New Kent County, Virginia - Appleton's Journal, 1874 APPLETON'S JOURNAL NO. 297] NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 28, 1874 [VOL. XII OLD ST. PETER'S CHURCH. ------------------- On a summer day in 1858 the writer of this sketch turned aside from the highway running down the peninsula between the James and York Rivers, followed a country road which narrowed here and there to a shadowy bridle path, edged with dense pine thicket, and, emerging from the forest of evergreen, mingled with great branching oaks, found himself in front of "St. Peter's," one of the oldest, as it is one of the most interesting from its historical associations, of all the churches in Virginia. The chief attraction of the antique edifice springs from the tradition, apparently well authenticated, that Washington was married within its wall' it is interesting, however, as one of the oldest churches in Virginia, and as an excellent specimen of what may be called Southern ecclesiastical architecture. The building is one of considerable size, of oblong shape, with a quadrangular tower in front, surmounted by a steeple, on the summit of which are crossed rods, with the letters N S E W at their extremities -- above them the remains, apparently, of an ancient weather-cock. You reach the door of the church by passing through the lower portion of the tower, or quadrangle, on the right-hand side of which a flight of creaking steps leads up to the vestry-room, in which the parson donned his official vestments, to afterward sweep down the stairs, enter the church, and ascend the aisle between the double row of lofty, straight-backed pews to the tub-shaped pulpit beneath its sounding-board or "extinguisher". The interior has been modernized in great degree now, but externally the church is unchanged. You may see, at a glance, that the building dates back to what, in America, we regard as a tolerably remote antiquity. The bricks, which were what is called "sun-dried," and were brought over from England, have nothing in common with the same material used today but the name--they are as hard as adamant, and the lapse of a century and three-quarters has not touched their sharp outlines. A great oriel-window, which a singular taste has walled up, tells equally, from its shape, of a time long past. The roof, of the most durable material, has probably been renewed, but of this I am not sure. Of timber, brick stone, shingles, the men of former years seem to have been "excellent judges," and what they used was nearly indestructible. As equally striking proof of the remarkable durability of the material formerly employed, is found in the moss-covered tombstones scattered around the church, either leaning or lying prostrate. One of these more especially attracted my attention. It lay--I am sure that it lies still--under the walled up oriel-window. The material is of what was once called 'iron stone," and, like all else nearly connected with the spot, was brought over from England. At the date of its erection coats of arms were in vogue, and one was carved in bass-relief upon this tombstone. It consisted of a shield with a single star on the field, a knight's visor above; them a species of coronet, whose significance I was not herald enough to decipher; and, above all, a wolf's head, with lolling tongue, for crest. The sharp outlines of these objects were untouched. The stone bore the date 1716, and yet the delicate points of the star were unblurred, the visor was perfect, and the fierce hanging tongue of the wolf's head was perfectly defined. For more than a century and a half the rain, and snow, and wind, and sunshine, had worked their will on these objects, and the hard iron-stone had defied them. On the bricks of the edifice you may see names and dates, cut with a penknife, apparently, which are equally distinct, for the bricks are nearly as hard as the iron-stone. One of these bore the date 1739, when Washington was a child. The venerable edifice, which I have thus attempted briefly to describe, stood in the forests of new Kent, without and inclosure, overshadowed by great oaks, beneath which it was not difficult to see, with the eyes of the fancy, the fine thorough-breds of horsemen dead a century and a half, the four-horse chariots with their liveried coachmen, and all the variegated costumes--velvet, and silk, and lace, and embroidery--of the "age of cocked-hats." A few details in regard to St. Peter's, and an anecdote or two relating to some personages who figured here, may interest the reader. The building dates back to 1703, and thus it appears to have been the third or fourth religious edifice of any pretension erected in Virginia. Jamestown church was the earliest and was built by the first adventurers wit "pews of cedar; fair, broad windows, to shut and open (as the weather shall occasion), of the same wood: a pulpit of the same, with a font hewn below like a canoe, with two bells at the west end"--bells lustily rung to welcome Lord de la War one day. Next came the church at Henrico City, near Dutch Gap built in 1611; then old Smithfield church, built in 1632, and still standing; and next, it would seem--even before Blandford church at Petersburg, which was erected in 1738--this ancient edifice of St. Peter's. It took its name from St. Peter's Parish, covering then a great extent of country on both sides of the York; and the vestry-books of the parish go back to the year 1682, when a building of some description, used for re3ligious purposes, probably stood upon this spot, as we find the Rev. William Sellake spoken of as "minister of St. Peter's church." The present edifice was not erected until 1703, and the steeple not until twelve years afterward. The cost of the building was one hundred and forty six thousand weight of tobacco, then the main currency of the colony--and with this detail ends all information from ancient records as to the building. In regard to the parsons and congregations of the church before 1700, the old records mentioned afford us two brief items. The first is a stern and imperious order from Governor Nicholson to the High Sheriff of New Kent, commanding him o summon the parsons to Jamestown, and ending, "You are not to fail of making a return to these my orders, as you will answer the contrary to me"--the aim of his excellency appearing to have been an investigation into the lives of the clergy and their authority to officiate. The second is a letter from the Rev. Nicholas Moreau, minister of St. Peter's to the Bishop of London in 1696: "As to me, my lord," says this excellent man, "I have got into the very worst parish of Virginia, and most troublesome, nevertheless. But I must tell you I find abundance of good people who are willing to serve God, but they want good ministers--ministers that be very pious, and not wedded to this world, as the best of them are. If ministers were as they ought to be, I dare say there would be no Quakers or dissenters among them. An eminent bishop being sent over here will make hell tremble. These strictures on the clergy, which are given on the authority of the good and great Bishop Meade, applied equally to their congregations, which were given up to "cards, racing, dancing, and cock-fighting"-- at which parson and people attended together. The times seem, indeed, to have been fearfully irreligious, and the low state of morals of the Roman and Anglican Churches bore its fruits later in Voltaire and D'Alembert, as later still, it would seem, in Renan and Ste. Beuve. Two entertaining incidents are connected with these old times at St. Peter's church. In 1739 the vestry, having been moved to wrath by certain persons who disturbed the religious services, ordered a pair of stocks to be set up in the yard, in which any offender of this description was directed to be placed. A more amusing incident had for its two heroes the Re. Mr. Moreau-- who performed the ceremony at Washington's weeding--and his clerk. It is given on the authority of the Rev. Devereux Jarratt, the great reformer of that day, who was born in the parish. Mr. Mossom was for forty years parson of this parish, and "was married four times, and much harassed by his last wife, which may account for and somewhat excuse a little peevishness, says Bishop Meade. Mr. Jarratt describes him as preaching "wholly from a written sermon, keeping his eyes continually fixed on the paper, and so near that what he said seemed rather addressed to the cushion than to the congregation" -- which not inaptly describes the parson in Hegarth's famous drawing. The clerk in the same picture may have resembled Mr. Mossom's. The parson of St. Peter's, and his clerk, appear to have had a difference of opinion upon some subject, and this gradually ripened into such enmity between them, that Mr. Mossom proceeded to take public revenge. In his sermon he openly assailed the clerk, who was sitting at his desk beneath the pulpit--the offender being thus arraigned at the bar, as it were, in sight of all the congregation. He permitted the indignant parson to finish his denunciation and threats; the sermon ended and then came the moment for the old clerk's revenge. His duty was to give out the concluding psalm of the service, and he accordingly rose, turned his eyes upward toward the parson, then to his book, and read: "With restless and ungoverned rage, why do the heathen storm? Why in such rash attempts engage. As they can ne'er perform?" The "excellent jest" is given, as we have said, upon the authority of the Rev. Mr. Jarratt, who seems to have been present. The historical tradition which attaches a peculiar interest to this old edifice of St. Peter's and will always give it prominence, is the marriage of Washington within its walls. That the ceremony was performed here, and not at the White House, the residence of the bride, is not established, it would appear, with absolute certainty; but there is reason to regard the fact as very nearly certain. It has been doubted solely from the absence of any record of the ceremony in the vestry book; but it is not alleged that the record of the year 1759, when it took place, has been preserved, and the omission of the entry may have resulted from negligence or accident. In favor of the view that St. Peter's was the scene of the marriage, and not the White House, we have the fact that such ceremonies were generally at that time performed in the parish-church; and secondly, tradition, which gives St. Peter's as the scene--a tradition embodied in an elaborate oil painting of the scene. The circumstances under which Washington made the acquaintance of Martha Custis are too well known to justify more than a few sentences here. The "Pater Patriae" was at the time a young provincial colonel, on his way from the frontier to Williamsburg, and, at a ford on the Pamunkey, met a gentleman of his acquaintance, who invited him to dine and spend the night, the inducement offered being the presence under his roof of a young and beautiful widow, who was also a great heiress. Washington accepted the dinner, but declared that it would be impossible for him to sleep at his friend's--pressing public business required his presence at Williamsburg. Having reached the house, he delivered his bridle to old Bishop, an English body-servant, once attending on General Braddock, with orders to be a the door promptly in an hour, and then he followed his friend into the mansion. At the hour, Bishop, a thoroughly trained soldier, was ready, but Washington did not come. At sunset an order was sent that the horse of the colonel should be led back to the stable. On the next morning there was a further delay, although the colonel's horse stood saddled at the door, and it was not until late in the forenoon that the traveler mounted and galloped toward Williamsburg. It is probably quite unnecessary in an age of novel-readers like the present to say that this tardy prosecution of the "public business" by Washington was occasioned by the young widow. She was Martha Custis, a very great heiress, as well as a beauty, the widow of a gentleman of the region; and the young soldier soon returned. The result was, that he paid his addresses, was accepted, and the marriage took place either on the sixth or the seventeenth of January, 1759 according as the old or new style is adopted. Of the animated scene at the wedding a painting was made, and still exists. Thought of comparatively recent date, and having thus no pretension to historic exactness and reliability, this painting may be regarded as a probable approximation to the actual scene. It was painted from tradition, with the aid of portraits, those of Washington and his bride, of date 1759 and 1772, having been followed. A brief description of this picture is appended. "The scene is laid in the ancient parish-church of St. Peter's, county of New Kent, colony of Virginia, time 6th of January, 1759. "In the foreground, and near the altar, appears the Rev. Dr. Mossom, the officiating clergyman, in full canonicals; he is about to present the marriage-ring. The bridegroom is in a suit of blue and silver lined with red silk, embroidered waistcoat, small-clothes, gold shoe and knee buckles, dress-sword, hair in full powder; the bride in a suit of white satin, rich pint-lace ruffles, pearl ornaments in her hair, pearl necklace, ear-rings, and bracelets, white-satin high-heeled shoes, with diamond buckles. She is attended by a group of ladies in the gorgeous costumes of that ancient period. Near to the bridegroom is a brilliant group, comprising the vice regal governor of Virginia, several English army and navy officers then on colonial service, with the very elite of Virginia chivalry of the old regime. The governor is in a suit of scarlet, embroidered with gold, with bagwig and sword--the gentlemen in the fashion of the time. "But among the most interesting and picturesque of the personages in the various groups is Bishop, the celebrated body servant of Braddock, and then Washington, with whom he ended his days, after service of more than forty years. "This veteran soldier of the wars of George II forms a perfect study in the picture. His tall attenuated form and soldierly bearing, as with folded arms and cocked-hat in hand respectfully he has approached the bridal-group, give a touching interest to the whole scene. He is in a scarlet coat, and is booted and spurred, having just dismounted, and relinquished the favorite charger of his chief to a groom. Through the large folding-doors of the church is seen the old-fashioned coach of the bride, drawn by six horses; also the fine English charger bequeathed to Washington by Braddock after the fatal field of the Monongahela. From the account of the marriage, handed down from those who were present at the celebration, t appears that the bride and her ladies occupied the coach while the provincial colonel rode his spirited charger, attended by a splendid cortege of the gay and gallant of the land. Such was Washington's marriage in 1759." Whether the picturesque scene represented in this painting was or was not the actual scene, true to place, and time, and personages, the writer cannot say. The reader is apt to think with him, however, that, "if it is not true , it ought to be." There is at least this merit in it, that it follows tradition--often the only historical authority for events in Virginia--and a little, even fitful, light, is often desirable when we are anxious to "see through the dark" The tradition that old St. Peter's and not the White House, was the scene of the marriage has also one paramount recommendation. The White House was long ago destroyed; even the second house of the same name on its site was burned during the late war. Thus, if we decide for the White House, there is no locality left as the scene of this highly interesting ceremony--not a single object remains as an aid to the imagination. With old St. Peter's it is different. The ancient building still raises its walls in the in the shadows of the New Kent woods, and you may go may go thither, as the present writer did, and renew the bright scene in fancy. Stretched idly on the grass beneath the great oaks, with their leaves rustling dreamily-- with eyes half-closed as befits the day-dreamer--you will see, worthy reader, all the fine spectacle again; the dames and the gallants, the ruffles and silk stockings, the bridegroom and his bride! J. Esten Cooke The referenced sketch may be found at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bbivona/d0003/appletons.htm Submitted by Brian Bivona **************************************************************** USGENWEB 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. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ****************************************************************