Being an appendix to the articles on James Ciiy parish, and containing a further account of the Jaquelines, Amblers, and Jamestown.—No. 5.

SINCE the foregoing notice of these families was written I have had access to some most reliable documents, from which have been obtained the following additional information:—

Within the last thirty years visits have been made to England by a number of their descendants, and an intercourse, personal and epistolary, been established between those in England and those in America. I am the more pleased at being allowed access to these documents, because I am enabled thereby to gratify a favourite (sic) wish and design of these articles in the establishment of a connection between the old families and the old Church of England and America.

The tradition prevalent in Virginia as to the descent of the Ambler family is entirely confirmed by a letter of the Rev. George Ambler, of Wakefield, in Yorkshire, to one of his relatives in Virginia. Wakefield and Leeds are near to each other in Yorkshire, as they are in Westmoreland, Virginia,—the latter deriving their names from the former through the instrumentality of the Washington and Fairfax families, whose residence was in that part of England. The Amblers were also from the same place, and Leeds Manor, in Fauquier, may have received its name through them. The following is an extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Ambler, of England, to Mr. Philip St. George Ambler, of Virginia:—

"I am seventy-four years of ape,—a graduate of the University of Cambridge,—a clergyman,—living in my native town (Wakefield, in Yorkshire) upon my private means; am descended from John Ambler, of the city of York, who was sheriff of the county in 1721. My great-grandfather, the aforesaid John Ambler, had a son, Richard, who followed the fortunes of a relative in Virginia. That son had nine children, of which I happen to possess a list."

This number exactly agrees with that of the children of Richard Ambler, of York, who married Miss Jaqueline, of Jamestown. A sister of this Richard Ambler (Mary Ambler) married the Rev. George Shaw, a minister of the Established Church, and was grandmother of Charles Shaw Lefevre, late Speaker of the House of Commons. For many years this Richard Ambler was collector of the port at Yorktown, an office both honourable (sic) and lucrative, and which he discharged with great integrity. Of his nine children by Elizabeth Jaqueline, all died at an early age, except Edward, John, and Jaqueline, as we have said in our last article.

I find some interesting notices in the document before me concerning these three,—which I shall introduce, but not without a previous notice, from the same source, of the family of their mother, Elizabeth Jaqueline:—

"Her father, Edward Jaqueliue, of Jamestown, was the son of John Jaqueline and Elizabeth Craddock, of the county of Kent, in England. He was descended from the same stock which gave rise to the noble family of La Roche Jaqueline in France. They were Protestants, and fled from La Vende'e, in France, to England, during the reign of that bloodthirsty tyrant, Charles IX. of France, and a short time previous to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. They were eminently wealthy, and were fortunate enough to convert a large portion of their wealth into gold and silver, which they transported in safety to England."

"Whilst I was in Paris," (says one of the travellers (sic) from America,) " in 1826, the Duke de Sylverack, who was the intimate friend of Madame De la Roche Jaqueline, (the celebrated authoress of the ' Wars of La Vendee,') informed me that the above account—which is the tradition among the descendants of the family in America—corresponds exactly with what the family in France believe to have been the fate of those Jaquelines who fled to England in the reign of Charles IX. I found the family to be still numerous in France. It has produced many distinguished individuals; but none more so than the celebrated Vendean chief, Henri De la Roche Jaqueline, who, during the Revolution of 1790, was called to command the troops of La Vendee after his father had been killed, and when he was only nineteen years of age. Thinking that he was inadequate to the task, on account of his extreme youth and total want of experience in military affairs, he sought seriously to decline the dangerous honour (sic); but the troops, who had been devotedly attached to the lather and family, would not allow him to do so, and absolutely forced him to place himself at their head in spite of himself. As soon as he found that resistance was useless, he assumed the bearing of a hero and gave orders for a general review of his army: to which, (being formed in a hollow square,) in an animated and enthusiastic manner, he delivered this ever-memorable speech:—

" ' My friends, if my father was here you would have confidence in him ; but as for me, I am nothing more than a child. But, as to my courage, I shall now show myself worthy to command you.'

"This young man started forth a military Roscius, and maintained to the end of his career the high ground he first seized. After displaying aill the skill of a veteran commander, and all the courage of a most dauntless hero, he nobly died upon the field of battle, at the early age of twenty- one, thus closing his short but brilliant career."

The document thus concludes on the subject of the Jaquelines:—

"By a mourning-ring now in possession of Mary Marshall, the wife of the Chief-Justice of the United States, it appears that Edward Jaqueline died in the year 1730. He died, as he had lived, one of the most wealthy men in the Colony."

We now proceed to speak of the three grandsons of Edward Jaqueline. The sons of Richard Ambler and Elizabeth Jaqueline were John, Edward, and Jaqueline. John was born in Yorktown. At the age of ten he was sent, with his elder brother,' Edward, to Leeds Academy, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire, England, for his education. He afterward graduated with great credit at Cambridge, and then repaired to London, to begin the study of law. There he became a very learned and accomplished barrister-at-law. After travelling (sic) over Europe, he returned to Virginia and took possession of Jamestown, which estate had been given him by his grandfather Jaqueline. He represented the borough of Jamestown for many years, and was considered one of the most accomplished scholars in the Colony. He was perfect master of seven languages. Many of his books in those different languages have come down to his relatives. His health sunk under his literary habits, and he died of consumption, at the age of thirty-one, in the island of Barbadoes (sic). His body was brought to Jamestown, and deposited in the old graveyard around the church. The following inscription, taken in 1820 from a tombstone of which no vestige now remains, shows in what esteem he was held by his brother Edward, who died on the day it was placed over his remains:—

"John Ambler, Esquire, Barrister-at-Law, Representative in the Assembly for Jamestown, and Collector of the District of York River, in this Province. "

He was born the 31st of December, 1735, and died at Barbadoes (sic), 27th of May, 1766. In the relative and social duties—as a son, and a brother, and a friend—few equalled (sic) him, and none excelled him. He was early distinguished by his love of letters, which ho improved at Cambridge and the Temple, and well knew how to adorn a manly sense with all the elegance of language. To an extensive knowledge of men and things he joined the noblest sentiments of liberty, and in his own example held up to the world the most striking picture of the amiableness of religion."

To this brief testimony to the worth of one whose days were soon numbered, we add a more enlarged one to the virtues of his brother, Mr. Jaqueline Ambler :—

"Juqueline Ambler, the seventh child of Richard and Elizabeth Ambler, was born in the town of Little York, on the 9th of August, 1742. At an early age he married Rebecca, daughter of Lewis Burwell, of White Marsh, in Gloucester county, Virginia. He was Councillor (sic) of State during the Revolutionary War, at the time that Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia. He was afterward appointed Treasurer of Slate, which office he held until his death. He stood as high, as a man of honour (sic), as any who had ever lived, either in ancient or modern times.

He was indeed so remarkable for his scrupulous integrity that he was called, throughout the land, ' The Aristides (sic) of Virginia.' Whilst Treasurer, one of his clerks robbed the Treasury of £5000. The officers whose duty it was to examine the Treasurer's books for that year failed to detect the defalcation, and reported to the Legislature that the Treasurer's books balanced as they should do. Mr. Ambler was the first to find out the villany (sic) and immediately reported it to the Legislature, who caused a re-examination of the hooks to take place, re-elected him to the office, and passed an act in which they declared that their confidence in his character, so far from being impaired by the event, had been greatly increased: whereupon he immediately paid the £5000 into the treasury, out of his own funds, and determined to continue in office. He was as charitable as his means would allow him to be; no meritorious person in distress ever applied to him in vain. There was living in Richmond a poor Scotch clergyman, named John Buchanan, whom he invited to make his house his home until he should be able to support himself. The invitation was accepted.

"The excellent parson Buchanon lived with him till he died, officiated when he was consigned to the grave, and preached his funeral sermon, from which the following extract is made:—

" 'And when can we more seasonably apply to these duties than when we are warned by the loss of our friends to remember our latter end and apply our hearts unto wisdom ? We have, my brethren, been lately paying the last sad tribute to a departed brother. He whose loss we now lament has passed the fifty-fifth year of his age without a blemish to his reputation; without an enemy; with numerous friends. Adored by his family, he has almost consoled them for his loss by the conviction that he has not gone too early for himself, and that he was mature in character."

Notwithstanding the constant exposure of an official man to the displeasure of others, by the impartiality of his conduct, even those who went away from him unindulged (sic) in their applications were satisfied by a confidence in the purity of his motives. His public career for nearly twenty years was a series of testimony to this truth. Drawn from the peaceful walks of private life into public action, without a solicitation or a wish previously expressed, he was chosen by the Legislature to three important offices during the Revolution and since the peace. His last, that of Treasurer, presented for thirteen years to malice, envy, or enmity, had they existed against him, an annual opportunity of gratification. And yet was he annually re-elected, because he had unremittingly shown his fitness for the office. His fatal disorder put human nature to the rack; but he bore his agonies with every firmness of which human nature was capable, cherished, strengthened, and animated by the divine glow of Christianity, and foreseeing with a smile the prospect opening to his view. The poor scarcely knew the hand from whence they so often received relief; and those who were his dependants could not but own how much their condition was softened by the kindness of their master.'"

To this fair transcript of his character," says Dr. Bucbannon, the author of the sermon, " I might, from a fourteen years' knowledge of him, (ten whereof I spent in his family,) add many private traits which characterize him as the good man and sincere and pious Christian. I could set before you innumerable instances of kind attention and anxious solicitude to alleviate the distresses, bear the infirmities, provide for the wants, nay, even anticipate the wishes, of her to whom he was united; of the constant care and unremitted (sic) assiduity of the fond but judicious parent training up his own children, as also the fatherless and those who had none to guide and direct them in the paths of religion and virtue, not merely by daily precepts, but by what is infinitely more efficacious, by daily example; and thus conscientiously discharging that most important of all trusts, and securing their eternal as well as temporal interests.

I might bear honourable (sic) testimony to his being as tender of the reputation of another; repelling every report circulated by envy or malice against his neighbour's (sic) fame, and, like Christian charity, thinking no evil. I might adduce repeated proofs of his delicacy and purity of manners and conversation, and of his temperance and self-government. He may, however, have been thought by some too reserved and too much of a recluse; and that he separated himself more than was necessary from scenes of cheerful and innocent sociability. But, it may be truly said, none had greater enjoyment in his family and' the private circle of his friends whenever the state of his health would permit; and that he was sufficiently conversant in the world to present a fair model of integrity, and a constant attention to his duties as an officer, though not enough to be seduced or contaminated by its follies and vices.

To sum up all, I might lead to his private retirement, and there present to you the devout Christian, prostrate in humble supplication before his almighty Creator, which they only who follow his example can justly estimate, and which they know proves their greatest consolation in the various trials and calamities of life. In fine, I might conduct you to the altar of God, where you would hear him making a public profession of his faith, and, 'regardless of the scoffs of the infidel and the ridicule of a vain and inconsiderate world, giving an open and solemn testimony that he was not ashamed of the cross of Christ, which was to him both the wisdom and power of God to his salvation."

These and many more features of his character I might exhibit to your view. But though a minute and particular detail would still appear to myself as falling short of his merit, yet, to those less acquainted with him than I was, it might seem to be drawn by the flattering pencil of a friend. I therefore forbear a further recital, and make one reflection naturally arising from the subject: —that whenever the eye of man is disgusted and shocked by scenes of impiety, rapine, cruelty, and bloodshed, let him cast it on such a fair and pleasing picture as the present, which does so much honour (sic) to human nature, and he will not fail to conclude that man, the prey of furious and malignant passions, resembles an infernal spirit; but when actuated by the sacred dictates of religion and devoted virtue he claims kindred with the angels in heaven. 'Mark, therefore, the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.'

The following account of Mr. Edward Ambler is from the same source,—the family document:—

"When he attained the age of twelve years he was sent to England to finish his education, accompanied by his younger brother, John. They were entered at Leeds Academy, near Wakefield, in the county of York, at which place they continued for several years; after which they were sent to Cambridge, where they went through a regular course of study and terminated their university career with the highest credit. The liberality of Mr. Richard Ambler allowed his son Edward to make the grand tour of Europe after be quitted the university, so that he had passed his twenty-first year before he returned to Virginia. After which event it was not very long before he led to the altar Miss Mary Gary, the daughter of Wilson Cary, Esquire, of Celeys, Elizabeth City county, Virginia, who was descended from one of the most noble families in all England."

"The elder sister of Miss Mary Cary had married George William Fairfax, at whose house she was on a visit, when she captivated a young man, who paid her his addresses. His affection, however, was not returned, and the offer of his hand was rejected by Miss Cary. This young man was afterward known to the world as General George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Young Washington asked permission of old Mr. Cary to address his daughter before he ventured to speak to herself. The reply of the old gentleman was, 'If that is your business here, sir, I wish you to leave the house, for my daughter has been accustomed to ride in her own coach.' It has subsequently been said that this answer of Mr. Cary to the stripling Washington produced the independence of the United States, and laid the foundation of the future fame of the first of heroes and the best of men.—our immortal Washington; as it was more than probable that, had he obtained possession of the large fortune which it was known Miss Cary would carry to the altar with her, he would have passed the remainder of his life in inglorious ease. It was an anecdote of the day, that this lady, many years after she had become the wife of Edward Ambler, happened to be in Williamsburg when General Washington passed through that city at the head of the American army, crowned with never-fading laurels and adored by his countrymen. Having distinguished her among the crowd, his sword waved toward her a military salute, whereupon she is said to have fainted. But this wants confirmation, for her whole life tended to show that she never for a moment regretted the choice she had made. It may be added, as a curious fact, that the lady General Washington afterward married resembled Miss Cary as much as one twin-sister ever did another. "

"Edward Ambler, after the death of his father, Richard Ambler, was appointed Collector of the port of York, which station he was induced to occupy, rather on account of the honour (sic) it conferred in those days, than for the sake of the emolument. He was a man of such consideration in the Colony, that when Lord Baron Botetourt came over to this country as Colonial Governor of Virginia he brought a letter of introduction to him, which is now in possession of the writer. Upon the death of his younger brother, John, who gave him Jamestown, he removed there to live, and represented the old borough for many years afterward in the House of Burgesses. Edward Ambler died and was buried at Jamestown, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, Anno Domini 1767. His widow survived him fourteen years.

When the Revolutionary War broke nut she removed, with her children, from Jamestown to the Cottage, in Hanover county, which was a much less exposed situation. Several of her acquaintances and connections removed from the lower country and bought estates near the Cottage, merely for the sake of society. Among others were Robert Carter Nicholas, Esquire, who bought and lived at a place called 'The Retreat.' Wilson Miles Cary, Esquire, her brother, bought an estate near, as did the family of General Nelson; so that this neighbourhood (sic), as deserted and uninhabited as it now is, afforded at that time as polished society as any in Virginia. .Mrs. Ambler was a woman of uncommon strength of mind and firmness of purpose.

After the tea had been thrown overboard at Boston, she would not allow a particle of it to be used in her family, though fully able to have indulged in every luxury which the country afforded. And, as another proof of her patriotism, I will mention, what I have often heard my father say, that, at the time that the young Marquis De la Fayette was retreating before Lord Cornwallis, he passed with his army near the Cottage, taking the right-hand road to Negrofoot, about halt' a mile above Ground-Squirrel Bridge and two from the Cottage.

As soon as she heard of it she procured uniform and arms for my father, then a boy only sixteen years of age, buckled them on him with her own hands, and then bade him 'to go out and join the. American troops; and though you are my last and only child,' said she, 'return to me with honour (sic) and return no more!'

This most excellent mid amiable lady did not live to see her country independent and the war terminate, as she fondly wished she might do, that she might once more return to light her hospitable fires in the hearths of her noble old family mansion at Jamestown; to which every member of the family had been exceedingly attached for several generations past; for at that spot almost all of the blood and the name had been born, had lived, had died, and been buried. Independent of its antiquity,—being so celebrated as the spot where the first successful Colony from England located themselves in America, and where the first town and the first church had been built in America, with bricks brought from England,—it is a noble estate of about thirteen hundred acres of land, situated on the banks of James River, where this noble stream is near four miles wide, and originally had one of the largest old mansions on it that was built in times when a Virginia gentleman vied in wealth with an English nobleman. Though half of this structure was destroyed by fire during the lifetime of the first John Ambler, yet the remainder presents as commodious and commanding an appearance as any dwelling-house in Virginia.

The estate is now an island; though it was formerly a peninsula, connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus, which has in the last century been entirely washed away by the resistless action of the waves upon it. At Jamestown there abound, in the very greatest perfection in which they can be eaten, all sorts of fish, deer, wild ducks, sora, and ortolans. Figs, grapes, and pomegranates here attain perfection. It is situated within eight miles of the ancient city of Williamsburg, which, during the lifetime of my grandmother, contained as polished society as could have been found at the court of St. James itself.

In the year 1781, Mrs. Mary Ambler, the widow of him whom we shall call the first Edward Ambler, whilst staying at the Cottage, in Hanover county, was attacked by that illness which ended in her death Whilst on her death-bed she directed that her remains should be taken to Jamestown. But, as the war still raged with England, it was thought best to have them interred where she died. And even this precaution did not have the effect of securing them from the profanation of the British troops, a detachment of which overran this part of the country and came to the Cottage to ransack and to plunder, in looking for the family plate they took it into their heads that it was buried in the graveyard; though they were assured to the contrary by the servants. They proceeded to the grave of my grandmother, dug up the coffin, and actually opened it before they would be satisfied that the object of their search was not there. When the war was ended, Mrs. Ambler's remains were taken to Jamestown, according to her request, and placed by the side of those of her husband."

The following account of a recent visit to Jamestown will conclude our notices of this parish :—

On the 27th of October, 1856, I went to this place of ruins in company with the Rev. Dr. Totten, the Rev. George Wilmer, Mr. Richard Randolph, and Colonel Durfey. The latter had been owner of the place some years since, and was well acquainted with its past and present history. Mr. Randolph, our Virginia antiquary, was also quite at home as to all that belonged to the scene. We entered the island in a boat, at the upper or western end of it, near to that which was once the neck constituting it a peninsula and uniting it to the mainland. This has long since been overflowed and the peninsula has become an island. About ninety years ago the late Mr. John Ambler, then owning the greater part of the island and residing on it, made a causeway on that which had been the neck of land, but which was now covered with water some feet deep.

This, after some time, having been overwhelmed with the waves of James River, Colonel Durfey, on becoming the proprietor of the whole island, made a bridge to it at some distance from the causeway, over which the stage passed, carrying passengers to the Old Wharf at Jamestown, where the steamboats received them. Only the piles on which the bridge rested now remain, and the steamboats receive passengers from Williamsburg and the country around at some other place. The only access at this time to the island from the mainland is by boat across Back River, which surrounds the island on the west and in part on the north and east, uniting with James River at the upper and lower ends of the island; also stretching up some miles into the mainland, by a creek called Portan.

While the neck of land stood firm, Back River terminated in this creek. Since the irruption of the waters of James River over this neck, the upper part of the island has lost much of its ancient territory. The neck itself is in some places a third of a mile in the river. A large portion of the town also lies buried in the waves. At low-water some signs of it may yet be seen. As this was the highest part of the peninsula, and the most fertile and beautiful, the town was chiefly built on it. The work of destruction has now passed along nearly a mile, from the original connection with the mainland to the lower part of the town, where the public buildings and the old church stood.

The bank is giving way within one hundred and fifty yards of the old tower and graveyard; and, if some remedy be not applied in time, they also must be immersed in the waters of old Powhatan ; for that was the Indian name of James River. As the church was built on the fifty acres of land which is deeded to the authorities of James City for public houses, it is hoped that in due time either those authorities or that of the State will guard the same against destruction. The old tower and the ruins of the church are about fifty yards from the river, which in that place has not yet encroached on the bank; although, as we have said, a hundred and fifty yards above it is rapidly advancing on the island.