieth century the household bread had been replaced by the familiar wafer-bread. Today the Cavanagh Company of Greenville, Rhode Island, produces 20 million wafers per week, still following historical liturgical guidelines.
Claret, or simply “red wine” to most church officials, was traditionally used as the communion beverage. The wine was served in an “unmixed chalice,” meaning water would not be added. Interestingly, there is one known exception to the claret rule. Madeira was used at Fork Church for a period of time around 1760. In the 1970’s a Madeira communion was offered by Rev. Charles Joy in commemoration of this unique circumstance.
Parish History Notes #21: The Rectory
The earliest rectors of St. Paul’s and St Martin’s Parishes were paid in pounds of tobacco “in lieu of Glebe.: By the time of construction of Fork Church, however, a house on 350 acres near Oakland was identified as the Parish Glebe. Rev. Robert Barret, who served as rector from 1738 to 1786, lived there and farmed the land. Rev. Peter Nelson, who was rector in 1789 and served until about 1808, also lived at the Glebe. We might assume that this property was sold soon after 1808, during the “lean years” of the Episcopal Church. There is no further mention of the Glebe in church records. Rev. John Cooke lived at Airwell, the home of his bride Elizabeth Edmonia Berkeley until completion of Dewberry, to which they moved in 1833.
Rev. William V. Bowers became rector in 1834 and lived at Edgewood, then owned by Dr. Carter Berkeley. On June 2, 1840, the vestry authorized the purchase of 101 acres of farmland adjacent to Fork Church from Clement Harris for $6.00 per acre. A parsonage was authorized later that year, and James Hanes and Thomas T. Duke were to build it. On July 1, 1842, the building was completed on that property at a cost of $776.40. In 1906 two rooms and two porches were added after a fund drive raised $340.00 for this project.
The initial occupants of the rectory were Rev. Bowers and his family. In October 1842 his daughter Frances was the first child born there. Frances Bowers became the wife of the first bishop of South Florida and the mother of a future bishop of Indiana.
Parish History Notes #22: Dr. Carter Burwell Berkeley
This is a brief account of the life of Carter Burwell Berkeley, a devout and highly admired member of the Fork Church congregation during the early nineteenth century. He was born at Airwell on February 20, 1768, and performed his early studies under the tutelage of a Mr. Bell, an Irish scholar, in a small log cabin near Offley Mill. His higher education was completed in 1793 with the receipt of a degree in medicine from the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Berkeley returned to Virginia and practiced medicine from his old home until his marriage to Catherine Spotswood Carter. In the year of their wedding, 1796, they built Edgewood, which was to remain his residence and office well beyond her death. Each Sunday neighbors were invited to dine at Edgewood after church services, and this event became a grand social and intellectual tradition along Ridge Road.
It was Dr. Berkeley’s philosophy to practice faith and medicine together. One patient described waking late one night during a serious illness to find Dr. Berkeley kneeling by her bed and praying for her recovery. According to Brief Biographies of Virginia Physicians, by L. B. Anderson (1889), a patient was quoted as saying “We prefer Dr. Berkeley to any one else, because what he failed to accomplish by his medical skill he would secure by his prayers.”
On Sunday morning, November 3, 1839, Dr. Berkeley was involved with his duties as chief warden when he was asked by two other doctors to visit a sick man as early as possible. “He was introduced into the room of the patient, and seating himself by the bed, gently grasped the wrist to feel the pulse. Not a word was uttered, not a movement was made, except to incline his head, as was his custom during profound thought.” In time the other doctors found that life has passed from the good doctor. “Thus, like the faithful sentinel, he fell with his armor on, and in the exercise of the noble functions of his high calling.”
Parish History Notes #23: The Boys of Hanover Academy
Lewis Minor Coleman founded Hanover Academy in 1850, but left the area in 1859 to become Chair of the Latin Department at the University of Virginia. Upon Coleman’s departure, Hilary Pollard Jones became headmaster. Through his marriage to Claudia Marshall, the granddaughter of Chief Justice John Marshall, Jones became a member of the Episcopal Church. Jones treated his students like members of the family. He dined with them and they even shared his tobacco. In his school “there were two rules: ‘Be a gentleman’ and ‘Know your lessons.’”
The boys of the Academy are said to have assembled and marched to Fork Church every Sunday. They sat in the rear on the right side of the isle, and their initials, as well as carvings of images of bottles and hands of cards, are still visible on the pews in that area of the church. Anne Macdonald always denied that “HH” bore any relation to her father, Heyward Hunter, who graduated from the Academy with its final class in 1889.
Parish History Notes #24: The Short Rectors
It might be considered irreverent to classify a member of the clergy in this way, but two of the most successful rectors of St. Martin’s Parish were height challenged.
Rev. William Augustus Alrich was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1836. After serving as a military chaplain during the Civil War he was ordained priest in 1868. He was called from Fairfax County to St. Martin’s in 1869. Two years later his wife died in childbirth at the Rectory, and she is buried in the churchyard. His second wife was Mary Berkeley of White House, Old Ridge Road. Mr. Alrich was known as a very short man with a big heart, serving the parish during the difficult period of reconstruction.
Rev. John Philips was rector of St. Martin’s Parish from 1815 to 1824, during the period of reawakening in the Episcopal Church. According to Bishop William Meade, “His person was the most diminutive I ever saw or heard in the pulpit, but it was remarkable for its quickness and energy of action. He required to be elevated on a high block or platform to be seen at all in the pulpit. When praying in private houses he always knelt in the chair, not by it.”
In 1824 Rev. Philips was reassigned to a parish in Lunenburg County. Bishop Meade also related the circumstances of his death: “While riding in a plain conveyance with Mrs. Philips, who always drove him about, as she did many other things for him, he expired without her knowledge, until, stopping at a tavern to water the horse which carried them, it was discovered that he was sitting by her side a lifeless corpse.”
A Fork Church legend describes the minister who fell off of his platform while preaching, “Soon you will not see me.” This tale must refer to one of these great men.
Parish History Notes #25: Rev. Horace Stringfellow
Rev. Horace Stringfellow was born at The Retreat, a home overlooking the Rapidan River, on November 9, 1799. He attended law school, and soon became attorney for the Commonwealth at Madison Court House. In a seemingly abrupt career change, he and his wife Louisa Gibbs Strother moved to Alexandria, where he attended Virginia Seminary.
After his ordination in 1835 and a brief assignment at Old Chapel in Millwood, Virginia, he became rector of Trinity Church in Washington, D.C. While at Trinity he was described as “a grave and godly man of patriarchal appearance, without any of the arts of oratory, but sound in doctrine and rightly dividing the word of truth as he saw the truth.”
In 1847 Rev. Stringfellow was called to St. Paul’s Church in Petersburg and remained there until the church burned in 1854. Then he moved to Hanover County and served as rector of St. Martin’s Parish through the tumultuous times of the Civil War.
The recently constructed St. Martin’s Rectory was already in disrepair when the Stringfellow family arrived. Apparently an apple tree was growing between the roof and a decaying window. So Rev. Stringfellow built Forest Hill, modeled after his boyhood home, two miles west of Fork Church on Old Ridge Road. The house is still known by some as “Parson Stringfellow’s.”
Thomas Nelson Page described him as “A tall distinguished looking man who believed in conversion and preached it with a vigor of tone and gesture which was not without effect.”
Although he retired from the clergy in 1866, he continued to live at Forest Hill until near his eightieth year, when age and health issues persuaded him to move to Ashland. He lived among friends there until his last day, December 26, 1883.
Parish History Notes #26: Fork Church during the War Between the States
A popular tradition notes that Fork Church was used as a hospital at some point during the Civil War. However, there is no mention of any such use in the comprehensive “Official Records” published after the conflict. Because of its remoteness from Confederate medical centers, it is unlikely that the church provided any convalescent facilities for wounded soldiers. On one occasion, however, Fork Church was near the front lines of the battle.
For a few days in May 1864, General Grant and the Army of the Potomac faced General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia in a stalemate along the North Anna River. As a result of several engagements there were significant casualties on both sides, but Union troops withdrew to the north of the river and southern units moved to Hanover Junction (now Doswell) along the Verdon Road. A Union cavalry officer reported that all bridges over the Little River had been destroyed, so it is not likely that casualties would have been brought to Fork Church.
Certainly the congregation provided support and assistance throughout the conflict. At Trinity Church on Sunday, August 11, 1861, Rev. Horace Stringfellow responded to a plea from the medical purveyor of the Confederate States, proposing that ladies of every church in the Confederacy collect blankets and ship them to Richmond. In May 1863 at the Sixty-Eighth Annual Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia, Rev. Stringfellow reported that St. Martin’s families had provided contributions of $1,750 to soldiers and $1,200 to “Fredericksburg sufferers,” after the bloody engagement five months earlier. Mr. Stringfellow had four sons in the Confederate Army. They all survived the conflict.
Section 5 of the Fork Church Cemetery was designated for Confederate soldiers, but there are no markers in that area, nor is there record of any burials there.
Parish History Notes #27: Fannie Doswell and St. Martin’s Chapel
A young Frances Ann Sutton, daughter of James T. Sutton and Mary Oliver, married Thomas W. Doswell of Bulfield, near Hanover Junction. For a period of time in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Doswell stable was famous in Eastern horse environments. Lavish events were held at the Bullfield race track, now overgrown but still visible from the air.
“Fannie” Doswell, as she was called, was a pious woman who regularly provided quarters at Bullfield for traveling ministers and bishops. Her most significant project was the construction of a small wooden Victorian chapel near Hanover Junction, now Doswell, for railroad workers who lived in the area. After years of fund raising, especially at the horse racing functions, the small church was completed in 1878, and named St. Martin’s Chapel, being within the borders of St. Martin’s Parish. Because of the main source of funding, this original building was also known as “the turfmen’s church.”
For the next twenty years Fannie Doswell was the superintendent of the Sunday School at St. Martin’s. Thomas W. Doswell died in 1890, and in 1898 Fannie moved to Charlottesville, where she lived until her death in 1903. They were both buried in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery. The original chapel burned in 1944. The current St. Martin’s Church stands near the site of the fulfillment of Fannie Doswell’s dream.
Parish History Notes #28: Sewell Stavely Hepburn
A native of Missouri, Reverend S. S. Hepburn began his career at parishes in Loudoun County, Virginia, and Kent County, Maryland, where he met and married Nina Powell. He was residing in Hanover County by 1879, when his son Thomas Norval Hepburn, was born. In 1881 he was rector of St. Paul’s Parish, and concurrently ministered at Immanuel Church in Old Church, St. Peter’s in New Kent County, and St. David’s in King William County, as well as St. Paul’s Church in Hanover Court House. According to Immanuel Church documents, he held the longest tenure of a Rector of St. Paul’s Parish.
Rev. Hepburn, or “Brother Hep” as he came to be known, accepted a call to St. Martin’s Parish in 1893 and moved his family to Hanover Academy, which had recently closed as a boys’ preparatory school. In 1903 he retired and returned to Kent County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Brother Hep made many friends while rector at Fork Church, and long after his departure he continued to visit and conduct special services for members of the congregation. On these visits he would accept quarters at Oakland, Airwell, Janeway and Hickory Hill. As late as 1929 he assisted Mr. Mason at a Fork Church wedding.
In spite of his life-long dedication to the Episcopal Church, Rev. S. S. Hepburn will be remembered because of his famous granddaughter, Katharine Hepburn, who was born in Hartford, Connecticut, soon after his departure from St. Martin’s Parish.
Parish History Notes #29: Fork Church in 1900
A visit to Trinity Church, a few miles to the west, provides a smaller-scale model of the layout of Fork Church between 1835 and 1913.
The pews were arranged as we know them today, having been cut down from the older compartment style, but the pulpit was in the center at the front of the church, where the altar currently stands. Under the reawakened Calvinist philosophies of the nineteenth century, the spoken word was the most important element of a service and symbols such as crosses and flowers were of little value. “Sola scriptura” (“by scripture alone”) was one of five important slogans of the Protestant Reformation that reflected the tenants of John Calvin (1509-1564). The altar was placed in front of and below the pulpit, holding less significance than it does under our liturgy.
The communion rail formed a semicircle around the pulpit, extending to the east wall at the approximate location of the current railing on either side of what was then the pulpit. The organ was on the north wall behind where the pulpit is now placed. A pot-bellied stove occupied a prominent place in the center of the aisle, with a pipe chimney extending up and then horizontally to a side window, where an upper pane was removed to accommodate it.
Parish History Notes #30: The Renovations of 1913
In a letter dated June 2, 1913, Rosewell Page of Oakland expresses satisfaction with plans for changing the chancel area of Fork Church.
The present arrangement of the chancel is not colonial. The high back pews and all the change of interior went before the ‘demon of architecture’ many years ago. The present plan is very simple and will improve and in part be a restoration instead of a desecration. Indeed, while the present status was satisfactory to us, the change will be effected without trouble and be satisfactory to all concerned.
The changes made later that year did restore the church to an arrangement closer to the original design. The pulpit was placed where it is today, only a few feet from its presumed original position. For practical and financial reasons no one seemed to propose the restoration of the high-back box pews, and the original position of the pulpit would have been inappropriate for the current configuration of the pews. It is the same pulpit, though, that has been used, slightly modified, at all three locations.
The rectangular communion rail was installed at this time, using the same wood platform flooring as was used in the prior circular rail. Still today, ghost shadows from random arcs of the earlier rail can be seen if the carpet is removed. We assume that the organ was moved at this time from the north wall to the east wall in the corner to the right of the altar.
The stove remained in the center of the aisle. A central heating system was not to be provided for Fork Church until 1957.
Parish History Notes #31: The Berger Organ
Henry F. Berger was born near Toulouse, France, in 1819 and learned the skills of organ building from his father. He came to this country in 1849. He made church organs and other musical instruments in Baltimore, MD, and later in York, PA, until fire destroyed his factory and three finished organs on March 10, 1861. In September 1855 he completed the organ that inspires us at Fork Church to this day. There is only one other Berger organ known to exist.
In the Winter1964 issue of The Tracker, the publication of the Organ Historical Society, Cleveland Fisher describes our instrument and provides clues to its origin. It appears that the organ was previously owned and used by St. George’s Church, Fredericksburg, and in 1874 their vestry decided to replace it. The first reference to it at Fork Church is in the diary of Ruth Page of Oakland. Her earliest recollection of the organ was 1882, when she and her parents returned from China. Repairs were needed at that time, and a fair was held at the church in 1888 to raise funds for its renovation.
A number of repair dates are noted on the organ, including 1876, 1895, 1902 and 1912. In 1963 it was reconditioned and an electric blower was added. Until then, the organ had to be pumped by hand. The most recent renovation of this historically significant asset was by the Rappahannock Pipe Organ Company in April 2003.
Parish History Notes #32: The Airwell Fires
Through most of its existence, Fork Church has benefited from the leadership and dedicated support provided by many generations of the Berkeleys and Nolands of Airwell. In one 1802 incident, Elizabeth Wormeley Carter Berkeley refused to surrender the church’s communion service to representatives of the Overseers of the Poor. A Virginia law had called for confiscation of church property after the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but Mrs. Berkeley stubbornly held the silver at Airwell.
Sadly, because of these close connections Airwell is associated with two losses in the timeline of church history. According to mid-twentieth century historian Leon Bazille, parish records were being stored at Airwell in 1838, when the house was destroyed by fire. These records would have included birth, confirmation, marriage and death records, vestry minutes and all official historical information about the parish and the church. The vestry register that was currently active at the time must have been at another location, since we have these records starting in 1824.
One century later, Airwell’s tragic fire of 1938, which took the lives of two men, destroyed the colonial communion service that Mrs. Berkeley had saved in 1802. The silver was inscribed “For the use of the churches in St. Martin’s Parish, in Hanover and Louisa counties, Virginia, 1759.” The origin of the sacramental silver is lost. By one tradition it was presented by William Nelson, president of the Virginia Council. Another tradition is that it was a gift from St. Martin’s Church, London.
Parish History Notes #33: The Baptismal Font
We see the marble baptismal font at every service, but think little of it in the daily life of the parish. It only occasionally becomes the center focus, when the sacrament of baptism is being administered to our youth and new members. In reality, beyond its importance to Christian life, this simple object is a very significant fixture in our church.
The previous use of this font was at the Lower Church of Saint Stephen’s Parish, also know as Mattaponi Church, in King and Queen County, Virginia. This building was abandoned by the Anglican parish immediately after the American Revolution, and by 1803 was sheltering a Baptist congregation. According to Rev. Charles Joy, having no use for the font in their service, the Baptists placed it in the churchyard for use as a watering trough for their horses. Early in the 20th century, Rosewell Page, Sr., then Senior Warden of Saint Martin’s Parish, recognized the significance of the font and acquired it for Fork Church.
With a design reminiscent of a Greek wine bowl, this rare item was probably made in London in the eighteenth century for Saint Stephen’s Parish. We should be proud to possess it, and thankful to Mr. Rosewell Page, Sr., for restoring it to its intended use.
Parish History Notes #34: Rev. Robert Nelson
Rev. Robert Nelson was born at Oakland, a home always closely tied to Fork Church. He also died at Oakland, but was away from Hanover County for most of his life. His parents, Capt. Thomas Nelson and Judith Nelson, were close cousins from Yorktown, Virginia. Judith’s father was Thomas Nelson, governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Capt. Thomas Nelson, Judith, and Judith’s mother Lucy Grymes lie in the Fork Church cemetery. Gov. Nelson died in Hanover County, but was buried at Grace Church in Yorktown.
Young Robert Nelson was sent to be educated in Clarke County at an early age. It is likely that he attended Rosney School, which was founded in 1830 by two other grandchildren of Gov. Nelson. He received degrees from Bristol College, Pennsylvania, and New York University. In 1839 he joined the first faculty at Episcopal High School, which was founded by Bishop Meade in Alexandria, Virginia.
He had considered following his family’s military tradition, but ultimately entered Virginia Theological Seminary. When he received his DD in 1845 he became rector of Grace Church in Rockbridge County, Virginia. There he met Rose Poyntz (or Points), whose brother was a teacher in Shanghai. Robert and Rose were married in 1848, and in 1851 they moved to Shanghai, where he began a thirty-year missionary career.
Parish History Notes #35: Civil War Revisited
After the skirmish at Ox Ford, the bridge over the Little River was destroyed, so it would have been difficult for ambulances or wagons to reach Fork Church with the wounded. Slopes are steep on both sides of the river where the bridge had been. Jeb Stuart and his cavalry rode west from Ox Ford through Trinity Church (about 11 miles) then east for about 7 miles through Fork Church and on to Taylorsville. So that route to Fork Church would have been about 18 miles, versus 3 miles by the direct route if the bridge were intact. Most likely, the wounded were carried to Hanover Junction or Taylorsville.
Taylorsville was also used by Confederate forces in May 1862 during the engagements at Hanover Courthouse and Peake’s Turnout.
Also in May 1862 Jackson’s troops from the Shenandoah unloaded at Beaverdam and marched from there to join with Lee in the defense of Richmond. Their route would likely have taken them by Fork Church. Sickness and injuries were not uncommon on such troop movements.
The Stafford Light Artillery, and probably other units, wintered at Taylorsville between October 1, 1863, and April 1, 1864.