Historical Sketch of St Paul’s
Parish/church
Westmoreland, Stafford and
King George Counties
c. 1667 -1831
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Early Colonial Period, 1650 - 1725
•Colonization Moving Up Rivers from Lower Tidewater
•Proprietors, Land Acquisition
- Lord Culpepper /Fairfax, “All land between Potomac and
Rappahannock to the Great Falls and Mountains Beyond”
- Except Land Grants/ Patents, “Headrights”
•Local Acquisitions ( Near Chotank Creek) c. 1650, Caledon by John
Alexander, present Waterloo area by Sam Heyward, Albion by Robert
Townsend
•Northumberland Co, 1646-1653; Westmoreland Co 1653- 1664, Stafford
Co., 1664-1777
•Potomac Parish to Upper and Lower Stafford Parishes, 1664
•Lower Stafford aka Chotank Parish between Machodoc and
Passapatanzy Creeks
2
•Chotank Parish Also known as
Lower Stafford and St Paul’s
after 1702
Parish and County Arrangements
Upper Northern Neck
3
Early Parish, 1667- 1702
•
1667, Stafford Court Orders Preaching at Rbt. Townsend’s
House on Chotank (Earliest Record)
•
Probably Rev, Morgan Godwin, Potomac Parish 1667-1670
•
Rev John Waugh , Stafford Parishes, 1670-1700
•
Rev. John Frazer, Stafford Parishes, 1700-1704
•
William Fitzhugh Buys, Builds Bedford Plantation c.1670
- Churchman, Lawyer, Influential in Colony
•
Parish is officially named St Paul’s after Fitzhugh’s home
Parish in Bedford, England, Official in 1702 Records
•
1702 Report to London; Upper Parish 318 Tithables, St Paul’s
Parish, 346 Tithables (!!)
4
First Church, c.1675-1725
•Located on Bedford Plantation, Near Site of Owens PO near/at
“Hylton”?
• Probably rude Frame/ Log construction; No remains
• No record of Stafford Parishes’ Priest 1704-1711
•1711- Rev. Alex. Scott Rector Upper(Overwharton) parish ,and
Probably St Paul’s until 1722
•1722- Rev. David Stuart Becomes Rector St Paul’s Parish
-Scot, Royal Stuart Family, Fled Scotland 1715 for VA
- Holy Orders in London, back to VA Via Barbados
- Married Sister of Rev Scott”s Wife in Barbados
- At St Paul’s until death in 1749
5
Second Church, c.1725
•Frame construction built on or near present church site
•On Plebe Lands Bequeathed by John Allen and donated by Sam
Heyward, Abt 400 acres probably included current Litchfield
and East toward Owens
•Church Silver, made in 1720, given by Henry Fitzhugh for the
“new church”
•Surviving St Paul’s Parish Register, 1715-1798, apparently
started by Rev. Stuart.
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Third/Present Church, c.1768/70
•Rev. William Stuart, Son of David, Succeeds Father, 1749
- Marries Sarah Foote, Receives Cedar Grove Farm from Father-inlaw as wedding gift; Cedar Grove is Rectory next 45 yrs
•1762 – Church Wardens Request Proposals of Interest to build
Commodious Brick Church; VA Gazette, 12 Feb 1762
•1766 – 18 Jul, VA Gazette, 2nd notice, request for bids to build
-“Brick Church, Form of Cross, Ea Wing 16ft Long, 26ft Breadth, 2ft
High to Water table, 24ft high Ceiling , Three Galleries”
•No Records of Undertaker (Contractor), Construction Dates,Cost or
Finish Details
-Based on Similar Sized Churches in Other Parishes, Cost Should
have been about 1000 £, 2 yr Min const time.
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Present Church, Cont
•Most likely patterned after neighboring Aquia Church 1751-1757
- Vestrymen/Wardens of parishes were relatives
- Bid Ad described similar, (2ft smaller each dimension), church
- “Keep Up With The Jones” ??
•Assuming bid award Fall of 1766, Earliest completion date
Summer/Fall of 1768
- Geo. Washington records visits to St Paul’s in Spring, Summer
1768; Not clear if new brick church or old 1725 bldg
- Could have been c. 1769 or later depending on Parish financial
position, const problems, etc. Also looming WAR!
- Aquia Required 3yrs to build but was somewhat more elaborate
- Some Parishes delayed building schedule to lessen tax burden
- Bible and Prayer Book gift of Rev. Stuart dtd 1769
•Actual completion date not known. Best estimate c. 1770
8
Aquia Church,St Paul’s Sister Church
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St Paul’s, Present
10
17th and 18th Century English Church Architectural
Styles
•Three main Styles /Shapes:
P
N
A
Hall/ Rectangular
Church
e.g. Lamb’s Creek
“T” Church
e.g. Vauter’s
Altar/chancel on East Wall
Main entry in West end
Pulpit on North wall, Hall and T
Corner of crossing for Cruciform
Cruciform Church- Latin or Greek
e.g. Aquia, St Paul’s
11
Christ Church,
Lancaster
1732 -35
Pohick Church
1769 - 74
12
Aquia Church Floor Plan
13
14
Aquia Church, Chancel and Pulpit
15
Chancel, Aquia Church
16
Aquia Church, Three level Pulpit
17
Aquia Church Pulpit
18
St Paul’s Church
Lower South Façade,Current Main Entry
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20
West (Main )Entry Door, Aquia Church
Lamb,s Creek Church, Door Trim
21
Secondary Door Pediment Detail
Christ Church, Lancaster
22
Primary Entry Door (West) Trim
Christ Church, Lancaster
23
Views (CCW from upper RH) :
East Elevation
West Elevation
North Elevation
24
Current St Paul,s
Lambs Creek
Circular Arch/Compass
Window
25
Aquia
E Wall, N Wing
S Wall, W Wing
N Wall, E Wing
NW View, N,W Wings
26
St Paul’s Rectory,c.1841
Today,Old Parish House
Photo Probably taken about late !930’s
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Late Colonial and Post-war, 1770 - 1831
•Rev Wm. Stuart Rector thru War Until Disabled, Resigned 1796
•John Parsons, Deacon, Rector 1797 – 1808
•Diocese of Virginia Organized 1785
•Parish/church Declined after 1805-1808
- Anti- British Feelings, Congregation scattered,Low Religious
Interest
- Church in complete ruins by 1812; Bishop Meade eye- witness
account –all woodwork missing, no windows, roof missing/leaking
•Glebe Act 1802, Glebes sold by State, building converted to
Academy, 1813
•Vestry Reorganized 1816, Church Returned to Parish Wardens,
1820s’, Restored to Present Configuration, consecrated 15 May 1831
28
State of the Diocese,1785
•23 of 95 pre-war parishes out of existence, gone
•34 of remaining 72 parishes without ministerial support
•Many churches destroyed
•28 0f 91 pre-war clergy remained, 13 of these unable to hold
Parishes because of anti – English sentiments
-15 clergy in cure of parishes held prior/during war
Ref: History of church in Virginia from 1785 to death of Bishop Meade,Address by
Rev T. G. Dashiell to May 20-24,1885 Diocese of Virginia Centennial Council
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Summary
•St Paul’s Parish Established c.1667, original boundaries maintained
thru present date –minor increase in 1777 when taken into King
George Co
•Present Church Built c.1770 ; Called “ Finest Brick Church in
Colonial Virginia”.
•Abandoned and fell into ruins following Revolutionary War,
Architecture drastically altered by conversion to academy.
• Building returned to parish in 1820s’, restored as Antebellum “T”
shape church (present configuration) consecrated 1831.
•Today St Paul’s is a church with Antebellum Interior and SemiColonial exterior!
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Major References/ Sources
1.
Register of St Paul’s Parish, 1715 – 1798, Transcript and Historical Sketch,
Copyright 1960, George H. S. King, fellow, American Society of Genealogists,
Fredericksburg, VA
2.
Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, Volume II , Bishop William
Meade, Originally published 1857, Philadelphia,Reprinted Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc. 1978
3.
Holy Things and Profane, Anglican Parish Churches in Colonial Virginia, Dell
Upton, 1986, The Architectural History Foundation, New York, NY, The MIT
Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts,and London, England
4.
The Colonial Churches of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina : Their
Interiors and Worship, Vernon Perdue Davis and James Scott Rawlings, The
Dietz Press, Richmond, VA, 1985
5.
Virginia’s Colonial Churches; An Architectural Guide, by James Scott Rawlings,
Garrett & Massie, Richmond 1963
6.
John Alexander, a Northern Neck Proprietor, His Family, Friends and Kin,
Wesely E. Pippenger, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1990
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