New Kent County, Virginia
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Colonial churches in the original colony of Virginia : a series of sketches
by. W.M. Clark, Richmond, VA 1908

ST. PETER'S CHURCH, ST. PETER'S PARISH,
NEW KENT COUNTY, VIRGINIA
BY CHURCHILL GIBSON CHAMBERLAYNE, PH. D.

Transcribed for Genealogy Trails by K. Torp

St. Peter's Church
New Kent County, VA

To the question, When was St. Peter's Parish established? the student of Hening's "Statutes at Large" is surprised to find that that work gives no direct answer. It is, perhaps, to this omission on the part of Hening that Bishop Meade's discreet silence upon the subject is due. His "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia" has much to say about the parish of St. Peter's and its people, but not a word in regard to its establishment. To the writer of the present article it seems probable that the parish-if not co-eval with New Kent county, which was formed from the county of York in 1654- was created shortly after 1656, in which year the General Assembly of Virginia passed the following act:

"Whereas, there are many places destitute of ministers, and like still to continue soe, the people content not payinge their accustomed dues, which makes them negligent to procure those which should teach and instruct them, soe by this improvident saveing they lose the greatest benefitt and comfort a Christian can have, by hearing the word and vse of the blessed sacraments. Therefore he it enacted by this present Grand Assembly. That all countys not yet laid out into parishes shall be divided into parishes the next County Court after publication hereof, and that all tithable persons in every parish within this colony respectively, in the vacancy of their minister, pay 15 lb. of tobacco per poll yearly, and that tobacco be deposited in the hands of the commissioners of the several counties, to be by them disposed of in the first place for the building of a parish church, and afterwards the surplusage thereof (if any be) to go towards the purchaseing of a gleab and stock for the next minister that shall be settled there: Provided, that the vestrys of the several parishes be responsible for the said tobacco so leavied."

This act, with some slight verbal changes, was re-enacted by the General Assembly in March, 1657-8.
For the period between its foundation and the year 1684-the date of the first complete minutes in the published "Vestry Book of St. Peter's"- there are no extant records from which a history of the parish could be written. For the period subsequent to 1684, however, and coming down to 1857, the materials - official documents and other sources - for such a history are ample.

Between 1684 and 1700 Church life in St. Peter's parish was not of the most active sort - that is, judged by modern standards. There is no good reason to suppose, however, that it compared unfavorably with the life in many another parish in Virginia at the time, notwithstanding a statement to the contrary made once by one of its own ministers, of which more later on. Vestry meetings were held two or three times in the year - some years there were even four meetings, but this was not often the case. These gatherings were mostly of a business nature, and business matters of all sorts in regard to the parish were brought forward, discussed and settled. Whether it were simply the election of a vestryman or Church warden in the room of another, resigned or deceased, or a quarrel with the neighboring parish of Blissland; whether it were the appointment of a vestryman to serve as the representative of the parish in a law suit, or the determining of the parish levy for the year - whatever the matter might be, it did not go unrecorded in the minutes-book of the vestry.

For example, the dispute with Blissland, in regard to the location of the dividing line between the two parishes, furnished the vestry-book of St. Peter's with material for frequent entries like the following:

"At a Vestry hold at St. Peter's parish Church on ye behalf of ye s'd parish this 3rd day of Sept., 1688. PRESENT: Gideon Macon, Corn. Daberni, Geo. Smith, Hen. Wyatt, Mr. Thom. Mitchell, James Moss.
"Mr. Jno. Roper, Mr. Will. Bassett, Church wardens.
"It is ordered by this present vestry that Mr. Gideon Macon do & is hereby impowered to appear before his Excelansy Francis Lord Howard, Baron of Effingham, his Majes' Left. Gen'l of Virgr. & ye Hon'l Counsoll of States upon ye 10th day of ye next Gen'l Court in obedience to an order of his Excell. to y't purpose to answer ye complaint of Mr. Lanselott Bathurst, attorney of ye vestry of Blissland parish, concerning dividing line to be run between ye parish of Blissland & ye parish of St. Peter's, according to an agreement & conclusion of twelve men Elected by an order of vestry of ye whole parish of Blissland before ye same * and this present vestry hath Ratified and confirmed all whatsoever ye Mason shall act or do in & about ye premises above s'd."

The minutes of these old meetings, however, show that the vestry did not confine its attention to matters of a purely material nature. At this time there were two churches in the parish. The vestry was careful that the spiritual needs of the inhabitants in both neighborhoods should be looked after. It was provided for that services be held at both churches regularly. Under date of November 25, 1686, the. vestry-book contains the following entry:

"* * * This vestry taking into consideration the present want of ye parish and desirous of the advancement of God's Glory and ye continuance of ye sacred function in this parish do consent and agree with ye said Mr. Jno. Ball Minister to officiate as minister in this s'd parish of St. Peters * * * at ye two churches, at ye lower Church one Sunday & at ye upper Church ye other for this ensuing year from ye date of these presents, at ye rate of one thousand pr month."

The ordinary morality of the community was a matter with which the vestries of the Colonial period had to concern themselves generally. The records of St. Peter's Parish show that its vestry was at least fully awake to a sense of its duty in this respect. Entries like the following, under date of October 5, 1687, are not infrequently met with in the vestry-book:

"It is ordered that Mr. Thomas Mitchell do prosecute ye woman servant belonging to Capt. Jo. Forster for having a bastard child."

In St. Peter's Parish, too, as elsewhere, the care of the poor, the lame, the maimed, the halt, and the blind devolved upon the vestry, and the vestry-book shows that, outwardly at any rate, this obligation was not neglected.

In spite of all that has been said, however, one is hardly warranted in maintaining that at this period religion was flourishing in New Kent county. During the sixteen years from 1684 to 1700, St. Peter's Parish had no less than nine regular ministers, and the times - often months in duration - when there was no minister at all, were frequent enough. One of these nine ministers was the Rev. Nicholas Moreau, who, to quote the vestry-book again, had "been recommended by his Excell. and Mr. Camesery unto this parish." What Mr. Moreau thought of his parish, of the people, and of the state of affairs and religion generally in the community can be seen in the following extracts from a letter of his, dated April 12, 1697, written to the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, His Majesty's High Almoner:

"My Lord,
"After my dutiful respects presented unto your Lordship, I make bold to acquaint you that being landed in these parts of Virginia in August last, and being ready to go for Maryland, wherein your charity hath vouchsafed to recommend me to his Excellency Nicholson, I heard such great talk among the Gentlemen of this Country that the said Governor was to come here to be Governor, that I did resolve to settle here if I could. And his Excellency Nicholson being here, would say nothing of the contrary. His Grace of Canterbury has recommended me to Mr. Blair, Commissary, but to no purpose, because the said Commissary has cast an odium upon himself by his great worldly concerns, so that I was forced to make use of the commander of the fleet who did recommend me to this parish wherein I live now. * * * I don't like this Country at all, my Lord, there are so many inconveniences in it with which I cannot well agree. Your clergy in these parts are of a very ill example, no discipline, nor Canons of the Church are observed * * * Several Ministers have caused such high scandals of late, and have raised such prejudices among the people, that hardly can they be persuaded to take a minister in their parish. As to me, my Lord, I have got in the very worst parish of Virginia and most troublesome. Nevertheless I must tell you that I find abundance of good people who are very willing to serve God, but they want good Ministers; ministers that be very pious, not wedded to this world, as the best of them are. God has blest my endeavors so far already that, with his assistance, I have brought to Church again two families, who had gone to the Quakers' meeting for three years past, and have baptized one of their children three years old. This child being christened took my hand and told me: 'You are a naughty man, Mr. Minister, you hurt the child with cold water.' His father and mother came to church constantly, and were persuaded by me to receive the Holy Communion at Easter day; which they did perform accordingly with great piety and respect. I have another old Quaker 70 years of age who left the Church these 29 years ago, and hope to bring him to church again within few weeks. Lucere et non ardere parvum: ardere et non lucere, hoc Imperfectum est: lucere et ardere, hoc perfect-urn est: saith St. Bernard. If ministers were such as they ought to be, I dare say there would be no Quakers nor Dissenters. A learned sermon signifies next to nothing without good examples. Longum Iter per praecepta, Breve outem per Exempla: I wish God would put in your mind, my Lord, to send here an eminent Bishop, who by his piety, charity, and severity in keeping the canons of the Church, might quicken these base ministers, and force them to mind the duty of their charge. Though the whole country of Virginia hath a great respect for my Lord Bishop of London, they do resent an high affront made to their nation, because his Lordship has sent here Mr. Blair, a Scotchman, to be Commissary, a councellor, and President of the College. I was once in a great company of Gentlemen, some of them were Counsellors, and they did ask me, 'Don't you think there may be in England amongst the English, a clergyman fit to be Commissary and Counsellor and President of our College?' I have wrote all these things, my Lord, freely, but have said nothing by myself. It was only to acquaint your Lordship how the things are here. The Governor is very well beloved by the whole country, but because his time is over they think of another Governor, and do desire earnestly to have his Excellency Nicholson, who indeed is a most excellent Governor; and as fit (as said to me, once, your Lordship) to be a Bishop as to be a Governor. * * * When I do think with myself of Governor Nicholson, I do call him the Right hand of God, the father of the Church, and more, a father of the poor. An eminent Bishop of that same character being sent over here with him, will make Hell tremble and settle the Church of England in these parts forever. This work, my Lord, is God's work and if it doth happen that I see a Bishop come over here I will say as St. Bernard said in his Epistle to Eugenius Tertius hie dicitur Dei est. I have been very tedious to your Lordship, but God's concerns have brought me to that great boldness. I wish God give you many years to live for the good of his Church, over which that you might preside long will be the constant prayers of, my Lord,

Yrs, &c, Nich's Moreau."
[Perry's "Papers Relating to the History of the Church in Virginia, A. D. 1650-1776," pp. 29-33.]

So much for the Rev. Nicholas Moreau and his impressions. It is to be regretted that he was never given the opportunity to air his latinity before a Bishop of Virginia. Mr. Moreau did not continue at his post longer than the average minister at this time. He left at the end of the year 1697 or the beginning of 1698, whether driven away by discouragement or not, history does not say.
The first reference in the Vestry Book to the present St. Peter's church is found in the record of the minutes of the vestry meeting held August 13, 1700:

"Whereas the Lower Church of this parish is Very much out of Repair and Standeth very inconvenient for most of the inhabitants of the said parish. Therefore ordered that as soon as conveniently may be a new Church of Brick Sixty feet long and twenty fower feet wide in the cleer and fourteen feet pitch with a Gallery Sixteen feet long be built and Erected upon the maine Roade by the School House near Thomas Jackson's; and the Clerk is ordered to give a Copy of this order to Capt. Nicho Merewether who is Requested to show the same to Will Hughes and desire him to draw a Draft of the said Church, and to bee at the next vestry and Mr. Gideon Macon and Mr. Thomas Smith are Requested to treate with and buy an acre of Land of Thomas Jackson whereon to build the said Church and for a Church yard."

The fact that the old church is spoken of as being very much out of repair and that brick is mentioned distinctly as being the material out of which the new church is to be constructed, lead one to infer that this new church was the first one in the parish to be built of brick. This inference is confirmed by the way in which the new church is, with one exception, always referred to in the vestry-book. It is called invariably the "Brick Church."
Work on the new church was not begun until about the spring of the year 1701. By July, 1703, the work was so far advanced that services could be held in the building, for the vestry-book shows that a vestry was held for St. Peter's Parish at the Brick Church on the 13th of that month. While this brick church was in process of erection the vestry, upon petition of the upper inhabitants of the parish, order

"that a new Church or Chapell be built upon the upper side of Mechamps Creeke adjoining to the King's Roade forty-feet long and twenty-feet wyde, framed and planked in every respect like to the upper Church."

St. Peter's Parish now had three places of worship, besides the old frame Lower church building, which was much out of repair - namely, the new Lower church, called the Brick church; the old frame Upper church, and new frame chapel.

On April 3, 1704, the vestry of the parish agreed upon a division, by which what was afterwards known as St. Paul's parish was cut off. This new parish contained the two frame upper churches. St. Peter's parish had now as places of worship the Brick church and the old frame Lower church. Services in this old building were now resumed, as appears from an entry in the vestry-book under date of August 18, 1704:

"Mr. Richard Squire is Requested to preach two sermons in every year at the old Church, commonly known by ye name of ye Broken back'd Church."

The new Brick church of St. Peter's Parish was a plain rectangular structure, sixty feet long by twenty-four wide. For upwards of twenty years this building remained unaltered, and nothing was done to change the appearance of the place except that in the year 1719 it was ordered that a wall of brick be built round the church yard, "s'd wall to be in all Respects as well done as the Capitol wall in Williamsburgh."

Toward the end of the year 1722, however, a belfry was erected at the west end of the church, and in the year 1740 an entry in the vestry-book states that

"the Minister and Vestry of this Parish have Agreed with Mr. Wm. Worthe, of the Parish of St. Paul, in the County of Stafford, Builder, to Erect and Build a Steeple and Vestry Room according to a Plan Delivered into the Vestry drawn by the S'd Walter (?) for the Consideration of One hundred & thirty Pounds at times to be paid."

In the same year "the Summe of Twenty Pounds" is ordered to be paid out for the erection of a "Porch according to Agreem't, & white washing & other Repairs of the inside of the Church."

Such minor alterations and repairs as have been made to the old church since 1740 have not changed its outward appearance to any great extent. There is now an attractive mellowness of age about the building; in other respects St. Peter's looks to-day much as it did toward the middle of the eighteenth century.

Under date of November 20, 1752, there is an entry in the vestry minutes in which the "Brick Church" is referred to as "St. Peter's Church." So far as known to the writer this is the first time that the name "St. Peter's" was ever given to this church. (The fact is not, however, to be denied that between the years 1684 and 1698 one of the churches in St. Peter's Parish was frequently referred to as "St. Peter's Churchi" by the then clerk of the vestry. On the other hand it is to be noted that he refers to the same church under the names "Christ's Church in St. Peter's," "ye Church of St. Peter's Parish," and "St. Peter's Parish Church." See Vestry Book in loc.) The church is not again referred to as "St. Peter's" in the book. In these times it was always known and referred to as the "Brick Church," just as the church of Bristol parish, known now as Old Blandford, which was erected between 1734 and 1737, was always spoken of in Colonial times as the "Brick Church." Perhaps some one better informed than the writer can say whether Christ church, Lancaster county, [See Southern Churchman for December 1, 1906,] was not also always referred to in early days as the "Brick Church," and whether its present name of "Christ church" was not a creation of comparatively modern times and derived from the name of the parish. In the opinion of the writer the names of Christ and the Saints as officially applied to churches in Virginia was practically unknown before the American Revolution. St. Paul's church, Norfolk, erected in 1739, was long known as the "Borough" or "Parish" church. [See Southern Churchman for November 3, 1906.] St. John's church, Richmond, was not called by that name before 1818. [See Southern Churchman for November 17, 1906], while St. Luke's church, Isle of Wight county, was known as the "Old Brick church" until 1827 or 1828. [See open letter, "Colonial Churches and Clergy," Southern Churchman for February 16, 1907.]

But enough of this digression. Let us return to the subject of St. Peter's, in New Kent county, and in the next place learn something about Mr. Mossom, its most famous minister.

The Rev. David Mossom, or Parson Mossom, as he was generally called, is well known in the annals of the Colonial Church in Virginia - though by no means on account of the eloquence of his discourses. Many things have conspired together to keep Parson Mossom's memory green. In the first place, he ministered to St. Peter's church for nearly forty years - a circumstance extraordinary enough in itself to cause some surprise, when it is recalled that the length of the average tenure of office in the parish before his time was less than two and a half years. Then, too, his irascible temper was against his being forgotten.

In his "Autobiography," Parson Jarratt, of Bath Parish, another of Virginia's famous divines of the period, tells a good story on Mr. Mossom. It seems that one day the minister of St. Peter's had a quarrel with his clerk, and assailed him from the pulpit in his sermon. The sermon over, the clerk, nothing daunted, gave out from his desk the 2d Psalm, containing the lines,

"With restless and ungovern'd rage,
Why do the heathen storm?
Why in such rash attempts engage,
As they can ne'er perform?"

a method of revenge as humorous as it was pointed.

Bishop Meade evidently thought that the Rev. Mr. Mossom's anger was to be classed rather with the venial than among the mortal sins, for after relating the incident just given, he writes: "He (i. e., Mr. Mossom) was married four times, and much harrassed by his last wife, as Col. Bassett has often told me, which may account for and somewhat excuse a little peevishness."

Rev. David Mossom officiated at the marriage of George Washington and the Widow Custis. Some persons have thought that the ceremony was performed at St. Peter's church. Bishop Meade, however, is authority for the statement that the marriage took place at the "White House," the home of Mrs. Custis, on the Pamunkey river, several miles from the church. Mr. Mossom died on the 4th of January, 1767. His monument, still to be seen in St. Peter's church, within the chancel, bears the following inscription:

"Reverendus David Mossom prope Jacet,
Collegii St. Joannis Cantabrigiae obiti, Alumnus,
Hujus Parochiae Rector Annes Quadraginta,
Omnibus Ecclesiae Anglicanae Presbyteriis
Inter Americanos Ordine Presbyteratus Primus;
Literatura Paucis secundus,
Qui tandem senis et Moerore Confectus
Ex variis Rebus arduis quas in hac vita perpessus est
Mortisq: in dies memor ideo virens et valens
Sibi hunc seulpturae locum posuit et elegit
Uxoribus Elizabetha et Maria quidem juxta sepultis
Ubi requirescat dones resuscitatus ad vitam Eternam
Per Jesum Christum salvatorem nostrum
Qualis erat, indicant illi quibus benenotus
Superstiles Non hoc sepulchrale saxuni
Londini Natus 25 Martii 1690
Obiit 4 Janii 1767.

Bishop Meade followed by the writer of an article in the "William and Mary College Quarterly," Vol. V., p. 81, interprets the epitaph as saying that Mr. Mossom was an American by birth. But to the writer of this article "Londini Natus" seems to point unmistakably to England as Mr. Mossom's native land.

After giving so much space to St. Peter's famous minister it seems unfair to dismiss with a word the people who "sat under" him. But nothing more can be done here, for in this case, as always, history, dealing leniently with all save those in public life, has preserved but a memory of them - the name - and of many of them not even a memory. However, the following list, containing the names of vestrymen of the parish in the period between 1685 and 1758 will not be without interest:

George Jones, William Bassett, Stephen Carlton, Henry Wyatt; Thomas Mitchell, John Parke, William Paisley, John Rever (?), Cornelius Dabney, Gideon Macon, Matthew Page, George Smith, John Roger, David Crawford, James Moss, John Lydall, Joseph Forster, John Lewis, Nicholas Merriwether, John Parke, Jr., Richard Littlepage, Thomas Butts, Thomas Massie, William Waddell, Henry Childs, Robert Anderson, Richard Allen, Samuel Gray, Ebenezer Adams, Charles Lewis, Charles Massie, Walton Clopton, William Macon, John Netherland, William Brown, William Marston, David Patterson, William Chamberlayne, Michael Sherman, John Dandridge, Daniel Parke Custis, Matthew Anderson, George Webb, William Hopkins, Jesse Scott, Edmund Bacon, William Vaughan, William Clayton and John Roper.

On the inner wall of the chancel of St. Peter's, opposite the memorial tablet to Parson Mossom, is another to William Chamberlayne, vestryman, and for many years one of the church wardens of the parish. The inscription reads as follows:

MS
Near this place lyes interred ye
Body of Mr. William Chamberlayne
Late of this Parish Mercht.
Descended of an ancient & Worthy Family in the County of Hereford.
He married Elizabeth ye eldest Daughter
of Richard Littlepage of this County,
by whom he has left issue three Sons,
Edward Pye, Thomas & Richard.
& two Daughters, Mary & Elizabeth.
Ob: 2 Augt. 1736 Aetat 36
Hoc Marmor exiguum summi amoris
Monumentum posuit Conjux moestissima.
1737
Also Ann Kidly Born Sense
Her Father's Decease.

M. Sidnell Bristol fecit.


From Bishop Meade one learns that Rev. Mr. Mossom was succeeded in office "by the Rev. James Semple, who continued the minister of the parish for twenty-two years. The Rev. Benjamin Blagrove was the minister in the year 1789. The Rev. Benjamin Brown was the minister in the year 1797.

"After a long and dreary interval of nearly fifty years, we find the Rev. E. A. Dalrymple the minister from 1843 to 1845. (The Rev. Farley Berkeley officiated some time before this as missionary at St. Peter's church.) Then the Rev. E. B. Maguire, from 1845 to 1851. Then the Rev. William Norwood, from 1852 to 1854. Then the Rev. David Caldwell, from 1854 to 1856." [Bishop Meade's "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. Philadelphia," 1872. Vol. I., p. 386.]

Bishop Meade finished writing his book in May, 1857. Four years later the Civil War broke out. A correspondent, writing in the Southern Churchman for February 9, 1907, gives the following account of affairs at St. Peter's immediately before, during, and after the war:

"Just before the Civil War, St. Peter's had a large and prosperous congregation. During the war the church was abominably defaced by the Federal soldiers, who stabled their horses in the church, and seemed to take great pleasure in ruining it. A company of soldiers from Hartford, Conn., wrote their names on the inner walls of the porte cochere, and left many other marks of their occupancy. Those of the congregation who were not killed either never returned with their families, moved away, or had all they could do to live in any instance. Among all these things the people devotedly set to work to renew and repair the church. The rector, the Rev. Mr. Kepler, was largely instrumental in this, and received large contributions from wealthy gentlemen living at the North. After some years, he and his people succeeded in having the church thoroughly repaired, and it has been kept so ever since, chiefly by the faithful few Episcopalians to whom the church is very dear and very sacred."

The interior of St. Peter's church as it appears today demands at least a passing notice. The high, plastered walls, marked off in blocks and colored a soft grey, the but partially carpeted floor, the simply designed benches painted a sober brown, finally the large, deep-set windows, filled with plain glass, make together a not unpleasing picture - a picture somewhat severe in its simplicity, but not without the advantage of offering little to distract the worshipper's attention from service or sermon. The two mural tablets, whose inscriptions have been given, are the only objects approaching to the ornamental to be seen in the church, and they are completely hidden by thin winglike partition walls, cutting off a part of the sanctuary space on either side the communion table. These walls are modern. The object had in view in building them was rather that of adding attractiveness to the chancel than to provide robing space for the clergyman, a purpose which the somewhat closet-like rooms so made but imperfectly fulfill.

St. Peter's church is within easy driving distance of Tunstall's Station, on the York River branch of the Southern Railway. This station is distant just about twenty miles each from Richmond and West Point, the two terminals of the line.

In the autumn of 1898 Bishop Whittle issued to the son and nephew of the then Bishop Coadjutor of Virginia licenses to read the service in St. Peter's. Since that time the doors of the old church have been open for divine service with more or less regularity. The last rector, the Rev. Charles J. Holt, died during the year 1906. He had been connected with the parish which he held along with West Point, only since 1904. At present a lay reader, with headquarters at West Point, holds service in St. Peter's on one Sunday in the month.

To-day, after more than two hundred years of authenticated history, St. Peter's church stands, to all intents and purposes, as good as new, a monument to those who built and worshipped in it.

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