James City County, Virginia
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CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS
Transcribed for Genealogy Trails by Debora Reese


Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia (extract)
By Bishop William Meade, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company. 1891, pgs 194-


ARTICLE XV.
Williamsburg, Bruton Parish.-No. 5.

SINCE the preceding articles on this parish were written, and published in another form, we have obtained some further information which may not be uninteresting to our readers. We have
searched among the old tombstones in the graveyard surrounding the church, and deciphered some of the scarce-legible inscriptions on the time-worn or broken slabs, which are either still resting on
their original foundations, or else prostrated upon the earth or leaning against the church-wall or on other tombs. Some, no doubt, were deposited beneath the church itself, as was the custom more in ancient than in present times. Some of our great men, as the Randolphs, Bishop Madison and others, are in a vault beneath the College chapel, while others are in adjoining farms, where once stately mansions stood, and of which the tombstones are now the only witnesses that they once existed. Williamsburg was once the miniature copy of the Court of St. James, somewhat aping the manners of that royal place, while the old church and its graveyard and the College chapel were-si licet cum magnis componere parva-the Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's of London, where the great ones were interred.

We begin our transcript of inscriptions with that, of the first minister of the parish,-the Rev. Roland Jones, son of a minister of the same name,-probably in England,-and of which name, and doubtless family, several others ministered in Virginia:-

"Hie jacet Rolandus Jones, Clericus, filius Rolandi Jones, Clerici. Natus Swimbrook, juxta Burford in comitatu Oxon. Collegii Merton, Universitate Oxon., Alumnus. Parochiae Bruton, Virginia, Pastor Primus Delectissimus. Funotione pastorali annis 14 Fideliter defunctus Pa- rochiae quaui maximo de . . . . . obiit April 23, die aetatis suse. 45 An. ... D. 1688."

The blanks in the foregoing and others cannot be supplied, being illegible.

Our next describes one of the best of our early Governors:-

"Under this marble rest ye ashes of his excellency Edward Nott, late Governor of this Colony, who, in his private character, was a good Christian, and in his public, a good Governor. He was a lover of mankind, and bountiful to his friends. By the prudence and justice of his administration, ho was deservedly esteemed a public blessing while he lived; and when he died, it was a public calamity. He departed this life the 23d day of August, 1706, aged 49 years. In grateful remembrance of whose many virtues, the General Assembly of this Colony have erected this monument."

The next is taken from a slab lying in the graveyard against the wall of the church, in order to preserve it. Philip Ludwell lived within a mile or two of Williamsburg and his uncle Thomas may have been buried there and removed by the nephew. Commissary Blair married the daughter of Philip Ludwell and lived on a farm adjoining, which was given to him by his father-in-law.

"Under this marble lyeth the body of Thomas Ludwell, Esquire Secretary of Va., who was born at Bruton, in the county of Somerset in the kingdom of England, and departed this life in the year 1678. Annear this lye the bodies of Richard Kemp, Esquire, his predecessor in the Secretary's office, and Sir Thomas Lunsford, Knight. In memory of whom this marble is placed, by order of Philip Ludwell, Esq., nephew of said Thomas Ludwell, in the year 1727."

There can be no doubt but that the name Bruton was given to the pariah in honour of Thomas Ludwell, who came from a place of that name in England. Originally the parish was called Middletowne, when, in 1658, the inhabitants of Middle Plantation (Williamsburg) and of Harop parish (between it and Warwick) were united into one.

From the fragments of a large slab which, for some time, has been lying at one of the gates of the churchyard, we take the following imperfect inscription relating to the father of the Pages of Virginia:-

"Here lyeth, in hope of a joyful resurrexion (sic), the body of Col. John Page, Esquire, of Bruton parish, one of their Majesties' Council .... dominion, Virginia departed this life, 23d of -nuary, in the year of our Lord, -69 1/2 aged 65."

From this and another inscription in Gloucester, it appears that Governor Page was wrong when, in his autobiography, he calls him Sir John Page. He is called Colonel John Page on this and the tombstone in Gloucester, where he is mentioned as the father of Matthew Page, who married Miss Mary Mann, of Timberneck. Colonel Page died in 1690-1/2.

The following is the inscription over his wife:-

"Here lyeth the body of Alice Page, wife to John Page, of the county of York, in Va., aged 73 years, who departed this life the 22d day of June, anno doniini 169-," [the other figure being illegible.]

As York county took in a part of Williamsburg, Mr. Page may have lived in or near it.

Mr. Page's eldest son was named Francis, who died at the early age of thirty-five, but not without being much distinguished as a lawyer. To him, according to Henning, were committed several trusts; among them, the revision of the laws of the Colony. He was also a vestryman of the parish of Bruton, and contracted for the building of the present church; that is, for the part of it built before the time of General Spottswood. He died only a year or two after his father. The following is his epitaph:-

"Here lyeth, in hope of a joyful resurrexion, the body of Captain Francis Page, of Bruton parish, hi the dominion of Virginia, son of Colonel John Page, of the same parish, who departed this life the 10th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1692, aged 35."

The following is a fragment of the poetic eulogy on the broken tombstone:-

"Thou wast, while living, of unspotted fame:
Now, being dead, no man dares soil thy name;
For thou wast one whom nothing here could stain,
Neither force of honour nor love of gain,
spheres, thou hast well discharged thy trust,
most truly pious, loyal, just.
and goodness, my pen cannot expresse,
virtues my tongue cannot rehearse,
teemed by all the wise and sage
thy country in thy age.
we cannot now speak of thee
to all posterity
life did yourself create
everlasting date
your most happy wife
and this life."

Near to this is the tomb of his wife, with the following inscription :-

"Here lyeth, in hope of a joyful resurrexion, Mary, the wife of Captain Francis Page, of Bruton parish, in the dominion of Va., daughter of Edward Digges, Esquire, of Hampton parish, in the same dominion, who departed this life the eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord 1692, aged 3-," the second figure illegible.

Then comes the following eulogy:-

"Thy modest, meek, and pious soul did shine
With well-temper'd nature, and grace divine:
One to excell (sic) in beauty, few could nude;
Yet thy rarest features were of the minde.
Thou wast a faithful and virtuous wife;
Thou greatly loved peace and hated strife:
Thou wast a prudent and tender mother,
A true-loving sister to each brother,
A choice friend, a kind neighbour ...
A good Christian, ready at God's call ....
Thou lived and died, upon Christ relying;
Thou died to rise, and now livest by dying.
Thy faith doth yield, thy piety doth give,
Restoratives to make thee ever live.
Thrice blessed friend, this epitaph is thy due;
When saints arise, thy Lord will say, 'tis true."

The difficulty of deciphering an old and long-exposed inscription may cause injustice to the poetry, though we cannot expect much in that line at that day.

It seems that Mrs. Page was the daughter of Edward Digges, a man so well known and so justly esteemed. He is said to be of the parish of Hampton. The reader must be guarded against the mistake of supposing him to have been of Hampton parish, in Elizabeth City county. There was, at an early period, a small parish between Williamsburg and York, called Kiskiacke, or Chiskiake, after a tribe of Indians which lived on York River. The church, which still stands a few miles from Williamsburg, on the road to York, vulgarly called Cheesecake, belonged to that parish. After a time, about the year 1742, its name was changed to Hampton parish, and was so called when the Digges lived in it. After some time, the parish of Hampton was united to that of York, and the name York-Hampton was given to the united parish. The family-seat of the Digges was Bellfield, about eight miles from Williamsburg, and is the same now owned by Colonel Robert McCandlish. On a recent visit to it, I saw the large tombs of Mr. Edward Digges and others of the family, whose epitaphs I shall present to the reader in another article, in connection with some account of the Church in Warwick and of the family of Digges.

There is also, in the Williamsburg churchyard, a tomb of a Mrs. Page, wife of John Page and daughter of Francis Page. This John Page was doubtless Colonel John Page, the lawyer, to whom the vestry intrusted the defence of their rights when Nicholson sought to invade them. Following, as near as may be, the order of time, we give the inscription on two of the Archer family:-

"Here lies ye body of Michael Archer, Gentleman, who was born the 29th of September, 1(581, near Kippon in Yorkshire, and died ye 10th of February, 1726, in the 46th year of his age. Also, Joanna Archer, wife of Michael Archer, who departed this life Octo. 1st, 1732."

One of the earliest settlements was Archer's Hope ; and the parish was called Archer's Hope Parish, coming up within a few miles of Williamsburg, to what is called the College Landing. It was in time merged in Bruton parish. Some of the Archer family continued to live in or about York until the Revolution. The name is often to be seen in Henning's Statutes, connected with the History of Virginia.

THE FAMILY OF THORP.

The name of Thorp must be dear to every Christian philanthropist. Perhaps, of all the devoted friends to the first Colonists and the Indians, he who was martyred, in the Great Massacre, stands first among the laymen. The name did not die with him. Whether they were his descendants or the descendants of his relatives, we know not; but we meet with many of the name in Virginia. They abounded in Bruton parish, as the following epitaphs show:-

"Catherine Thorp, relict of Captain Thomas Thorp, nephew to Major Thomas Thorp, formerly inhabitant of this parish, after a pilgrimage of forty-three years in this troublesome world, lies down here to rest in hope of a joyful resurrexion. Obiit June 6th,' 1695."

"Here lyeth, in hope of a joyful resurrexion, the body of Captain Thomas Thorp, of Bruton parish, in the dominion of Virginia, nephew of Major Otho Thorp, of the same parish, who departed this life the 7th dav of October, Anno .... aged 48."

THE BARRADALLS.

This name is also an ancient and most respectable one. It is another name for one learned in the law,-a name which for a long time was a terror to the young applicant for a license to practise (sic) law, and before which even a Pendleton trembled at his examination. Two of these were buried in this churchyard. One or both of them had been vestrymen of the parish. Edward Barradall married Sarah, youngest daughter of the first William Fitzhugh, who settled in Virginia, and who was also an eminent lawyer in the Northern Neck, and belonged to the Council.

EPITAPH.

"Edwardus Barradall, armiger, qui in legum studiis feliciter versatus. Attornati-Generalis et adtniralitatis judicis amplissimas partes mcrito obtinuit fideliter. Collegium Gulielmi et Mariae cum Gubernator tum in Conventu Generali, Senator, propugnavit. Saram Viri Honorabilis Gulielnii Fitzhugh serenissimae Reginae anna, in Virginiae Conciliis, filiam natu minimam, tam mortis, quam vitae sociam, uxorem habuit. Obierant -ille 13th Cal. Julii; ilia the 3d of the Non. Oct., Anno Domini 1743."

On the same stone is the name of Blumfield Barradall, brother of Edward, and that of their sisters Elizabeth and Frances, who had placed the tomb over their brothers. We have also the monuments of the ancient and excellent family of Brays:-

"Here lyeth the body of Col. David Bray, of this parish, who died 21st of Octo., 1717, in the 52d year of his age, and left his wife Judith and son David Bray, by whom this monument was erected, in memory of him."

On the same is the following:-

"Under this tomb, with her husband, lyeth Mrs. Judith Bray, who departed this life the 26th day of October, 1720, in the 45th year of her age."

There is also a large marble monument, on one side of which is the following:-

"Hie depositum quiequid habuit mortale Elizabetha Bray, una cum marito desideratissimo, quae languenti uiorbo consumpta animam resignavit 22 die Aprilis, anno 1734, aetatis 32.-AEquanimiter, Fortiter, Pie."

On the other side as follows:-

"David Bray, armiger, vir forma, ingenio, morum suavitate. . . . . serenissimo reji Georgio Secundo, Concilii in Virginia constitutus, tamen ante munus susceptum, florente aetate morteabreptus, Elizabethan! Johannis Page arinigeri filiam natu primam, et sine prole maerentein reliquit, Octo. 1731, aetate 32."

The last I shall record is the following:--

"Here lies, in hope of a joyful resurrexion, all that was mortal of John Greenbow, late of this city, merchant. He was born in Staunton, near Kindall in Westmoreland, Great Britain, November 12th, 1724, and died the 29th of August, 1787. On his left side lies Elizabeth, the daughter of John Tyler, his second wife, who was born in James City, the 30th of January, 1744, and died of the small-pox on July the 23d, 781, which she endured with the greatest Christian fortitude and resignation.


I might add to these some monuments which lie all exposed in the neighbourhood of Williamsburg. Nathaniel Bacon, uncle or near kinsman of him who is called the rebel, and who was high in office during the period of the rebellion, as he was before and after, married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Richard Kingswell, of James City county. His residence was on King's Creek, near York River, and not far from Williamsburg.

There are tombstones now near the bank of the river. The following inscriptions have been furnished me:-

" Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, wife of the Honourable Nathaniel Bacon, who departed this life the second day of November, one thousand six hundred and ninety-one, in the sixty-seventh year of her age."

Also, on a mutilated tombstone, may be deciphered these words:-" The Rev. Thomas Hampton, rector of this parish in 1647."
It is probable that he ministered in one of those churches which were closed when the first church at Williamsburg was built. Another residence of Nathaniel Bacon must have been near Williamsburg; for his tombstone now lies in a field on Dr. Tinsley's farm, while the tombstones of the Palmer family are in the garden of that place. The tombstone of Daniel Parke, whose name stands first on the old vestry-book of Bruton parish as vestryman and churchwarden, lies on the farm called Beal's, near Williamsburg.

In connection with the above, I mention that, in the Virginia Gazette for March, 1746, it is stated that the plate given by Colonel Nathaniel Bacon to York-Hampton parish was stolen. There are also, I am told, some graves and tombstones around a church about ten miles from Williamsburg, called Chickahominy Church, and lying near that river. It may be that it was in one of those numerous parishes which abounded in early times in and around James City. One there was, called Wilmington parish, which was taken partly from James City, and may have been united to Bruton parish. If so, all that I can find of it is that it was dissolved in 1723 and added to other parishes. At that time it lay most probably on both sides of the Chickahominy, was thirty miles long and eight wide, had one hundred communicants and one hundred and eighty families. The Rev. Mr. Brunskill was the minister, and reports that his parsonage had one room below and a garret above, and, together with his glebe, rented for forty shillings per annum.

At a recent visit to Williamsburg, my steps were directed to the College and the old court-house, in order to see if I could find something additional from-the records thereof. In the old books of the clerk's office, I was shown a deed of one acre of land from some one for a new church in Wilmington parish,-probably the very church just spoken of.

There is mention also of a letter of the Bishop of London against swearing, and frequent notices of thanksgiving-days. The Rev. James Horrocks, afterward President of the College, was prevented by the court for not reading the act for suppressing vice, as the law directs. Fifty acres of land at Jamestown, and a house lately occupied by the Burgesses, were given to the justices of James City for a free school. Susannah Riddle petitions that her servant, John Hope, (alias Caesar Barber, by which name he was afterward, and for a long time, well known,) might be allowed to be set free, as he had served her faithfully for thirty years. Mrs. Riddle was the friend of Mrs. Carrington, of Richmond, and aunt of Miss Caines, and great-aunt or relative of Lewis Warrington, who bequeathed to him one thousand pounds, as mentioned in a previous article. The Rev. Robert Andrews was the guardian of young Warrington.

From the records of the College I obtained, besides those previously gotten and used, one document worthy of insertion. In the will of Hilarity Giles, of Newport parish, Isle of Wight, giving a tract of land on Blackwater to the College of William and Mary, he thus begins:-

"First and principally, above all things, I give and commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, my Saviour and Redeemer, by whom, through the merits of Jesus Christ, I believe assuredly to be saved, and to have full, full, full remission and forgiveness of all my sins."