Bruton Church, Williamsburg VA; Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 3, No. 3, 1895 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ 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 *********************************************************************** Bruton Church Lyon G. Tyler William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3. (Jan., 1895), pp. 169-180. BRUTON CHURCH By the Editor. NEXT after the College, the glory of Williamsburg is Bruton Church. When, in 1632, Middle Plantation (subsequently Williamsburg) was laid out and paled in(1), a parish of the same name was shortly created(2). Of the early history of this parish very little is known. When counties were established two years later, the line of division between Charles River county, subsequently York, and James City county appears to have passed through the centre of Middle Plantation(3). Charles River county, the parent potential of many new counties, stretched out indefinitely to the north and to the west. At Middle Plantation there was no danger from disease, for the surgeon of the Colony, Dr. John Pott, had given convincing evidence of its health- fulness by the purchase of a plantation called Harop, just on its borders(4), and his judgment was to be confirmed in future years by the unanimous voice of the Legislature(5). In this favored spot there were no mosquitoes(6); the air was "serene and temperate", and crystal springs burst from the "dry and champaign" soil(7). But the Indians inhabiting near were a real menace. The danger, in fact, of sudden death from this source made religion a constant factor in the lives of the early colonists; and the valor and intrepidity of the brave commanders at Middle Plantation, Lieutenant Richard Popely(8) and Captain Robert Hig- _________________________________________________________________________ (1) Hening, I., 139, 199, 208 (2) York Records. (3) Ibid. (4) Hening, I., 208. (5) Hening, III, 319. (6) Hugh Jones's Present State of Virginia (7) Hening, II., 419. (8) Popeley owned 700 acres at the Middle Plantation (York Records). In 1627 he was given 1,500 pounds of tobacco by the Council, "he being a man that bothe heretofore and is still ready to do goo service to the Colony". He was born in 1608, in the parish of Wolley, Yorkshire, England. (Ancient Records, and Sainsbury MSS). Page 170. ginson(1), did not diminish the people's trust in a higher protection. By 1654 the "forest" to the northwest had received so many immigrants, that at the session of the Legislature that year "the upper part of York county, from the West side of Skimeno Creek to the head of Pamunky and Mattaponi rivers, and down to the head of the West side of Poropotanke", was created(2) into a separate county, called New Kent; and at the same session, that prt of York county on the river, which lay adjoining, "from the head of the north side of Queen's Creek as high as the head of Skimeno Creek", was made(3) into a distinct parish, and was called Marston. In 1644 a parish in James City, between Archer's Hope Creek and Martin's Hundred, comprising Harop and Farlow's Neck (subsquently Kingsmill plantation), was created(4), and called Harop parish; but in March, 1657- '58, this parish was united with Middle Plantation, and the two became known as Middletown parish(5). In the same year (1658) Major Joseph Croshaw, whose daughter Unity married Colonel John West, Lord Delaware's nephew, gave to the parish of Marston one acre of his plantation called "Poplar Neck", near the "Indian Fields", for a church-yard, on which land there was already a church(6). There is a deed(7), dated March 5, 1659, from Ralph Simkins and Susannah, his wife, to Samuel Fenn (whose daughter Sarah married Thomas Claiborne, a son of the renowned William Claiborne), conveying 37 acres of woodland, "except two acres, part thereof, given formerly by the said Simkins to the use of parishioners of Middletown Parish, and on which a church is now building". In 1674 the parish of Marston was joined to that of Middletown, and the united parishes became known as "Bruton Parish(8)" - a ________________________________________________________________________ (1) The tomb of his only child, Lucy Burwell, at Carter's Creek, Gloucester county, Virginia, speaks of Captain Higginson as of the "ancient family of Higginson", and as "one of the first commanders to subdue the country of Virginia from the power of the heathen". In 1644 he had charge at Middle Plantation. (2) Hening, I., 388. (3) Ibid; York County Records (4) Hening, I., 317. (5) Ibid., 498. (6) York Records. Joseph Croshaw and Robert Cobbs were vestrymen of Marston Parish in 1660, and Rev. Edward Foliott was the minister. (7) York County Records. (8) I have not been able to find the order requiring the change, but in the York records "Bruton" takes the place of "Middletown" and of "Marston" during 1674. In some late accounts Bruton Church has been called "Christ Church" and "St. David's", but the records show that the only name which it ever had was the name of the parish. See Perry's Hist. Coll., Virginia, 208, 298-300, 411, 530; Meade, McCabe, York Records, etc. Page 171. name ever since retained, and derived from the Ludwell family, or from Sir William Berkeley, the Governor, who were from Bruton, Somerset county, in England. The first entry in the old vestry-book, now lost(1), bore date "April ye 18th, 1674", and from that time the distinction between Middletown and Marston parishes ceased; and in the deeds plantations in Marston parish are described as in "Bruton". Of Bruton parish, Rev. Rowland Jones (1640-1688), son of Rev. Rowland Jones in Oxfordshire, was the first minister. He was a graduate of Oxford, and an ancestor of Martha Washington(2). The two churchwardens in 1674 were Captain Philip Chesley(3) and Mr. William Aylett, both of York county; and the Honorable Daniel Parke(4) (Secretary of the Colony, and an ancestor of Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis), Mr. James Besouth, Mr. Robert Cobbs, and Mr. James Bray, were of the vestry; Alex- ander Bonnyman was the first clerk of Bruton. In November, 1677, the vestry determined(5) "not to repair either the upper or the lower churches in the parish", but that "a new church should be built with brick at the Middle Plantation". There were then, probably, three wooden structures for worship in the parish, corresponding to Middle Plantation, Harop, and Marston parishes, all three of which now composed Bruton, which stretched in an irregular manner from York River to James River, and was about ten miles square(6). We have evidence certainly of the existence of two such churches: Marston Church is constantly referred to in the York county records as being in the direction of the present __________________________________________________________________________ (1) In some way the vestry-book disappeared during the late war. Fortu- nately, Rev. J.C. McCabe had the use of it in 1856, and he published many extracts in The Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register, Vol. VIII., 1855-56. References to the sketch in The Church Review, etc., will be made in this paper as "McCabe". A mutilated register of the parish exists. The entries run: Births, 1739-1792; Deaths, 1660-1751. The early deaths, 1660-1674, being those of persons living in Marston parish, show that the register must have been originally the register of that parish. Mrs. C. B.T. Coleman, of Williamsburg, has the register. I had a copy made for the College library. (2) Virginia "Historical Collections", XI., page 76. (3) Of Welford, Gloucestershire, England. Will proved in York county, Virginia, in 1674. His nephews, who were educated in England, left descendants in Virginia. (4) See Virginia Historical Collections, XI., page 76; also, Bishop Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia. (5) McCabe. (6) Rev. James Blair describes the parish in 1724 as being ten miles square. - Perry's Historical Collections - Virginia. Page 172. Biglow's, "in the Indian fields near Queen's Creek"; and in the December, 1674, Thomas Claiborne and Sarah, his wife (who was Sarah Fenn), joined in a deed to convey the wife's inheritance in the old plantation of Ralph Simkins, "except the two acres on wch the Parish Church of Bruton now standeth, formerly given by Ralph Simkins unto the parishoners of Bruton". To the proposed brick building at Middle Plantation liberal contributions were made(1) by Rev. Rowland Jones, John Page, Gideon Macon, Martin Gardiner, Thomas Ludwell, Esq., and others. On 23d January, 1681, an agreement was signed by Capt. Francis Page to build(2) the brick church for "L150 and sixty pounds of good, sound, merchantable, sweet-scented tobacco, to be leveyed of each tytheable in the parish for three years together". The land on which the church was built, together with sixty feet of the same every way for a church yard, was a gift(3) forever from the "Honourable Coll. John Page". On November 29, 1683, the new church was at length completed, and on the 6th day of January, 1683-84, being the Epiphany, Mr. Jones preached a dedicatory sermon. Special pews were set apart for the Governor and Council and the families of Col John Page of Middle Plantation, and of Col. Philip Ludwell who had married the Lady Frances, Governor Berkeley's widow, and resided at Greenspring, seven miles distant. The fees were fixed - for burial in the chancel 1,000 pounds of tobacco for L5, payable to the minister; for burial in the church 500 pounds of tobacco, payable to the parish; for a funeral sermon L2, payable to the minister; for reg- istering christenings, and burials 3 pounds of tobacco each, payable to the clerk of the parish; for digging a grave 10 pounds of tobacco, payable to the sexton. The minister's salary was fixed at 1,600 pounds of tobacco and cask annually(4). Among the benefactors of the church, besides those already mentioned, were Sir Edmund Andros, the Governor, who in 1694 gave to Bruton Parish a large silver server(5); Mrs. Catharine Besouth(6), who gave L10 by _________________________________________________________________________ (1) McCabe. (2) Ibid. (3) McCabe. (4) Ibid. Perry (5) A server presented by Andros to James City Parish turned up in an out of the way place sometime ago, and is now at the Episcopal Seminary at Alexandria. (6) Mrs. Besouth was the wife of vestryman James Besouth, and widow of John Huberd, the brother of Mathew Huberd. Her daughter, Elizabeth Huberd, married Capt. James Archer, an engineer in Sir Herbert Jeffreys' regiment. His daughter, Anne Archer, married Major William Barber, burgess, justice, etc., and had Elizabeth, who married Leonard Claiborne, Capt. James Barber, etc. Page 173. her will for the purchase of a piece of plate engraved with her name, and Mrs. Alice Page(1), who in 1698 gave "one gold pulpitt cloath and cushion of Best velvett". A church Bible was given by Capt. Mathews(2), which in 1724 "being in danger of spoiling by laying in the chest, Mr. Thomas Cobbs agreed to take, promising to send for another when the same shall bee required". A font stone was imported in 1691(3), and is doubtless the one now in the church. In 1724 Rev. James Blair reported(4) that the church was provided with "a great Bible, 2 common prayer Books, the Homilies, canons, pulpit Cloths, altar and altar piece, Font, Cushions, Surplice, Bell, &c.", and that "there were 110 families in the parish". The church has at present the use of the following services of communion plate: 1st A service of silver, consisting of a large chalice and a paten, originally presented to the church at Jamestown, each vessel bearing the motto, "Mixe not holy thinges with profane", and about the rim, on the bottom, Ex dono Francisci Morrison, Armigeri. Anno Domi 1661". Francis Morrison, Esq., was at this time acting Governor of the coloney. The maker of this service, whose mark was "T.W." was also the maker of a celebrated cup owned by the Blacksmith's Company, London, 1655, and subsequently purchased at a sale for the large sum of L378. 2d. A service of silver-gilt, consisting of a paten and a __________________________________________________________________________ (1) Will of Mrs. Alice Page, wife of Col. John Page, proved August 24, 1678. (2) The following notes regarding the Mathews family may be of value: Gov. Samuel Mathews, who married the daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton, lived in Warwick county, and died in 1660. - Hening. "John Mathews, son of Col. Samuel Mathews, deceased," Mrs. Anna Bernard guardian, etc., 1671 - General Court Records. "Robert Bullock, son of William Bullock, who was son of Hugh Bullock", sues Col. Peter Jenings, guardian to "orphans of Coll. Mathews, deceased", 1671 - Ibid. "William Cole, Esq., and Capt. John Mathews, trustees of Baldwin Mathews, orphan of Capt. Francis Mathews", etc., 1682 - Ibid. "John Mathews, Esq., of Warwick county, and Elizabeth, his wife, sole daughter and heiress of Michael Tavernor, of York county," 1684-5 - Ibid. "Baldwin, infant and only son of Capt. Francis Mathews, deceased", 1674-5 Baldwin Mathews, of York county, in his 68th year, found dead with his head resting on the table, etc. - Virginia Gazette, 1st April, 1737. Mary, daughter of Baldwin Mathews, married Philip Smith, of Northumberland county, and had Baldwin Mathews Smith, eldest son, and Mary, who married Thomas Buckner.- York County Records, 1751. Samuel Mathews' will, proved in Richmond county in 1718, mentions his sons John, Baldwin, and Francis, daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and kinsmen Dudley Digges and Baldwin Mathews. (3) Calendar of State Papers, I., p. 35 (4) Perry. Page 174. double-handled cup with cover beautifully chased and embellished with applique leaves and bearing private arms, at present unidentified. The cup, resembling in shape and size a caudle or loving-cup, was made in 1686 by Peeter Harache, an eminent French goldsmith then resident in London. The paten, of less delicate workmanship, was not made until 1737, at which time the two vessels were doubtless presented to the church. A cut of this service appears in J.H. Buck's Old Plate (Gorham Manufacturing Company, New York, 1888). 3d A silver service of three peices, a large flagon, a large goblet-shaped chalice, and a paten, each piece bearing the royal arms, with motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense", between the initials G. III. R. This service was made in 1764 and 1766 by Thomas Heming. The vestry controlled the church, and out of their number were elected each year two persons called church-wardens, who saw to the enforcement of the church laws. These church wardens, who were assisted in their duties by an officer called a sidesman, looked after the poor children, who were taught reading, writing, and arithemtic(1), and reported to the county courts the evil doers, who, contrary to Bishop Meade's suppositions, were promptly punished, as the county records show. In the course of the vestry itself regarding the election of ministers, the independent character of the Virginians was remarkably illustrated. Under the practice in England the minister held his living for life, but the vestry of Bruton would only elect Rev. Solomon Wheatley for a year at a time, in spite of the insistence of Governor Andros to the contrary(2). Even Governor Spotswood appears to have found them an obdurate and un- manageable set of men(3). ___________________________________________________________________________ (1) The vestry had charge (often in conjunction with the justices) of the parish schools, of which there seems to have been four in 1724 - Perry. One of these was the "Mattey School", founded by Mrs. Mary Whaley in honor of her son, in 1706. Probably the other schools were indicated - 1. By the school-house of which I have found frequent mention in the York records as located on the north side of Queen's Creek, near Marston church; 2. By the fifty acres and house given at Jamestown for a free-school (Meade I., 201); and 3. By the school of A. Curtis named on the map of Williamsburg. In 1726 Jonathan Druitt left his estate for a free-school, but the act of the Legislature in 1762 permitted the vestry to use the proceeds for any charitable purpose. - York County Records and Hening's Statutes. (2) McCabe. (3) In the index to the cases pending in the General Court (Ludwell MSS in Va. Hist. Society) there is a case of Quare impedit, brought in 1721 by "Edmund Page 175. The vestry, however, rested with asserting their own independence. They had no patience with the Quakers, who claimed exemption from their religious domination. The Quakers were persecuted, imprisoned, and fined. And yet there is plenty of evidence that the people at large had no great antipathy to this class of people. From some of the very first citizens the Quakers received countenance and protection. When in 1705 the formidable Quaker missionary, Thomas Story, visited the homes of Edward Thomas and John and James Bates, "a wanton company" of both sexes from Williamsburg and other adjacent places attended the Quaker meeting at Queen's Creek, but were actuated by no feeling other than that of a thoughtless "levity". And Governor Francis Nicholson himself received Story when he called upon him "with a kindness beyond expectation"(1). Of course the establishment of the college at the Middle Plantation, "Old ffields", in 1693, and the removal thither of the capital in 1699, had great effect upon the church. We notice in the records frequent mention of repairs, and it becomes evident that the ideas of the vestry had out- grown the limits of the modest church first erected. In 1710, the vestry, consisting of "Hen: Tyler(2), Richd Kendall, Richd Bland(3), ffred Jones(4), Hugh Norvell(5), Wm Timson(6), Ambs Cobbs, E. Jenings(7), and David Bray(8)" complained in a petition to the Burgesses that the present church had grown "ruinous", and aksed pecuniary aid to build a new church to accommodate the crowd of strangers brought together by the General Assembly, the courts, the councils, and other public agencies. As the petition received the active support of the speaker ___________________________________________________________________________ Jenings, Esq., Henry Tyler, James Bray, Mathew Pierce, John Holloway, John Custis, Michael ARcher, and Robt. Cobbs, the younger, Henry Cary, Archibald Blair, Baldwin Mathews, Gent., the vestry of the Parish of Bruton, &c. vs. Alexander Spotswood, Esq., Lt. Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia and Ordinary for Collating to Benefices Ecclesias- tical within the said colony". (1) Friends' Library. (2) Great-great-grandfather of President John Tyler (3) Father of Richard Bland the antiquary. (4) A representative of the family of Thomas ap Catesby Jones. (5) Grandfather of William Norvell, who represented James City county in the Convention of 1775. (6) Son of Samuel Timson, formerly of London. (7) Son of Sir Edmund Jenings of Ripon, in Yorkshire. (8) Col. David Bray, of the Council. Page 176. of the House of Burgesses, John Holloway, and of the Governor, Alexander Spotswood, it could not well fail. The contractor was James Morris(1), "carpenter and chief workman in the city of Williamsburg, who came into Virginia with Coll. Ludwell". "In order to beat down the extravagant prices of workmen", the Governor and Edmund Jenings volunteered to deliver in place "the brick necesary in building the church", at 15 shillings per thousand, "provided some of ye vestry would undertake the other parts". The length of the new church was 75 feet, of which the Governor agreed to put up 22 feet at his own expense. Its width was made 28 feet. The church wall was 23 feet high. The General Assembly contributed two wings, 19 feet long by 22 feet wide, making the church almost an even cross. The church was finished about 1715. It was a new church, and on November 16, 1716, an order was made by the vestry that "the church-wardens dispose of all the material belonging to the old church, except the brick". If the old brick had been used in constructing the new church, this exception would have been superfluous; besides Spotswood had agreed to furnish all the brick "necessary in building the church". It was in fact cheaper to use new brick than to bother with the old, cemented in almost a solid mass by strong shell lime. In 1716 John Custis obtained leave to place upon the north wall of the church, where it still is, the marble slab to the memory of the grandfather of his wife(2), the Hon. Dan Parke, Secretary of State, which slab was in the old church. And when, in 1720, Dr. William Cocke(3), who was also Secretary of State, died, a tablet was placed opposite on the south wall to his memory. Under the orders of the vestry the men sat on the north side of the church and the women on the south. The youth of the college were given the gallery "from the pillar on the south side of the isle of the church to the north side of the church", and in 1721 a gallery for the parish boys was ordered to be built on the south side of the church adjoining the gallery of the students in the west end. In 1762 Benjamin Waller and others were permitted to erect __________________________________________________________________________ (1) James Morris, his grandson, was clerk of the Parish of St. Peter's in New Kent. See register of that parish for account of the family (1776). (2) Custis married Frances, dau. of Daniel Parke, the younger, governor of the Leeward Islands, &c. (3) Dr. Cocke was from Suffolk Co., England, and married Elizabeth, the sister of Mark Catesby, the naturalist. Page 177. a gallery on the north side for their families. The pulpit was at the south-east corner, and was reached by a flight of winding stairs. The chancel was on the east end. The pews were rectangular, and the pew of the Governor was near the pulpit, and had a canopy over it. Whitewashed walls, oil painted mahogany seats, and stone-flagged aisles, were features of Bruton, in common with other old churches of the period. The present brick wall enclosing the graveyard was built by Samuel Spurr, of Williamsburg, in 1752, adn cost L320. It will be remembered that John Page gave "60 feet of land every way" for the church. But the act providing for laying out Williamsburg provided also for condemning land for the church, and the map of the town in the college library shows that the churchyard was so enlarged as to take in two acres on Duke of Gloucester street. Around three-fourths of this the brick wall was built, and its front is, on measurement, 330 feet. The other portion unenclosed was sold not many years ago to private land owners. In 1744 the vestry had suggested to the General Assembly the purchase of an organ as something "both ornamental and useful"(1). After eight years' delay, John Blair, Philip Ludwell, Armistead Burwell, James Power, and Benjamin Powell were appointed by the Assembly a committee to provide material for enlarging the church, and for purchasing and setting up an organ in the loft, to cost L200(2). New repairs and a new steeple(3) were ordered by the vestry in 1769, and it seems that by virtue of these ordered by the vestry in 1769, and it seems that by virtue of these orders the church assumed its present proportions of 100 feet long and 28 feet wide, the wings being reduced from 19 feet in length to 14 1/2 feet. In 1755, Peter Pelham, son of the early New England artist of the same name, was elected an organist. He was clerk of a committee of the House of Burgesses, also; and his son, Colonel Charles Pelham, of the Confederate army, was a de- scendant. This organ is believed to have been the first church organ in the United States, just as the theatre in Williamsburg, erected in 1716, was the first theatre, and the asylum for the insane, erected in 1769, was the first asylum. The bell that swings from the steeple of the church, and which has rung out the years for more than a century and a quarter, has engraved upon it: "The gift of James Tarpley(4) to Bruton Parish, ___________________________________________________________________________ (1) McCabe. (2) Hening. (3) The present steeple is about 100 feet high. (4) James Tarpley was a rich merchant of Williamsburg, and was originally from Richmond county. Page 178. 1761." There was a still older bell, for the vestry, in 1769, entered an order for their contractor, Benjamin Powell, to have the "Old Bell and the materials of the old steeple". The ancient clock still looks down from the steeple, but the hands are stationary, and the face has no figures upon it. Inside the church the spirit of modern innovation has been at work. In 1837 the high pews and the stone-paved aisles, the pulpit and the chancel, remained unchanged. Before 1838 the whole had passed away. A wall was built across the western end, making the present Sunday-school and lecture- room. Against this dividing wall the pulpit, reading-desk, and all com- munion-table were placed, the chancel-rail enclosing them all. The galleries were removed - there were five in 1838. The organ was removed to a loft in the east end opposite the present pulpit(1). This is the present ap- pearance of the church, except for the addition of some tablets(2) on the walls, and a beautiful memorial window recently erected by some of the descendants of Colonel John Page. Despite the alterations, which we must regret, the church presents a very beautiful interior. During the war between the States, Bruton parish church, together with the churches of all other denominations in Williamsburg, was used as a hospital(3). Although the outside has preserved its ancient appearance - its cruciform, and glazed bricks, its steeple, clock, and bell - it needs attention to prevent the inroads of time. A clost examination ___________________________________________________________________________ (1) MS. of Mrs. Letitia Tyler Semple. (2) These tablets are in memory of 1, William H. Wilmer, President of William and Mary College; 2, The Confederate dead; 3, the Tyler family. (3) For a long time the college exercises were held in the church. Colonel B.S. Ewell used to tell with much glee, that when John Tyler, at the age of seventeen years, made his graduating address on "Female Education", he spoke in the old church, under the direction of Bishop James Madison, then President of the College. The Bishop, who had read the manuscript, objected to certain high-strung sentences and "curls" in the speech, and told the future President of the United States that he would take his position at the end of the church, where he might suggest to him by signs what to leave out. The young speaker began his address, but was too strongly wedded to his "curls" to give them up, even at the suggestion of the venerable president; and it was in vain that the latter wildly gesticu- lated with his hands and his cane Tyler continued his remarks in his own way. The ovation which he received from the audience doubtless encouraged Madison in declaring that, despite too ardent an expression, "it was the finest speech ever delivered at the College by a student within his recollection". Page 179. shows that ugly seams are beginning to run down the sides. The ivy that clings to the walls cannot hide the threatening cracks. These signs of decay must appeal strongly to the sympathies of persons of all denominations, for the history of the church belongs to the State, which it once represented. For generations, statesmen, warriors, knights, councillors, senators, governors, and divines worshipped there. Fashion and beauty, wit and talent, piety and virtue, glorifed its sacred interior. In this church and church- yard sleep(1) many who were well known in their day: two governors, Nott and Fauquier; two councillors, John Page and David Bray; three secretaries of state, Daniel Parke, Dr. William Cocke, and Edmund Jenings; the great lawyer and Virginia's first law reporter, Edward Barradall; and scores of others - merchants, physicians, etc. The old church honored our past; the present should honor it. Its repair and preservation were once a State matter, and are beyond the ability of a small town. No worthier object could receive the attention of people of all religious views than the preservation of this historic edifice. It is distinctively Virginian. LIST OF THE MINISTERS OF BRUTON PARISH. Rowland Jones, 1674-1688; Samuel Eburne, 1688-1697; Cope Doyley, 1697- 1702; Solomon Wheatley, 1702-1710; James Blair, 1710-1743; Thomas Dawson, 1743-1759; William yates, 1759-1764; James Horrocks, 1764-1771; John Camm, 1771-1773; John Bracken, 1773-1818; R. Keith, D.D., 1822-1826; William H. Wilmer, 1826-1827; Adam Empie, 1828-1836; William Hodges, D.D., 1837-1848; Henry M. Denison, 1848-1852; George Wilmer, D.D., 1856; Thomas M. Ambler, 1860-1873; George Wilmer, D.D. (2d pastorate), 1872-2876; Jacquelin Meredith, 1876-1877; Henry Wall, S.T.D., 1877-1880; Alexander Overby, 1880-1885; F. G. Burch, 1885-1887; Lyman B. Wharton, D.D., 1888; T.C. Page, 1889-1893; W.T. Roberts, 1894-. PARTIAL LIST OF THE VESTRY OF BRUTON PARISH. [The date represents their first appearance in the records.] 1674 - Hon. Daniel Parke, Hon. John Page, James Besouth, Robert Cobbs, James Bray, Capt. Philip Chesley, William Aylett. 1679 - George Poindexter, George Martin. 1682 - Major Otho Thorpe, Capt. Francis Page. 1684 - Hon. Philip Ludwell, Hon. __________________________________________________________________________ (1) The larger proportion of the dead are without tombstones. For inscriptions ont he stones remaining, see Virginia Historical Collections, Vol. XI; and QUARTERLY, Vol. II., page 78. Page 180. Thomas Beale. 1686 - Martin Gardner. 1694 - Hon. Edmund Jenings, John Dormar, William Pinkethman, Hugh Norvell, Henry Tyler, John Kendall, Robert Carwley, Baldwin Mathews. 1697 - John Owens, Philip Ludwell, Jr., Timothy Pinkethman. 1704 - William Hansford, Joseph White, William Timson. 1705 - Frederick Jones, John Page. 1710 - Richard Kendall, Ambrose Cobbs, Richard Bland, David Bray. 1721 - Mathew Pierce, John Holloway, John Custis, Michael Archer, Robert Cobbs, Jr., Henry Cary, Dr. Archibald Blair. 1725 - Lewis Burwell. 1727 - Sir John Randolph. 1744 - James Wray, Hon. John Blair, Sr., John Harmer, Benjamin Waller. 1747 - Hon. Peyton Randolph. 1750 - John Holt. 1754 - Robert Carter Nicholas. 1761 - Frederick Bryan. 1769 - Thomas Everard, John Pierce, William Eaton, George Wythe, John Prentis, William Graves. The following names are taken from Meade's Old Churches, as occuring in the old vestry book which ended in 1769: Hon. Thomas Ludwell, Hon. Thomas Ballard, James Vaulx, William Corker, Thomas Whaley, Capt. Thomas Williams, Daniel Wyld, Thomas Taylor, Christopher Pearson, Gideon Macon, Robert Spring, Abraham Vincler, Samuel Timson, Thomas Pettus, Col. Thomas Ballard, Ralph Graves, Capt. James Archer, George Norvell, Edward Jones, Capt. Thomas Thorpe, Daniel Park, Jr., James Whaley, James Bray, James Hubard, Nathaniel Carwley, John Clayton, David Bray, Jr., Thomas Jones, Samuel Turner, George Nicholas, William Robertson, Thomas Cobbs, Ralph Graves, Edward Barradall, James Barber, Daniel Needler, James Bray, Jr., Edward Barradall, Jr., Henry Tyler, Jr., Mathew Pierce, William Parks, William Prentis, Wiliam Timson, Jr., Armistead Burwell, John Palmer, Pinkethman Eaton, Nathaniel Shields, John Power.