Old Tombstones in Gloucester County ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************* Lyon G. Tyler William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3. (Jan., 1895), pp. 182-189. Page 182 182 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. XXXI. Inventory of John Baskervyle, clerk of York Co (1674-5): "A pcell of English Bookes L3"; "a pcell of Latine Bookes L1." XXXII. Appraisement of the Estate of Capt. ffrancis Mathews, Oct. 26, 1675: "32 Bookes" valued at 1L 10s. [Total of inventory, L220. 19s. 02, exclusive of 45 cattle, 3 horses, tobacco claims making 10445 pds and L6. 12s. in money.] XXXIII. Inventory of Dr. Henry Winter (1679): "New bookes" worth 300 pds tobacco. Total inventory 4045 pds tobacco, and bills due the estate 4804 pds. XXXIV. An appraisement of the Estate of Mr Jonathan Newell (1679): "Bookes--63 Bookes of several sortes, 6 pay Bookes, some large." Among the servants were "4 Turkes at L95." XXXV. "An acct of what Goods were left at Lawrence Hides at the time of his death &c." (1679) "1 new Bible, 7s. 6d.; 10 Bookes 3s." XXXVI. Inventory of Edward Phelps' Estate (1679): L455, 17s, 5d. and claims amounting to 28124 pds tobacco, including "2 Bookes entituled pennance for sin 5s. 3 Bookes Bishop Loviday and Norwood 6s." _____________________ OLD TOMBSTONES OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY. COLLECTED BY THE EDITOR. [Continued from October Number.] WARE CHURCH.1 XVIII. [Arms 2.] Here lyeth the body of Mrs Ann Willis the wife of Col11 Francis Willis who departed this life ye 10th of June, 1727 in the 32d year or her age Also the Body of Ann Willis Daughter of ye above said aged 7 days _______________ Underneath this Stone Lieth Interred the Body of Amy Richards the most Dearly Beloved wife of John Richards minister of the Parish who Page 183 OLD TOMBSTONES IN GLOUCESTER COUNTY. 183 Departed this life the 21st of November 1725 Aged 40 years. Near Her dear Mistris lies the Body of Mary Ades Her Faithful and Beloved Servent who Departed this life the 23d of Nov. 1725 Aged 28 years. ___________ [Arms 3.] Underneath this stone lyeth the Body of Mr John Richards late Rector of Nettlestead and Vicar of Teston in the County of Kent in the kingdom of England and Minister of Ware in the County of Gloucester and Colony of Virginia who after a troublesome passage thro' the various changes and chances of this Mortal life is at last reposed in this silent Grave in expectation of a joyful Resurrection to Eternal Life. He departed the twelfth Day of Novembr in the year of our Lord MDCCXXXV Aged XLVI years. _____________ [Arms 4.] Here lieth the Body of Isabella the Daughter of Mr Thomas Booth wife of the Revd Mr. John Fox Minister of this Parish who with exemplary patience having borne various afflictions and with equal Piety discharged her Several Duties on Earth Chearfully yielded to Mortality exchanging the miseries of this life for the joys of a glorious Eternity on the 13th day of June in the year of our Lord MDCCXLII of her Age XXXVIII Page 184 184 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. Here also lie the Bodies of Mary and Susannah Daughter of the above mentioned John and Isabella the one departed this life on the 5th day of Sept. 1742 in the 4th year of her age the other on the 8th of October in the 3d year of her age MDCCXLIII __________ XIX. WAVERLEY. In memory of Doctor Richard Edward who departed This Life the 8 Day of March in the Year 1721 Having had two Wives and at the Time of his Death Nine children Living [Skull and cross bones.] ___________ * * * * * * * * * * * Richard Edwards5 who departed this Life the * * * March In the Year 170[7] __________ XX. EXCHANGE 6. Here lies the body of Mary Anderson born 27th Aug. 1749 and died on 12th June 1820. _________ Page 185 OLD TOMBSTONES IN GLOUCESTER COUNTY. 185 Here lies the body of Mathew Anderson Esq born 6th Decemb. 1743 and died on 24 Decr 1806. ____________ Here lies the Body of George Dabney Anderson son of Mathew & Mary Anderson who was born October 8th 1760 and departed this Life Septemb 9, 1771. Snatched in his Dawn (how Swift our Blessings fly) Here the fond hopes of his grieved Parents lye But cease to weep, look up ye mournful pair Behold your Darling a bright Seraph there See how he beckons from yon distant sphere Here fix your Hopes, he cries, your Treasure's here. ________ XXXI. ROSEWELL. 7 [ARMS 8.] Here lieth interred ye Body of ye Honourable Collonell Mathew Page Esqr one of her Majtes most Honourable Councell of the Parish of Abington in the county of Gloucester in the Collony of Virginia Son of the Honourable Collonell John & Alice Page of the Parish of Bruton in the County of Yorke in ye aforesaid Collony, who Departed this life in the 9th day of January Anno Dom. 1703 in ye 45 year of his Age. ___________ [Arms 9.] Here lyeth Interr'd the Body of Mary Page wife of the Honble Mathew Page Esq. one of Her Majestyes Councel of this Collony of Virginia and Page 186 186 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. Daughter of John and Mary Mann of this Collony, who Departed this life ye 24th Day of March in ye year of our Lord 1707 in ye Thirty Sixth year of her age. __________ Near this Place lye interred the Body of Mathew Page Son of ye honourable Collonell Mathew Page Esqr. and Mary his wife who Departed this life ye 31st day of December Ann Dom 1702 in ye 5th month of his Age. Allso the Body of Mary Page Daughter to Collonell Matthew Page Esqr & Mary his wife who Departed thsi life ye 14th day of Jan: Ann Dom 1702/3 in the 7th yeare of her Age _____________ [Arms 10.] Here lies the remains of the Honourable Mann Page Esq 11 One of his Majesties Council of this Collony of Virginia who departed this LIfe the 24th Day of January 1730 In the 40th Year of his Age. He was the only Son of the Honourable Mathew Page Esqr. who was likewise a Member of his Majesties Coucil. His first wife was Judith Daughter of Ralph Wormeley Esq. Secretary of Virginia; By whom he had two sons and a Daughter. He afterwards married Judith Daughter of the Honbl Robert Carter Esqr. President of Virginia with whom he lived in the most tender reciprocal affection For twelve Years.: Leaving by her Five Sons and a Daughter His publick Trust he faithfully Discharged with Candour and Discretion Truth and Justice. Nor was he less eminent in His Private Behavior For he was Page 187 OLD TOMBSTONES IN GLOUCESTER COUNTY. 187 A tender Husband and Indulgent Father A gentle Master and a faithfull Friend Being to All Courteous and Benevolent Kind and Affable This Monument was Piosly Erected to His Memory By His mourfully Surviving Lady. ________ Sacrae et Piae Memoriae Hoc monumentum positum doloris, ab Honorato Mann Page armigero Charissimae suae conjugis Judithae, In ipso aetatis flore decussae Ornatissimi Ralphi Wormeley de Agro Middlesexiae Armigeri Nec non Virginiani Secretarii quondam Meritissimi Filiae dignissimae Lectissimae delectissimaseque foeminae Quae visit in Sanctissimo matrimonio quatuor annos totidemque menses Utriusque Sexus unum Superstitem reliquit Ralphum et Mariam vera Patris simul et Matris ectypa Habuitque tertium Mann nominatum vix quinque dies videntem Sub hoc Silenti Marmore Matre sua inclusum Post cujus partum tertio die Mortalitatem pro immortalitate commutavit Proh dolor! Inter uxores amantissima Inter Matres fuit optima Candida Domina Cui summa comitas Cum venustissima suavitate morum et sermonam Conjuncta Obiit duodecimo die Decembris Anno Milessimo Septingessimo decimo Sexto Aetatis Suae vicessimo Secundo. __________ Page 188 188 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY. Here lies the Body of Mrs Alice Page Wife of Mann Page Esq. She departed this life on the 11th Day of January [1746] In child bed of her second Son in the 23rd year of her age Leaving Two Sons and one Daughter She was the third daughter of the Honourable John Grimes Esq. of Middlesex County one of his Majesty's Council in this Colony of Virginia Her personal Beauty and the uncommon Sweetness of her Temper Her affable Deportment and Exemplary Behaviour Made her respected by all who knew The Spotless Innocency of her Life and her singular Piety Her constancy & Resignation at the Hour of death Sufficiently testified Her firm & certain Hopes of a joyfull Resurrection To her Sacred Memory This Monument is piously erected. ___________ Here lieth interr'd the Body of Tayloe Page Third Son of Mann and Ann Corbin Page who departed this life the 29th Day of November 1760 in the 5th year of his Age. ____________ NOTES. ___ 1WARE CHURCH.--These inscriptions as given by Bishop Meade were pub- lished in the July Quarterly, pp. 32-34. September 20, 1894, the chancel which concealed them was taken up, and the copies now printed are from the originals which had been concealed since several years before the war. 2The arms represent Wyllys impaling Rich. It appears from the Sains- bury MSS. that the Francis Willis who died in 1691 was the original emigrant and not his son, as I was inclined to think. (See page 42.) He was clerk of Page 189 NOTES. 189 York county, burgess, councillor. There is a mention in the Sainsbury MSS. about 1680, that Col. Francis Willis, of the Council, had gone to England, where it seems he died in 1691 at an advanced age. To the information con- tained in the note, p. 42, add: "Henry, son of Francis and Elizabeth Willis, born November 8, 1760."--Abingdon Parish Register. In 1712 Francis Willis, of London, merchant, Katharine Bristow and Robert Bristow executors of Robert Bristow, deceased, are mentioned.--York County Records. Investiga- tions in England would, no doubt, produce interesting results in reference to this family. 3 See Ante for a description of these arms. 4 These arms represent the Fox family. 5 This inscription is much worn, but I have been informed it honored the memory of one of the wives of Dr. Edwards. 6 There are some interesting portraits at Exchange by the Gloucester County, painter, Huberd: Portraits of Thomas Todd Tabb, of Elizabeth Fore- man his wife, of Martha Tompkins who married Dr. Henry Wythe Tabb, and of Dr. James Dabney. 7 The inscriptions at "Rosewell" have been published in the "Page Fam- ily," but as printed above they were by me compared in the book with the originals. Some verbal inaccuracies were found to exist. Rosewell was built by Hon. Mann Page. The main building has two large halls (out of each hall three good-sized rooms may be made), nine passages, fourteen large rooms, nine small rooms, basement, an attic, and a cupola. It had two wings (now pulled down), which contained six rooms apiece. They formed the court; and the front of the original building and wings was two hundred and thirty-two feet. The main building is three stories and a basement. The large rooms are at least twenty feet square. and the small ones fourteen by seven. 8 The arms on this tomb are the usual Page arms, with crescent for dif- ference. 9 Same arms as 8. 10 The arms are Page impaling Carter. 11 The tombstone of Hon. Mann Page is sadly wrecked, but all its parts are preserved. It is in form an oblong octagon, and the figures on the sides rep- resent an allegory. The first side represents a cherub weeping, with fist to his eye and torch reversed, a forget-me-not at his feet. The second side, the pall looped with scalloped shells. The third side has a cherub representing im- mortality; his left foot is on a skull, left hand holds a cherry branch, his right foot on a thigh bone, his right hand points to a lamp with flame, a forget-me- not at his feet. The fourth side, which is the head of the tomb, has a cherub's head between two wings, underneath a wreath. The fifth side has a cherub, with hand raised, holding a serpent which has its tail in its mouth--representing eternity--the forget-me-not as in the others. The sixth side has the pall again. The seventh has a cherub, with hands folded on its breast, and a forget-me-not at its feet--representing resignation. And the eigth side, which is the foot of the tomb, has the crown of the saints, and underneath, the trumpets of the archangels crossed, surrounded by a wreath of cherry branches. For many courtesies and attentions at "Rosewell" I am indebted greatly to its occupants, Judge Fielding Lewis Taylor and his wife, who was Miss Nellie Deans.