ALNNOT) XVATIVH NI GNVIONY dO HOUNHTD FHL

 

‘CELI UONRIUL[g YIN puro
[BUISII0 JY .—jUIOg $,prezzng ‘O]
‘jadeyy aaynyay “6
“LOLI—Seysiied waMyIoON pue
AJaI0g UsaMJaq oUTT & ‘g
"09 Undmvyvon

wepidAvag UO [é +} /

saysiieg yI9qezi[)
-aspy usamjaq

I

-a[as ysIy JO aI1S— 2 §
“yoiny) 0U0T) “ZG
‘jedeyD s.taye1yM ‘|

¥.
Aly NOVO G

aNa9qT

 
Copyright 1955
by

Stuart H. SmirH
CLAIBORNE T. SMITH, JR.

Printed in the United States of America

By Curist1AN PRINTING Company, Durham, N. C.

 

See wis 7.0 24-7 oO

Orinity Darish

SCOTLAND NECK

Gaecombe Darish

HALIFAX COUNTY

STUART HALL SMITH
CLAIBORNE T. SMITH, JR.

SCOTLAND NECK, NORTH CAROLINA

1955

 

 
 

PREFACE

In the following pages are assembled certain records and tradi-
tions pertaining to Trinity Parish, Scotland Neck, N. C. and to
several colonial churches in Halifax and Edgecombe Counties, in
order that the memory of those things which we have heard and
known and such as our fathers have told us may be perpetuated
and transmitted to posterity.

Of the many people whose contributions and advice have been
of assistance to us we wish, especially, to acknowledge the following:

Mrs. Sterling Gary and Miss Nannie Gary, of Halifax, furnished
information concerning the colonial church at Halifax:

Lawrence F. London and Henry W. Lewis of Chapel Hill, and
Miss Kate Parks Kitchin, of Rocky Mount, have all read the
manuscript and made valuable comments and suggestions. Mr.
Joseph B. Cheshire of Raleigh contributed a biogr: iphical sketch

of Dr. Cheshire, the rector who had a marked influence on the early
development and growth of Trinity Parish.

Finally we wish to thank The Battle Foundation, of Rocky
Mount, for making this publication possible.

This 20th day of October, 1954.

STUART H. SMITH
CLAIBORNE T. SMITH, JR.

 
CONTENTS
The Church of England in Halifax County—
Edgecombe Parish
Trinity Parish

Notes Relative to the History of Trinity Parish

Old Trinity Church

Joseph Blount Cheshire
Register

Appendix

 
 

 

 

 

 

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
IN HALIFAX COUNTY
EDGECOMBE PARISH

By Crarporne T. Smith, JR.

 
 

 

 

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH

The Church of England was established by law in colonial
North Carolina. In strictly ecclesiastical matters, North Carolina,
along with the other colonies in which the Church was established,
was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. The Bishop
exercised a sort of loose control over this vast territory and ap-
pointed commissioners to oversee the American Church, and to
make reports from time to time. The Bishop also licensed the
ministers who came to America. Within the colony itself, the
Church was under the control of the royal governor and the
colonial assembly who enacted rather detailed legislation concern-
ing it.1

The whole colony of North Carolina was divided into parishes
which in general, were conterminous with the bounds of the
county in which the particular parish was situated. Each parish

was supported by general taxation but Dissenters were not required
to attend the services of the Church. The Church, as established
in North Carolina, closely followed the pattern that had been
evolved in Virginia during the first hundred years of settlement.
In Virginia, as in England, the parish was something more than
an ecclesiastical unit and the parish vestries served certain political

functions as well. One of the more important duties of the vestry
was to oversee the county or parish poor.2

The first recorded settlements in what is now Halifax County
were made about 1711 on the south bank of the Roanoke River
near the present village of Tillery. From 1720 to 1740, there was
a steady migration into this area from the lowe
particularly Surry and the Isle of Wight.

When the first settlers arrived, the territory south of the
Roanoke was in Chowan Precinct of Albemarle County. By the
Vestry Act of 1715, the colony of North Carolina was divided into
nine parishes. The part of Chowan Precinct west of the Chowan
River and south of Albemarle Sound was constituted South West
-arish. As settlement progressed, new counties and parishes were
accordingly created from the older counties. The rapid evolution
of counties makes the geography of the Roanoke River section

r Virginia counties,

(1) See the various vestry acts in Volume 23 and 25 of The Colonial Records
of North Carolina, edited by W. L. Saunders. Raleigh, 1888.

(2) For further information regarding the Church of England in Virginia
and North Carolina, see Virginia’s Mother Church, by J. McLauren
Brydon, Richmond, 1947, and Northampton Parishes by Henry W. Lewis,
Jackson, North Carolina, 1951.

(3) 17th Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia. John B. Boddie, Chicago
1938, p. 202.

 
EDGECOMBE PARISH

seem complex at this period. Chowan Precinct soon became a
county and Albemarle County, a name rougly applied to the whole
Albemarle and Roanoke section, eventually ceased to exist.

In 1722 Bertie precinct was formed from Chowan.* In the same
year South West Parish was broken up. The part of the old parish
south of the Albemarle Sound, and south of the Roanoke “as far
up as Welches Creek’’ became South Parish.5 Welches Creek was
near the present town of Hamilton. In 1729, the area in South
Parish became Tyrrell Precinct. The part of South West Parish
included in the new precinct of Bertie became known as Society
Parish. The parish was presumably so named to honor the So-
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel, who had sent missionaries
to tne colony. It was while the Halifax area was a part of Society
Parish, Bertie, that the first recorded activities of the Church of
England began in the section.

There is no record of when the first services were performed in
what was later to become Edgecombe Parish. Governor Eden, in
1716, wrote the church authorities in England that in most of
the parishes, there were two or three readers. Hence it is likely
that after the section had become reasonably well settled, a reader
was appointed by the parent parish who held occasional services
at some private house or convenient spot in the community.‘

The early ministers who appear in the North Carolina records
were sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts. This society was organized in London as early as
1675 to keep in touch with the colonial settlers and to maintain
orthodox clergymen in the British possessions. The society paid a
salary of fifty pounds sterling to the missionaries they sent abroad.‘
The letters these missionaries wrote to the Secretary of the S.P.G.
in London have been preserved and are an interesting and valuable
source of colonial church history. The Society sent thirty-three
missionaries to North Carolina during the colonial period and as
late as 1783,° were supporting the Rev. Daniel Earl in Edenton.
As early as 1714, the Rev. Giles Rainsford was assigned the area

Colonial Records. Opus Cit.: Col. 23, p. 100.

Ibid.—Vol. 25, p: 182.

Ibid —Vol. 2, p. 228.

\ reader in the colonial parish was roughly similar to the present day
lay reader.

History of Edgecombe County. Turner and Bridges. Raleigh, North Caro-
lina, 1920, p. 432.

The Church of England in Colonial North Carolina. The Rev. E. L.
Pennington, Hartford, 1937, p. 35.

 

 

 

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH 5

south and west of Albemarle Sound. However he soon left for Vir-
ginia.!° The Rev. John Urmstone was assigned to Chowan and
Pasquotank in 1709. In 1718, he wrote that “he had transversed
all corners of the colony, no matter how obscure or inaccessible.’
The Rev. Mr. Urmstone fell into disrepute, and left Chowan in
1721. It is very doubtful if either of these clergymen ever got very
far west of the Chowan River settlements.

In 1722, the Rev. Thomas Newnam was assigned to North

Carolina by the Society and settled in the Chowan section. He
seems to have officiated in St. Pauls and Southwest Parishes. The
latter was divided into Society and South Parish in that year. On

June 29, 1722, he wrote an interesting letter to the Secretary of
the S.P.G., describing his activities in some detail.!*

The Ist Sunday—I preach going by water and land some
few miles at Esquire Duckenfields House—large enough to
hold a great Congregation, till we have built a church which
is hereafter to be called Society Church. The 2nd Sunday, |
take a journey up to a place called Maherin—about 40 miles
off—where there are an abundance of inhabitants—who
also are making a collection to build a Chappel forthwith—
3rd Sunday, I perform Divine Service again at Esquire
Duckenfields—!8 4th Sunday, I go up to a place called Wica-
con about 30 miles Journey—5th Sunday, I cross the sound
to go to Eden Town, where the vestry there have also pur-
posed to have a Church built out of hand—6th Sunday, I
go to ye Chappell upon the south shore, about 12 miles by
water and so ye 7th Sunday begin again at supra; except
once every quarter I go up to a place called Ronoke about
80 miles journey and ye five last Sundays of ye year, the
Vestrys do give me that I may go my rounds; and visit the
remote parts of ye country—where the inhabitants live some
150 miles off—people who will never have the opportunity
of hearing me or having their children baptiz’d unless I go
to and amongst them.

The place referred to as Roanoke in the Rev. Mr. Newnam’s
letter is of course, difficult to identify. However, it is possible that
he might be referring to the Caledonia section, a large neck of
land on the south side of the Roanoke River in Halifax County.

(10) Ibid., p. 35.

(LY) Fbd., p- 20.

(12) Ibid., p. 23.

(13) See “Colonial Laymen of the Church of England,” by K. P. Battle, pub-
lished in Sketches of Church History, by J. B. Cheshire, Wilmington, 1892.

 
6 EDGECOMBE PARISH

The land here rises in a bluff at the river bank and was considered
very choice for settlement. Deeds on record in Edenton show
that the Caledonia area was settled before the greater part of
Bertie and Northampton, on the north bank of the Roanoke. More-
over, this section was about 80 miles from William Duckenfield’s
plantation on the shore of Albemarle Sound, where the Rev. Mr.
Newnam was stationed. At any rate, Mr. Newnam could not
have paid the Roanoke settlers too many visits. On May 9, 1723,
Newnam wrote the Society that he and his family had suffered
from fever, that he was resuming his journeys, and was setting off
for Bath County, where 300 children waited baptism.* He died
the following fall. His will, dated September 21, 1723 and _ pro-
bated November 22, 1723 mentions his wife Frances as sole legatee.
In the opening sentence of the will, the Rev. Mr. Newnam stated
that he was a missionary of the Society, “residing in Edenton.’’!® He
apparently removed from Bertie shortly before his death.

After the death of Mr. Newnam, Society Parish went for a
considerable period without a minister.

In 1727, Society Parish was divided and its western portion
became North West Parish.16 The line dividing the part of the
Parish across the Roanoke extended from the mouth of Bridgers
Creek on the north bank of the river straight in a south west
direction to “the outer inhabitants on Fishing Creek.” ‘The line
thus passed several miles west of the present town of Scotland
Neck and the larger part of the present Halifax County fell with-
in the bounds of North West Parish. The vestrymen of North
West Parish, as designated in the Act of the Assembly creating
the new parish included at least three residents of the south
bank of the Roanoke. These men were Major Barnabas Mac-
Kinnie, Capt. John Spann, and Joseph Lane, Sen. The Lanes
and MacKinnies had settled in the Caledonia section, already re-
ferred to, at a very early date.

In 1733, North West Parish obtained the services of the Rev.
John Boyd. The Rev. Mr. Boyd had been educated at the Uni-
versity of Glasgow and had practiced Physic for seven years in
Virginia. In 1731-32 he went to London for ordination, with let-
ters of reference from Governor Burrington. On his return from
England prior to June 1733, he served North West Parish until

(14) Pennington, Opus Cit.: p. 24.
(15) Abstracts of North Carolina Wills, J. B. Grimes, p. 264.

(16) Colonial Records, Vol. 25, p. 210.

EDGECOMBE PARISH 7

his death in 1737. On April 12, 1735, the Rev. Mr. Boyd wrote
the Society that his parish was of vast extent being one hundred
miles in length and fifty in breadth, and that he preached in
seven different places.17 Undoubtedly, one of these places was in
the portion of his parish south of the Roanoke.

The Rev. John Holmes became rector of North West Parish
in 1738.18 Little is known about him. He preached several sermons
before the Colonial Assembly about this time.!® According to some
miscellaneous papers on file in the court house at Edenton, he
brought suit against John Pope and John Brown, former Church-
wardens and Samuel Williams and George Downing, then Church-
wardens of Northwest parish, Bertie Co. at the March General
Court 1740.2° For two hundred pounds contracted to be paid by
a vestry held July 7, 1739, the Rev. Mr. Holmes was to preach
at the following places: Bertie Court House, Mr. Maney’s chapel,
and the houses of Joseph Sims, Henry Jones, Henry Walker, Capt.
Joseph Lane, William Arrington, and Philip Thomas. This rec-
ord gives a great deal of interesting information about North-
west parish at that time.

Partie ‘ .
Bertie Court House was then located
in Northwest

P: “7 4 a — “¢ . . »

arish on Timber Branch, roughly between the
present towns of Rich Square and Ahoskie.2! Maney’s Chapel was
located in what is now Hertford County.22. The record is

also
interesting in that it shows to what extent private

n houses were
used for religious services prior to the erection of churches

and
chapels. Of the names listed above, it is certain that

. ft John Pope,
Samuel Williams, and Capt. Joseph Lane lived in the

Northwest parish on the south bank of the Roanoke
is evidence that the settlers of this area participated in

part of
and hence

a ed : the parish
activities and that services were held here at this date.

Edgecombe precinct was cut off from Bertie in 1732 with the
Roanoke « : ary 7 Ek }

10ke as the boundary. In 1741 the county of Edgecombe was
established. The same act of the Assembly provided for the estab-

lishme 4 new parish. Edcoec ish.23 7 :
iment of a new parish, Edgecombe Parish.23 The act directed

that the arrears due from the inhabitants of Edgecombe
to Society and North West Parishes “of which they

County
were once a

(17) Lewis, Opus Cit.: pp. 8-10.
(18) Lewis, Opus Cit.: p. 10.
(19) Colonial Records, Vol. 4, pp. 489, 498.

(20) N. C. Historical & Genealogical Register, Hathaway, Vol. II
(21) Ibid.: Vol. I, p. 199.

(22) Lewis, Opus Cit.: p. 13.

(23) Colonial Records: Vol. 23, p. 164.

» p. 303.

 
8 EDGECOMBE PARISH

part,” should be paid to the church wardens of the same. Edge-
combe Parish, at its formation, extended on the west to the farthest
bound of settlement. In 1746, Granville County was formed in
the frontier area and became the western boundary of Edgecombe.*#

The new parish of Edgecombe had no regularly assigned
clergyman until 1747. In that year the Rev. James Moir, a Society
missionary, was transferred from New Hanover to Edgecombe
County. Mr. Moir had come to America in 1739 and served for
a while in South Carolina. In a letter to the Society, dated Wilm-
ington, November 4, 1746, Mr. Moir, after complaining about his
recent bout of malaria, wrote as follows regarding the proposed
transfer:

In the northern parts of this province which are above
the district of the Rev. Mr. Hall, the land is higher and the
climate colder which makes it more healthy and there is ten
times the number of white people to what we have at Cape
Fear—They have offered me frequently all proper en-
couragement to find me a glebe and Parsonage House and
pay my salary truly and faithfully—If the venerable Society
will approve of these proposals and order me to remove
thither, I’ll endeavor to answer the end of my mission.?°

The transfer was apparently approved as the records show
that Mr. Moir was officiating in Edgecombe Parish in 1747. From
Mr. Moir’s letter, it would seem that there were people in Edge-
combe devoted to the Church and anxious to secure the services
of a clergyman. The Rev. Mr. Moir wrote a long letter to the
authorities in London, dated Edgecombe County, November 22,
1748. In this letter he discussed parish affairs and the state of the
Church on the frontier in some detail.

When I was preparing to leave this Province in the
Spring—many of our communion told me they thought it
my duty to continue, not only because they were pleased
with my labours but more especially because a great number
in the county had turn’d Baptists for want of a clergyman
and for encouragement they assured me that next Easter
Monday a Vestry was to be chosen that would do me justice.
They performed their promise; for ye new vestry called
the tax gathers to account and paid my salary faithfully, and
withall gave me to known they would slip no opportunity of
purchasing a glebe and making convenience for me, and

(24) Ibid—Vol. 23, p. 249.
(25) Ibid.—Vol. 4, p. 795.

EDGECOMBE PARISH

that in acting thus, they did nothing but was very agreeable
to the body of the people: they also allow’d me more time
to officiate in remote places than the former vestry had
done—These considerations prevailed with me to agree
for another year. By riding through the upper parts |
plainly see they require 3 missionaries—one to the south
near ye Branches of Pedee River, another upon Neuse, 126
miles above New Berne and the 3rd in the North towards
Virginia. The people seem much inclined to encourage
missionaries and often complain of their being pestered with
sermons of Baptist teachers: whom I have always found to
be as grossly ignorant as those they pretend to teach.

I cannot give a particular account of the persons I have
baptized since Michaelmas 1747—it frequently happening
that I am not so well acquainted as to desire any to take
the number: several spectators have told me I baptized
above 100 in one day—two white adults I baptized by
dipping—Last Whit Sunday, I had 95 communicants—I
received your favor of February 4, 1747 and purpose to draw
in bills till the venerable Society sees to appoint me their
missionary for the Northern district in the Upper parts—
if I can obtain leave of the Parish I hope to have the pleas-
ure of seeing you next summer.”6

In this letter, Mr. Moir gives some interesting information
about the parish and himself. It seems that the majority of the
people living in Edgecombe were not opposed to the Anglican
Establishment. Mr. Moir had been in his new parish only a year
and already he was dissatisfied and spoke of returning to England.
It is possible that he actually obtained from the Society a special
license to do missionary work on the frontier in addition to his
regular parish work. Governor Tryon wrote as late as 1765 con-
cerning Mr. Moir: “I do not think the province receives any bene-
fit from him as an itinerate missionary; for under that general
license of preaching everywhere, he seldom preaches anywhere.”27

The successive Vestry Acts passed by the Colonial Assembly of
North Carolina were disallowed frequently by the authorities in
London. This led to considerable confusion about the legal status
of vestries in the various parishes. Such an incident occurred in
Edgecombe Parish while Mr. Moir was the incumbent. In 1754

the vestry of the parish laid a tax of three shillings two pence per
capita. John Pope, the county Sheriff of Edgecombe was ap-
(26) Ibid.—Vol. 4, p. 878.
(27) Ibid.—Vol. 7, p. 102.

 
10 EDGECOMBE PARISH

pointed to collect the tax. In 1755 it was found that the vestry
which had ordered Pope to collect the tax was not legal and con-
sequently he had no authority to collect the money or compel
payment of the same. The vestry, however, held Pope responsible.
To add to the confusion, Edgecombe Parish was divided at this
time. The act of the Assembly ordering the division mentions the
sum of money due the parish from Pope and directed that the
money be divided between Edgecombe and the new parish by
John Dawson and Robert Jones who were allowed five percent
for their services.28 However, Pope didn’t pay and the case was
taken to the Supreme Court in Enfield where judgment was ob-
tained against Pope for five hundred and thirty-three pounds,
representing the parish taxes for 1754 and 1755.°° Finally Pope’s
claim was recognized and a special act of the Assembly was passed
to relieve John Pope of the judgment obtained against him and
ordering the two parishes to refund him the money.®®

The parish division referred to took place in 1756. The part
of Edgecombe Parish south of Fishing Creek was constituted St.
Mary’s Parish. ‘This division left Edgecombe Parish bounded by
the present limits of Halifax County. In 1759 the county itself
was divided and Edgecombe Parish did in fact become Halifax
County while the Parish of St. Mary’s retained the name of Edge-
combe.*! It is not known why the parish of more recent establish-
ment retained the old county name. The confusing combina-
tion of Edgecombe Parish-Halifax County resulted.

The act dividing the parish in 1756, in addition to providing
for the money due from John Pope, directed that St. Mary’s Parish
assume its share of the arrears of the parish of Edgecombe, the pro-
portion to be determined by the number of tithables in each
parish. This was customary when a new parish was established
and seems to have been perfectly fair. However, the new vestry
ot St. Mary’s didn’t like the arrangement and sent the Rev. Mr.
Moir and two of its members to the Assembly and to the Governor
to complain.**

When Edgecombe Parish was divided Mr. Moir chose to serve
the new Parish. The Edgecombe deeds show that he acquired a

plantation on the Tar River.

(28) Ibid.—Vol. 23, p. 474.
(29) Ibid.—Vol. 5, p. 1084.
(30) Ibid.—Vol. 23, p. 501.
(31) Ibid.—Vol. 23, p. 496.
(32) Ibid.—Vol. 6, p. 233.

EpGECOMBE PARISH 11

In 1760 he was one of the commissioners appointed to lay out
the town of Tarborough and was one of the first lot holders. Mr.
Moir remained in St. Mary’s until 1762 when he became rector of
St. George’s Parish in Northampton County. While in North-
ampton he seems to have visited Bertie and Hertford Counties
and his old charge of St. Mary’s with some degree of regularity.
He resigned from St. George’s late in 1765 and died soon there-
after. The Rev. Mr. Moir was quite a controversial figure and
much has been written about him. He became involved in a
private dispute with Governor Dobbs while he was rector of St.
Mary’s. There is a good discussion of Mr. Moir and his work in
St. George’s Parish in Northampton Parishes by Lewis.3°

Regardless of his personal character, Mr. Moir left the Church
well established in Edgecombe Parish. A parish church and two
chapels had been erected during his ministry.

The Rev. Thomas Burges, the next incumbent of Edgecombe
Jayric re ar 7 7 T i ‘ . yy
Parish, was rector of Nottoway Parish, Southampton County, Vir-
ginia prior to moving to North Carolina.?4 Early in 1760, the
North Carolina Assembly confirmed an agreement made between
the Rev. Mr. Burges and the Churchwardens and vestry of Edge-
combe Parish, “made October last.”?> Hence Mr. Burges prob-
ably began his services around October 1759. It is recorded that
in the same year he preached the funeral sermon of a Mr. ‘Thomas
at his home on Roanoke River near Norfleet’s Ferry.

In 1764 an act of the Assembly was passed allowing an in-
crease in the salary of Mr. Burges.36

The Rev. Thomas Burges was born Sept. 6, 1712 at Standon,
Staffordshire, England, the third son of John Burges and Dorothy
Lovatt. He came to Virginia in 1741 and remained there almost
twenty years before removing to North Carolina. The Rey. Mr.
Burges married first in Virginia, Miriam- ———and had three
(33) Lewis, Opus Cit.: pp. 15-21.

(34) It is of interest that the Rev. Thomas Burges purchased land in the
Halifax section nine years before he actually settled there. On \pril 4,
1750 William Little sold to Thomas Burges of Southampton Co. Va. 640
acres on the south side of the Roanoke River. (Halifax D. B. 4, p. 95).
On Dec. 12, 1751, as Thomas Burges “clerk” of Southampton County, he
sold this land to Montford Elbeck. (Ibid., Book 4, p. 297). There is no
further mention of him in the Halifax registry until April 20th, 1762
when Alexander Campbell of “the island of Martinico,” Merchant, sold
to Thomas Burges, lot No. 118 in the town of Halifax (Ibid., Book 8. p-

278). On Feb. 15, 1764, Egbert Haywood and his wife Sarah conveyed
to Thos Burges 1041 acres on Conoconara. (D. B. 8, p. 414).

(35) Colonial Reords, Vol. 23, pe OF,
(36) Ibid.—Vol. 23, p- 658.

 
12 EDGECOMBE PARISH

children by her. She died in i758. In 1760, after removing to
North Carolina, he married Mary, the daughter of Col. John
Haywood, a prominent layman in his new parish. They had one
son Lovatt Burges. Parson Burges, as he was called, lived near the
parish church at Conoconara where his parsonage was still stand-
early in the nineteenth century. He died November 12, 1779
and was buried in the churchyard at Conoconara. In 1760 the
Rev. Mr. Burges purchased a lot in the new town of Tarboro.
This lot was inherited by his grandson Thomas Burges the Halifax
attorney, the son of Lovatt Burges and Miss Irwin. In 1834 ‘Thomas
Burges deeded this lot to Calvary Church in Tarboro and it
forms part of the plot on which Calvary Church now stands.37

By his four children, the Rev. Mr. Burges left a great many
descendants in North Carolina. His son Henry John Burges also
became an Episcopal minister. After his ordination by the Bishop
of London on November 11, 1768, he returned to North Carolina
and officiated in St. Mary’s Parish from 1759 to 1770. Governor
Tryon recommended him to the Bishop before he left for England
and commented that he expected much from his ministry. The
Rev. Henry John Burges in 1772 became rector of Newport Parish,
Isle of Wight County, Virginia and later held several other par-
ishes in that section of Virginia.*8 The Burges family had a direct
influence on the later revival of the Episcopal Church in Halifax
County. The Rev. Henry John Burges and Gen. Lawrence Baker
of Gates County, married sisters, the daughters of Albridgton Jones
of Southampton County, Virginia. Mrs. Baker died when her
son was young and he was reared in the household of his uncle,
the Rev. Mr. Burges. Dr. Baker settled in Halifax County in
1795 and played a major role in the establishment of Trinity
Church, Scotland Neck. Dr. Albridgton S$. H. Burges the son
of the Rev. H. J. Burges, was one of the organizers of Christ
Church in Raleigh.

The Rev. Thomas Burges was not a Society Missionary and
hence did not submit parochial reports to the $.P.G. in London.
Hence, we know little of his activities in Edgecombe Parish. The
Rev. Mr. Burges died in 1779.39

(37) See biographical sketch of the Rev. Thomas Burges and his son the Rev.
Henry John Burges, by Marshal D. Haywood in the N. C. Booklet, 1926,
p- 233.

(38) “Clergy of the Establish Church in Virginia During the Revolution” by
Brydon, Va. Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 41, p. 127.

(39) The will of Thomas Burges, dated July 29, 1777, was probated Feb. 1794,
Halifax. W. B. 3, p. 223.

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH 13

In 1774 Edgecombe Parish was again found to be too large and
accordingly divided. The western portion became Elizabeth Parish.
The dividing line began at Richmond’s Old Place on the*® Roan-
oke and extended along various bounds to the house of Thomas
Daniels on Fishing Creek.4! The landmarks mentioned in the
division have now disappeared but the line apparently ran within
a mile or so of the present road between Halifax and Enfield.
The freeholders of Edgecombe Parish were directed to meet at
the Church at Conoconara to elect vestrymen while the freeholders
of Elizabeth Parish were to hold their election at the court house
in Halifax town. Very little is known about Elizabeth Parish.
After its formation there are few references to it. The will of the
Rev. Thomas Burges mentions money due him from the two
parishes in Halifax County, indicating that he served both Edge-
combe and Elizabeth Parishes.

The same session of the Assembly which divided Edgecombe
Parish in 1774 also divided St. Mary’s Parish, Edgecombe County.
The new parish formed from St. Mary’s was also called Elizabeth.42
This parish was not a part of Elizabeth Parish as formed from
Edgecombe Parish—Halifax and it is strange that the two new
parishes should have identical names.‘ Elizabeth Parish as formed
from St. Mary’s occupied what is now Nash County.

In 1776, a Society Missionary, one Hezekiah Ford, arrived in
North Garolina.44 The same year, he was appointed chaplain to
the Provincial Congress then meeting in Halifax. Little more is
known about the Rev. Mr. Ford. It is not known whether he was
in Halifax as an assistant to the Rev. Mr. Burges or not.

The late Richard H. Smith (1812-1893) of Scotland Neck col-
lected information about the Churches and chapels of the Church
of England in Edgecombe Parish. His findings were published in
a local newspaper about 1878.4° He listed four chapels, located
at Kehukee, Conoconara, Quankey, and Halifax Town.

(40) Richmond’s old place is marked on the Mouzon Map of N. C., dated
1775. It was located a few miles south east of Halifax Town, on the river.

(41) Colonial Records, Vol. 23, p. 964.

(42) There is no record of any church or chapel having been erected by the
Church of England in this section. The free-holders of Elizabeth Parish
as cut off from St. Mary’s, were directed to meet at the house of Samuel
Carter to elect a vestry in 1774.

(43) Colonial Records, Vol. 25, p- 465.

(44) For further information regarding Mr. Ford, see M. D. Haywood, The
Bishops of N. C.

(45) Referred to henceforth as Richard H. Smith.

 
14 EDGECOMBE PARISH

The first three mentioned chapels took their names from near-
by creeks. The chapel at Elias Fort’s on Tar River was in Edge-
combe Parish prior to 1756, when it fell in the newly organized

Mary’s Parish. An act to dock the entail on the lands of one
John Lane of Halifax County, was passed by the North Carolina
Assembly in 1761.46 ‘The following sentence of interest appears
therein: “forasmuch as notice has been published three Sundays
successively in the several churches and chapels in the said Parish
of Edgecombe in the county of Halifax, that application would
be made to this present assembly to dock the entail on the said
Jand.” This record indicates the existence of several church build-
ings in Halifax County at this date.

The five chapels previously mentioned were state-supported
and their existence can be authenticated in the public records by
deeds of property and other references. In addition, there seem
to have been at least two other chapels in Halifax County used
by the Church of England. These were Whitaker’s chapel, a few
miles east of Enfield, and the chapel on Beaverdam Swamp, in
the southwestern portion of Halifax County. The only record
pertaining to the last named chapel in the Mouzon map of North
Carolina, printed in London in 1775. On this map, the chapel is
clearly located on the south side of the road then leading from
Halifax town to Bute Court House.47 The map was not drawn to
accurate scale but this would be about seven miles southwest of
Halifax and about ten miles from Quankey Chapel, which also ap-
pears on the map. No reference to the chapel on Beaverdam
swamp appears in the Halifax deeds and when historians were
collecting information about colonial church history a hundred
years later, no memory of it appears to have survived. One can
only surmise as to when the chapel was built and if it were part
of the Anglican establishment at all. An examination of the map
of Halifax County will show that Quankey Chapel was relatively
far northwest and there would have been a need for a chapel in
the Beaverdam Swamp neighborhood to serve the inhabitants of
the south western part of the county. The chapels shown on the
Mouzon map for all of the colony of North Carolina seem to have
belonged to the Church of England unless otherwise marked. It
might be argued that the chapel was built shortly before the
Revolution, since it was so soon forgotten. The chapel was located

(46) Colonial Records, Vol. 25, p. 465.
(47) This was near the present Elberon—Warren Co. N. C.

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH

in the center of a thickly settled neighborhood. Brinkleyville, a
few miles to the west, was a very old settlement and appears on
the early maps as “Bringlyville.”. The Mouzon map shows the
site of Col. McCulloch’s plantation on the west side of Elk Marsh
a few miles east of the chapel. Just below the chapel itself, on
Beaverdam Swamp, are the names “Williams” and “Carney?” It
can be proven by court records that the related families of Wil-
liams and Kearney owned adjoining lands on the Beaverdam at
this time and “Carney” may be a misspelling of Kearney. How-
ever, there were persons named Carney living in Halifax at a
later date.

According to tradition, Whitakers Chapel, east of Enfield, was
built about 1750 by the Whitaker family who moved to North
Carolina from Warwick County, Va., about this time. It is of
incidental interest that they were closely related to the Rev
Alexander Whitaker, an Anglican minister who played a prom-
inent part in the early history of Virginia. The original Whitaker’s
chapel was a log structure located about seven miles east of En-
field on the north side of the road from Enfield to Scotland Neck.
The chapel was used by the Church of England until about 1776,
when the congregation joined the Methodists.

The first house of worship in Edgecombe parish of which there
is any record is Kehukee Chapel. On February 2, 1738, William
Fort ‘Planter’ deeded to the Parish and vestry an acre of

bi land
on the east side of William Bryant’s mill run “being one acre of

land where the Chapel now standeth on that very spot.” The
deed was witnessed by Abram Dew, Robert Hilliard,
Spier.48 Thus the chapel was built sometime prior to 1738.
Kehukee was in the eastern part of what was then Edgecombe
precinct and prior to 1741 was a part of Society Parish.

Kehukee C hapel was situated on a small branch known at V

and John

ar-
ious times as Bryant’s mill run, Chapel Run, and Steptoe’s mill run.

A few miles north this run merges with Kehukee Creek, following
in an easterly direction to empty into the Roanoke River, This
locality is in that part of Halifax County formed by a great bend in
the river and known from early times as “Scotland Neck.” Kehukee
Chapel was in use as late as 1780 and in 1795 was reported as falling
into ruin. The ruins were visible for mz iny years later. Some of the
bricks were obtained in 1885 and placed in the cornerstone of the
third church of Trinity Parish, then under construction in Scotland

(48) Halifax. D.B. I, p. 257.

 
16 EDGECOMBE PARISH

Neck.#9 When this building was burned in 1924, the brick, un-
fortunately, were not saved when the ruins were removed. There
is no trace of Kehukee left today. The site, on a hill overlooking
Steptoes mill run, is now a cultivated field.

The well-known Kehukee Baptist Church stood a few hundred
yards west across the run. The original church is said to have
been built by William Sojourner in 1745.5° In 1765 four churches
in Halifax and Edgecombe convened at Kehukee and founded the
Association bearing that name.®! Bishop Ravenscroft, on his first
visitation to this section, preached at Kehukee Meeting House.*2
‘The original building is gone but the site is occupied by a Negro
church.

According to local tradition, the church at Conocornara in
the central part of Halifax County, nine miles south west of Hali-
fax Town, was built about 1750.53 On August 18, 1747, Stephen
Cade, Inn Keeper, “in consideration of forty shillings,’ deeded
to John Haywood™t and William Kinchen,®> Churchwardens of
Edgecombe Parish, for the use of the parish, a tract of land sit-
uated on the south side of the road leading from Captain Lane’s
to the Court House.°* The Lanes at this time owned land on the
Roanoke River where the Caledonia Prison farm is located, just
north of the present village of Tillery and prior to 1759, Enfield
was the site of the court of Edgecombe. Hence the road mentioned
in the deed was roughly the forerunner of the present road from
Tillery to Enfield.

The Rev. James Moir, the then incumbent of Edgecombe
Parish, wrote the Secretary of the S.P.G. in London, May 2, 1749,
as follows:

This vestry met; yesterday and notwithstanding I prom-
ised if they gave me leave to go to London this summer to
return with all convenient speed—They would not agree to

(49) Richard H. Smith.

(50) Colonial Records, Vol. 5, p. 1164.

(51) Ibid.—Vol. 5, p. 1176.

(52) Journal of the 8th Annual Convention of the Diocese of N. C.
(53) Richard H. Smith.

(54) John Haywood—b. Christ Church Parish, St. Michael’s Barbadoes, settled

in 1730 at the mouth of Conoconara in Halifax Co. married Mary Lovatt
and died in 1758. (Wheeler Reminiscences Of NeGy pi)
William Kinchen, son of William Kinchen of Northampton Co., member
of the Gen. Assembly from Edgecombe 1754—He married Mary Dawson
and died in 1758. He owned land on the south bank of the Roanoke,
which is marked on the Mouzon Map of 1775.

(56) Halifax. D.B. 3, p. 156.

EDGECOMBE PARISH 17

it for the reasons mentioned in my letter for the 22nd No-

vember. I then considered how forward they were to get

things in order for public worship. The Church is almost
finished and perceiving my absence might discourage them,

I dropt my resolution of going to sea this summer upon

which they instantly laid a tax for building two new

chapels.57

The church in question was finished a few months later for
the Rev. Clement Hall, the Rector in Edenton, wrote the Secre-
tary September 11, 1749; “Our Church at Edenton is yet unfinished
but one is lately built in Edgecombe County where Mr. Moir
resides.”°8 Undoubtedly, the land acquired by the churchwardens
in 1747 was for the purpose of erecting a church and construction
on the building was begun soon after this. The church was finished
in September 1749, which is very close to the traditional date of
1750. Conoconara was the parish church of Edgecombe, and al-
Ways appears in the records as ‘‘church” while the other establish-
ments are designated as chapels. R. H. Smith refers to a parsonage
which stood near the Conoconara Church until the early years of
the last century.

Some confusion has existed among Edgecombe County his-
torians about the identity of the church referred to in the Rev.
Mr. Moir’s letter. Turner and Bridges, in their sketch of the
Anglican Church in Edgecombe, state that the church so men-
tioned was the chapel at Elias Fort’s on Tar River, within the
present limits of Edgecombe County.*® Bishop Cheshire was of
the same opinion.°® However, it must be remembered that in
1747, Halifax was the older and more densely settled part of Edge-
combe County. The Edgecombe deeds from 1732 to 1759 are on
file in the Halifax Registry as they largely pertain to deeds in
that section. In 1756, when Edgecombe Parish was divided, the
older part retained the original name. It is Strange that in 1759,
when the county itself was divided, the southern portion, the less
densely populated and the more recently settled area retained the
name Edgecombe while the northern section was named Halifax.
With this point in mind, it is much more likely that the parish

(57) Colonial Records, Vol. 4, p. 923.

(58) Ibid.—vVol. 4, p. 954.

(59) Turner and Bridges, Opus. Cit.: p. 75.

(60) “Historical Sketch of the Church in Edgecombe Co., N. C.,” by J. B.

Cheshire, Jr., printed in the “Church Messenger,” Aug. 17th-Sept. 21,
1880.

 
18 EDGECOMBE PARISH

church was located at Conoconara where it was retained in the
parish when it was divided in 1756. The chapel on the Tar
River was undoubtedly the first, and indeed, the only Anglican
chapel within the present limits of Edgecombe County.

Conoconara was not used by the Episcopalians after the Rey-
olution and fell into ruin about 1810. The Prayer Book used in
this church was said to have been printed in London in 1763. It
was given by the rector to a former parish clerk and descended
in his family. This church was replaced by general subscriptions
and was used as a “free church” by all denominations. This church,
in turn, was replaced in 1849 by a church erected by the Baptists.
This, the third church on the site, was taken to Crowell’s Cross
Roads where it is still in existence. There was a burying ground
around Conoconara Church which was used for many years. Old
Parson Burges is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the
former churchyard.®!

Old Conoconara Church was located about a mile from Cro-
well’s Cross Roads on the road leading north east to Tillery. In
recent years, this road has been straightened. The old road made
an abrupt turn at the church site, leaving the church on the
southeast side of the road. The site is now a hundred yards
northwest of the present paved highway, in a thicket. There are
a few scattered bricks which indicate where the church stood.
There are several gravestones in the surrounding area. Among
the graves is the tomb of Thomas H. Burges, an attorney in Hali-
fax Town who died in 1836. He was the grandson of the min-
ister and it is possible that the Rev. Thomas Burges and other
members of the family are buried close to this grave. A few
hundred yards west of the church site is Conoconara Swamp
which gave the church its name.

The records pertaining to Quankey Chapel in the western
part of Halifax County are few. This chapel may have been
one of those mentioned in Mr. Moir’s letter that the vestry had
laid taxes for in 1749. Probably the other chapel was at Elias
Fort’s on Tar River. There is no record of when these two
chapels mentioned by Mr. Moir were erected and it is impossible
to identify them positively.

(61) Richard H. Smith.

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH 19

Quankey Chapel was in existence prior to 1769, for on Novem-
ber 4, 1769 Edward Crossland deeded to John Alston®? and Nicho-
las Long,®’ Churchwardens of the Parish of Edgecombe, a tract
of land, near Edmundson’s Ordinary, containing two acres “where-
on a chapel is erected.”* On Collet’s map of North Carolina,
dated 1770, and on Mouzon’s map of 1775, this chapel and
Edmundson’s Ordinary are plainly marked about eight miles
northwest of Halifax town. This chapel was located near Quankey
Creek. The original site has not been identified aside from the
general locality. It was used by the Baptists after the Revolu-
tion. The original building was moved to another site and was
burned about 1875.6° There is a Baptist church named Quankey
Chapel in the same locality today, in the southeast corner of
Roanoke Rapids Township.

The first mention of any chapel in that part of Edgecombe
Parish which became St. Mary’s is in the act of the Assembly di-
viding the parish. The freeholders of the new parish were di-
rected to meet at the chapel at Elias Fort’s on Tar River to elect
vestrymen. The chapel was built before the parish was divided
and as stated above, could well have been one of the projected
chapels mentioned in 1749. There is no deed pertaining to this
chapel in either the Halifax or Edgecombe records. The will
of Elias Fort of Edgecombe dated Jan. I4th, 1761, bequeaths to
his son William Fort, 100 acres “beginning at the chapel door.’’6?
This would indicate that no land was set aside for the chapel, as
occurred with the chapels in Halifax County. The sons of Elias
Fort later became very active in the Baptist church, and moved

(62) John Alston, son of Joseph John Alston—He owned a plantation on
Fishing Creek in western Halifax County. He married Ann Hunt Macon
the sister of Hon. Nathaniel Macon and died in 1784.

(63) Nicholas Long (1728-1798) , lived at “Quankey place” a mile south of
Halifax town. He was colonel in the Revolution and held several public
offices. He married (1) Mary Reynolds and (2) in 1761 Mary McKinnie.

(64) Halifax. D.B. 10, p. 479.

(65) The following newspaper notice shows that Quankey and Conoconara
chapels were in use by the Baptists at that time. From the N. CGC. Free
Press Tarborough, Tues. Dec. 1, 1831.

“Elder Thomas D. Armstrong of Chatham will preach at the falls
of the Tar River Wednesday after the 3rd Sunday in December;
Thursday, Shell Bank; Friday and Saturday, Tarborough; 4th Sun-
day, Deep Creek; Monday, Conoconary, Tuesday, Halifax Town;
Wednesday, Quankey Chapel; Thursday, Austin Mills; Friday, Bear
Swamp; Saturday, Mearn’s Chapel, Nash Co. ... .”

(66) Richard H. Smith.

(67) Edgecombe will Book “A”.

 
20 EDGECOMBE PARISH

to Tennessee. The chapel at Elias Fort’s was located on the south
bank of the Tar River near a small spring at Teat’s Bridge.** This
bridge appears on Tanner’s map of North Carolina, printed in
1823, and is located about eight miles north west of the town of
Tarboro, near Dunbar farm. There is no reference to any other
chapel in St. Mary’s Parish, in either the printed histories or
court records. The Mouzon Map already referred to, shows a
cluster of houses and a church building at both Halifax town
and Tarboro. Whether this is of significance or merely the map
makers symbol for a town, one cannot say. ‘There seems to be no
tradition ‘of a church or chapel in Tarboro at this date belonging
to the Church of England.

It is difficult to fix even an approximate date for the erection
of the chapel in Halifax town. The Rev. Frederick Fitzgerald,
the first minister serving St. Mark’s Parish, Halifax, wrote in 1853,
that there was no doubt that the old church in Halifax was built
by churchmen a hundred years before.*® However, there are no
deeds pertaining to it in the Halifax Registry. The town of Hali-
fax was laid out on the lands of James Leslie in 1757 and the
court of Halifax was moved there about 1759.7 In the act of the
assembly creating the town, there is no mention of a lot reserved
for the use of the church. The gravestones in the churchyard go
back as far as 1766 which indicates the site was set apart from
secular use by that time. Sauthier’s map of Halifax town, found
a few years ago in the British Museum, was surveyed in 1769.
There is no church or chapel designated on the map but the
court house and “play house” are plainly marked.7! However, the
map does show a small building on the site later occupied by the
chapel, which may have been the building in question. There
is another difficulty in assigning the date of the chapel. As the
church stood at the beginning of the present century, there was
a flat-topped tomb underneath it, the grave of one James Milner
who died in 1772.72 The stone was covered by floor boards and

(68) Turner and Bridges—Opus Cit.: p. 433.

(69) “Historical Sketch of St. Mark’s Parish,” by the Rev. Frederick Fitz-
gerald—Recorded in the parish register.

(70) Colonial Records, Vol. 25, p. 354.

(71) There is a copy of this map in The Early Architecture of N. C., by
Thomas Waterman, Chapel Hill, 1941.

(72) There are several items relating to Milner in “The Virginia Gazette”
published in Williamsburg. He was an attorney in Halifax. In the fall
of 1772 he was elected to the Assembly and a great ball was held in
Halifax town to celebrate this event. Shortly thereafter he was thrown
from his horse and died of a fractured skull.

EDGECOMBE PARISH 9}

thus Milner apparently was not buried in the church floor, fol-
lowing the English fashion. This would indicate that either the
chapel was built after Milner’s death in 1772 or was moved from
another site. Then, too, there is the possibility that Milner was
purposely buried under the church and the floor arrangement
changed at a later date. As mentioned previously, Mouzon shows
a church in Halifax in 1775.

The Halifax church was a small wooden building which faced
West on the hill across the road from the Colonial Clerk’s Office.
The church stood until it collapsed in 1911. Photographs of the
building show a small wooden structure standing about three
feet off the ground. There were four windows on each side with
shutters. In the front there was a window on each side of the
door, and two small windows in the gable, on either side. The
interior is said to have been very plain with a raised pulpit across
the back. Apparently, the church must have been similar in. de-
sign to others of the colonial period with a small communion
table beneath the pulpit in place of an altar. On the wall back
of the pulpit there was a crown and miter carved of wood.74 The
crown was a sort of bracket and ‘held the miter. It is to be re-
gretted that this unusual piece of symbolism did not survive.

This may have been some local craftsman’s interpretation of the

royal and ecclesiastical authority which characterized the Church
of England.

After the decay of the established system, the Halifax chapel
was used by all denominations and became known as the “old
Free Church.” It was occasionally used for Episcopal services.
On May 15, 1853, St. Mark’s Parish was organized in this old
building. It was thought wise that the congregation should not
press the Church’s rightful claim to the property and a new

(73) The vestry of Bristol Parish in Virginia gave detailed specifications con-
cerning the erection of chapels in 1721 which appear to have been similar
to the Halifax building. (Spelling modernized.)
“Both chapels are to be of the following dimensions, forty feet
in height, twenty feet in breadth, twelve foot pitch, framed on good
sills & underpinned with good blocks or rock stones—a good sub-
stantial frame, to be weatherboarded with good clapboards— the in-
side to be common plain work, the seats to be single benches, ex-
cept the two upper pews and them to be double and closed with
doors; the floor to be laid with inch plank and each chapel ceiled
with half-inch plank & a common plain gallery, a pulpit and
reading desk and communion table, with doors and windows.”
(Bristol Parish Vestry Book and Register; Chamberlayne, Rich-
mond, 1898, p. 6) ;

(74) Records of Mrs. Sterling Gary, Halifax, N. C.

 
 

=
pot
for)
=
z
i=
v4
5
fe)
=
B
=)
a
=
la)
—
n
5
je)
i
%
rat
fe)
[4
A
[au
Ps]
Fa
“4
i
ie}
x
N
*%
<
-
wl
<t
e
<
P|
<
=)
x
YY
4
<
Z
ben |
—
4
a 4
a
=
a
=

. 9
EDGECOMBE PARISH 23

church, the present St. Mark’s Church, was built. The old
chapel fell down in 1911. Timbers were salvaged from the ruins
and a small shelter was erected over the site of the pulpit. The
shed, too, is gone, but the four blocks on which it stood are still
there, and thus mark the sanctuary of the old church.

The old churchyard at Halifax contains some of the earliest
gravestones in this part of North Carolina. The oldest stone is
that of William Alexander-Merchant at Halifax, the son of John
Alexander and Janet Kerr of Greenock, Scotland, who died in
October, 1766. Also buried there are Abraham Hodge, died 1805,
the publisher of “The North Carolina Journal,” and Sarah Davie
(1762-1802), the daughter of Gen. Allen Jones and wife of William
R. Davie, founder of the state university. Among the more recent
monuments are those of the Daniel, Marshal, and Gary families
who were strong supporters of the Episcopal Church in Halifax
during the nineteenth century.

The efforts of the Church of England in Halifax County were
reasonably successful. On the eve of the Revolution, there were
two parishes in the county, served by the same resident clergy-
man. The Anglican Church was as strong in the county as in any
of the coastal towns in the colony. Edgecombe was also a pros-
perous parish. It was among the few parishes, if not the only one
in North Carolina, that employed its own clergyman and did not
rely on the services of a Society Missionary. The later, as we
have seen, received the bulk of their salary from the Society in
London.

The Church did not fare too badly in the Revolution in a
material way. The second ordinance passed by the legislature of
the new state of North Carolina, then meeting in Halifax, was a
statute to secure the titles of church lands and houses of public
worship to the owners. Conditions were different in the neighbor-
ing state of Virginia where the glebe lands were confiscated. Many
of the clergy and the majority of the laymen of the Church sup-
ported the Revolutionary cause. There were some exceptions.
One John Llewellyn, a Tory who lived near Hamilton, in Martin
County just south of the Halifax border, was called before Gov-
ernor Caswell to defend his position. Llewellyn testified to his
firm belief in the then existing Church of England and his fear,
that should the colonist win this religion would perish in Amer-

(75) Fitzgerald, Opus Cit.

 
24 EDGECOMBE PARISH

ica, held him in his loyalty to Great Britain.7** Many Churchmen,
while not sharing Lewellyn’s political views, must have felt the
same way about the fate of the Church.

One of the functions of the parish vestry was the care of the
poor. When the colonial establishment was dissolved, the new
state of North Carolina passed an act in 1777 creating Overseers
of the poor and county wardens to take over this function.77 The
wording of this act is interesting and is similar to the former acts
providing for the election of vestries. The freemen of each county
were directed to elect seven freeholders as overseers of the poor
“to have'the same power as the vestries formerly had.” Two of the
overseers were to serve as county wardens for one year-“to have
the same power or authority as the churchwardens heretofore have
had, except as regards supporting ministers.” The same act of
1777 made the Overseers of the Poor responsible for the expenses
of the former parish and the salary of the minister up to the date
December 18, 1776.78 In 1787, the State Legislature passed an
act to enable the Wardens of the Poor in Halifax County to levy
a tax on the inhabitants to discharge debts due in the year 1777
to the Rev. Thomas Burges, now deceased, for ministerial services
performed in the parish of Edgecombe.”® It is interesting to note
in the records of Halifax and the neighboring counties that the
names of the former parishes continued to be used occasionally
for many years after they had legally ceased to exist.

Following the Revolution, the Church of England ceased to
exist in Halifax County. Although the property of the church
was secured to it by the legislature in 1776, the church was so dis-
organized that all the buildings formerly used by the parishes of
Edgecombe and Elizabeth, passed into other hands. In spite of
the general apathy, some church members remained loyal and an
occasional service was held. Montford Elbeck, an attorney in Hali-

(76) Early Edgecombe Records, a bound manuscript of records compiled by
Mrs. Edna G. Denson and in the Rocky Mount, N. C., public library.

(77) Colonial Records, Vol. 24, p. 89.

(78) In many cases property belonging to the former churches and chapels
was sold by the Wardens of the Poor. (See discussion of this in North-
ampton Parishes—by Lewis, p. 37). An excerpt from the Edgecombe
County Court records among the papers of Bishop Cheshire, now in the
Historical Commission in Raleigh, shows that the Wardens of the Poor
for Edgecombe met in 1801, and authorized Capt. Peter Hines, one of
the wardens to sell “the Church Bible and Prayer Book belonging to
the parish.” These were undoubtedly those used in the chapel at Elias
Fort’s.

9) Colonial Records, Vol. 20, p. 152.

4

(?

. 95
EDGECOMBE PARISH ba]

fax, in his will dated and proven in 1790, requested that on the
occasion of his funeral, a sermon might be preached in the town
of Halifax by a minister of the Church of Englanc

1,80

Efforts to Establish the Episcopal Church in Halifax County

In 1789, the Protestant Episcopal Church was organized in
Philadelphia. In 1790, at the insistence of Bishop White of Phila-
delphia, the Rev. Charles Pettigrew called the first Episcopal con-
vention in North Carolina at Tarboro and tried to rally what re-
mained of the colonial church. Successive conventions were held
and in 1794 the Rev. Mr. Pettigrew was elected Bishop. How-
ever, he was prevented by the yellow fever epidemic then raging
in Philadelphia from going to that city to be ordained. The
efforts of the Tarboro conventions to revive the Church were
totally unsuccessful.®!

There were at least two clergymen who lived for a while in
Halifax County between 1785 and 1800, the Rev. Samuel Mc-
Dougald, and the Rev. James L. Wilson. They are of especial
interest. There were only a few clergymen in the whole state
during this period and their presence in Halifax would tend to
reflect the strength of the colonial parishes in that section and
the hope of the new Episcopal Church of reviving the former
interest.

On Nov. 9th, 1789, the Rev. Charles Pettigrew wrote to Dr.
Cutting of New Bern regarding his plans for the first “Tarboro
convention and stated “I have wrote in like manner to the Rev.
Mr. McDougald above Halifax.” This letter, bearing the same
date and address and addressed to the “Rev. Mr. McDougald,
Halifax County,” has also been preserved and contains the follow-
ing paragraph of interest.**

Should you approve of this proposition together with
the time and place for our convention I might request it as

a favor that you will in like manner write to the Rev. M.

Mucklejohn & to the Rev. M. George at Warrenton, if of

(80) Halifax, W. B. 3, p. 180.
(81) For further information regarding the Tarboro Conventions see “Sketches
; of Church History” by Cheshire, Opus Cit. The Rev. James L, Wilson

published an earnest plea for all Episcopal laymen to support the Tar-
boro Conventions in “The N. C. Journal” of April 16th, 1794, Abraham
Hodge’s Halifax, N. C. newspaper.

(82) Preserved in the Charles Pettigrew papers 1772-1803 (P.C. 36). N. C.
State Department of Archives & History, pp. 28 ‘and 24.

 
EDGECOMBE PARISH

the Episcopal order & write me the result by the first oppor-

tunity, as I have wrote similarly to the Rev. Dr. Cutting at

New Bern, also to the Rey. Messers Blount on Tar River

and Wilson of Martin and purpose communicating to you

the purport of their answer.

This letter did not elicit a great deal of response from the
Rev. McDougald as he took no part in any of the Tarboro Con-
ventions. The Rev. McDougald is a somewhat legendary figure
about whom little is known. He first appears in the records in
1787 when a bill was proposed in the North Carolina Legislature,
then meeting in Tarboro, that the Rev. McDougald be made
chaplain of the assembly.§* This measure, however, was defeated.
In 1788, he is said to have officiated in St. Mary’s Parish, Edge-
combe County.*+ According to the Census of 1790, he was then
living in the western part of Halifax County. The Halifax Deeds
show that in August, 1791 he sold 2514 acres to Edward Good.**
The deeds show no further reference to him. It is possible that
he officiated in the region around Quankey Chapel, though no
record of this exists. Mr. Pettigrew’s letter places him “above
Halifax” which is suggestive of the Quankey Chapel neighbor-
hood.

In 1830, the Rev. Robert J. Miller, then about eighty years
old, wrote a letter to the Rev. Francis L. Hawks on the state of
the Episcopal Church in North Carolina during the post-Rev-
olutionary period. He had the following to say about Mr. Mc-
Dougald.*®

I may add to this, that Mr. McDougald proved to be an
imposter which had a very pernicious influence on the minds

of many who were friendly to the cause of the Church in

that opulent section of the state. He was then living in Hali-

fax and had charge of the two congregations that had
formerly been under the care of the Rev. Messers Burges
and Taylor.

The Rev. Charles E. Taylor was the last Anglican minister
who served St. George’s Parish, Northampton County, across the
Roanoke from Halifax However, there is no record of Mr. Mc-
Dougald’s ever having been in Northampton and the Rev. Mr.

(83) Colonial Records, Vol. 20, p. 124.
(84) Turner and Bridges, Opus Cit., p. 441.
(85) Halifax Co. D. B. 17, Da. 00

(86) This letter is printed in full in “The Church Messenger’ of Oct. 15,
1879.

i pee 97
EDGECOMBE PARISH ya

Miller was probably in error on this point.*’ Also, as stated pre-

viously, Mr. McDougald did not live in Halifax town. Mr. Miller’s
remarks on McDougald are interesting, particularly since the
ie in the western part of the county.
Oo

Church has never been stro1 ,
Bishop Cheshire thought that by “imposter” Mr. Miller meant
that McDougald was ‘“‘not of suitable character.’’°* However, it 1s
Strange that Mr. McDougald did not attend the Tarboro con-
ventions when he lived relatively near. Also, he does not appear
in the lists of Anglican ministers licensed to come to America by
the Bishop of London and he does not appear in the lists of those

ordained by the American bishops.

The Bay. James L. Wilson, who took an active part in all
of the Tarboro conventions, lived in Halifax County for a while.
He was ordained by Bishop White in Philadelphia July 24, 1789.°°
Soon thereafter he began to serve the church interests in the
counties of Martin and Edgecombe, bordering Halifax on the
south and east. He is probably the James Lewis Wilson who ap-
pears on the 1790 Gensus for Martin County. On April 20th,
1795, he advertised, as of “Williamston, Martin County,” for a
stolen horse in The North Carolina Journal. This was the news-
paper published in Halifax by Abraham Hodge. A few months
later the following item of interest appeared in the same news-

paper.

A Latin school is now open in this county near Cono-
conary Church under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Wilson.
Genteel boarding may be had in the neighborhood from ten
to twelve pounds Virginia money per annum for each stu-
dent.

This is very likely the Rev. James L. Wilson as no contemp-
orary clergyman of that name, other than he, lived in this area at
this time. Conoconara was the parish church of the former Edge-
combe parish, and the Rev. Mr. Wilson no doubt made efforts to
revive the church while teaching school nearby. Nothing more
is known about the school at Conoconara and evidently it soon
passed out of existence. The Rev. James L. Wilson was still in
Halifax two years later, for on Sept. 21, 1797, as James Lewis

(87) Henry W. Lewis, Opus Cit.

(88) “An Historical Account of the Church in Edgecombe,” Cheshire, Opus Cit.

(89) Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Bishop White, N. Y. 1880,
p. 201.

(90) N. C. Journal—Issue of Oct. 26, 1795.

 
28 EDGECOMBE PARISH

Wilson of Halifax County, he bought lot No. 18 in the town of
Williamston, Martin County from Thomas Hunter.®! It is not
known whether he returned to Martin County at this time or not.
He is said to have preached a funeral sermon near Scotland Neck
in the year 1801 and seems to have died a few years later.®? The
Rev. Mr. Wilson took an active part in all four of the Tarboro
conventions and in 1792, went to New York City to attend the
general convention of the Episcopal Church. However, due to
difficulties in travel, he arrived a few days after the Convention
was over.%3 :

In 1817, the Diocese of North Carolina was organized at New
Bern, and put under the care of the Rt. Rev. Richard Channing
Moore, Bishop of Virginia. In 1818 the Rev. John Phillips came
to North Carolina as a missionary. Through his efforts, Trinity
Church, Tarboro was organized in 1819 and Emmanuel Church,
Warrenton in 1821. The Rev. Mr. Phillips was also active in
Washington and Raleigh and paid an occasional visit to Scotland
Neck and other places. In 1823, his health began to fail and he
was forced to resign. Trinity Church, Tarboro, did not survive
his departure.**

St. Mark’s Church, Halifax, was organized by the Rev. Samuel
Sitgreaves, in 1822. In that same year the parish was admitted to
the diocese and was represented by Edmund Freeman, John
Hawks, David Clark, and Hon. J. J. Daniel. The report of the
Missionary Society of the 1822 Convention is of interest.

The Rev. Mr. Sitgreaves from the diocese of Pennsyl-
vania, has been in the service of the society for about the
last six weeks in the eastern part of the state. He reports
favorably of the prospects of our church in Washington and
Halifax, but thinks the hope of a church at Tarboro has
passed.

The Rev. Samuel Sitgreaves was ordained in 1820 by Bishop
White, and died August 12, 1830, at the age of thirty-two. He ap-
parently did not remain in the Halifax section very long.

The new parish at Halifax was not very strong and after a few
years, ceased to be represented at the Annual Convention. It is
interesting to note that among the representatives sent during

(91) Martin County .Deed Book “C,” p. 470.

(92) Richard H. Smith.

(93) Bishop White, Opus Cit., p. 201.

(94) “An Historical Account of the Church in Edgecombe,” Cheshire.

 

EpGECOMBE PARISH 29

these years, that two at least, David Clark and Simmons Baker,
Jr., were residents of the Scotland Neck section and not of Halifax
town. It is likely that St. Mark’s Church at this time was sup-
ported by interested laymen throughout the county. Until St.
Mark’s Parish was organized for a second time in 1853, St. Mark’s
Operated in close association with Trinity Parish, Scotland Neck.
In 1841, Frederick Starling Marshall of Halifax represented Trin-
ity Church at the Annual Convention of the Diocese.

The Rey. John Starke Ravenscroft became the first Bishop of
North Carolina in 1823. He was a man of great ability and mis-
Sionary zeal and reclaimed for the Church much of the ground
that had been lost in the years of neglect. The new Bishop was
particularly interested in the Halifax area. He reported to the
annual Convention in 1828 as follows:

Along the Northern line of our diocese from Edenton
westward, we have many friends, the descendants of Epis-
copal families, who would hail with gladness the revival of
the church, where in former days, there were flourishing
congregations, now scattered and peeled away, and were
there are yet many buildings standing, and some of them
in decent repair and the exclusive property of the Episcopal
Church, but now and long silent to the responses of her
liturgy. In the town of Windsor, in Bertie, in Scotland
Neck, and in the town of Halifax in particular, which were
Visited on this occasion, and in all of which I preached and
baptized, we already have an interest which deserves to be
cherished and which promises well to reward whatever exer-
tions we may be able to put forth. This is the true field
for our missionary labors to be expended on and could we
succeed in obtaining suitable missionaries the deserted tem-
ples would speedily be filled and the voice of praise be again
heard in their long silent courts.

During the year 1827, the Rev. O. V. Howell was employed as
missionary in the counties of Bertie, Halifax, and Edgecombe, no
doubt as a result of the Bishop’s interest. However, the Rev.
Mr. Howell departed after a few months without reporting to
the Bishop. Later efforts of the Missionary Society were more
Successful and resulted in the formation of Trinity Parish, Scot-
land Neck in 1832.

In 1844, the Rev. S. Y. McMasters, in charge of the Church

of the Holy Innocents in Henderson, reported to the annual Con-
vention of the Diocese that he had held services at Brinkleyville

 
30 EDGECOMBE PARISH

Station, Halifax County. In 1845 he reported ten communicants
at Brinkleyville and in 1846 he was still holding services there.
In 1848, the Rev. Cameron McRae of Warrenton included
Brinkleyville in his report to the convention. This is the last
mention of the unofficial mission at Brinkleyville in the journals
of the conventions of the diocese. The mission at Brinkleyville
may have possibly had some influence on the establishment of St.
Clements Church in near by Ringwood some twenty five years
later.

As stated previously, the initial attempt to establish St. Mark’s
Church, Halifax, Was unsuccessful. In 1852 Bishop Ives instructed
the Rev. Frederick Fitzgerald, who had recently been assigned
to the Church of The Saviour, Jackson, to give one Sunday a
month to Halifax town. Here he found seven communicants. His
work in Halifax was almost immediately successful and the con-
gregation soon erected a new church.®® The parish was re-edmitted
to the diocese in 1853. The new church was built on land donated
to the vestry of St. Mark’s Church by Mrs. Martha Burke Eppes,
the widow of Hon. John Wayles Eppes of Buckingham County,
Virginia, and daughter of Willie Jones. She inherited the Grove
House under the terms of the will of her brother Willie William
Jones in 1837 and spent the rest of her life there.°®

St. Clement’s Church, Ringwood, had its beginnings when
the Rev. Richard H. Jones was stationed in Battleboro as mis-
sionary in 1868. In 1870, he reported to the convention of the
diocese that he had been holding services for the past two years
in Battleboro, Rocky Mount, Enfield, Whitakers and Ringwood.*?
This seems to be the first indication that any of these places had
the regular services of a clergyman. The Rev. Mr. Jones remained
in Battleboro until 1874 when he was transferred to the Diocese
of Virginia.°8 In April, 1871, the Rev. M. M. Marshall of Warren-
ton, N. C. accepted a call to St. Clement’s Church, Ringwood,
and during his rectorship of two years, a church was built. In
Nov. 1873, the Rev. Aristides S. Smith became rector of St. Cle-
ment’s Church, assuming charge at the same time of the church
interests in Enfield.®® In the latter place, he first held services in

(95) Henry W. Lewis, Opus Cit., p. 60.
(96) Records of the late Stuart Hall Hill of New York.
(97) Journals of the Annual Convention of the Diocese of N. C. 1870.

(98) Ibid., 1874.
(99) Ibid., 1873.

 

 

EDGECOMBE PARISH 31

a school house. The Church Messenger of June 1, 1880 carried
a report from “Enfield Station’ Halifax County, to the effect that
“a church has been built here and paid for, costing $1,000.” How-
ever, the Church in Enfield progressed slowly and the Church of
the Advent was not admitted to the diocese as a parish until
1886,100

The Rey. A. S. Smith, soon after he came to Ringwood, be-
gan to hold monthly services in Weldon. An attempt had al-
ready been made to erect a church here during the Civil War.
Grace Church, Weldon, was eventually admitted to the Diocese
as a parish late in the 19th century. In this same period, St. Alban’s
Church, Littleton, on the Halifax-Warren border, was organized.

All Saints Church Roanoke Rapids was organized as a mission

i On7 . N ‘ 2
in 1907, and though the youngest parish in the county is now the
largest.

(100) Ibid., 1886.

 
TRINITY PARISH
By Stuart H. SMITH
Delivered at the Centennial of Trinity Parish,

which was held in Scotland Neck, December 5
and 6, 1932. In charge at that time were the Rt.

Rev. J. B. Cheshire, Bishop of the Diocese and
the Rt. Rev. Edwin A. Penick, Bishop Coadjutor.
The address of welcome was made by the Rev.
T. S. Clarkson, Rector of the Church.

 
TRINITY PARISH

It is not my purpose to discuss the origin of the Church, which
is fully set forth in the Holy writ and the writings of the early
Fathers. Suffice it to say that somewhere about the year 1720, our
forefathers came to Halifax County bringing the Church with
them.

Here in colonial times chapels were built at Halifax, Cono-
conara, Quankey and on Chapel Run, between Scotland Neck
and Palmyra. These were under the Established Church of Eng-
land and were maintained by the government.

Our interest centers in the chapel near Scotland Neck. There
is recorded at Halifax a deed, dated February 2, 1738, conveying
to the Parish and Vestry a small parcel of land on Chapel Run,
“where the chapel now standeth.”! This is important as establish-
ing by a public record the existence of this chapel and its date.
How long it had been there when the deed was made we do not
know. Its exact location was on the hill east of the road and south
of the run, just below Steptoe’s old mill pond. In 1795, when Dr.
Simmons J. Baker came to the county, it was falling into decay,
but the brick remains were visible for many years afterwards. The
well worn path leading to it showed that once it had been fre-
quented by numerous worshipers. The records concerning it are
meagre. In 1779 William Ruffin Smith, Sen. was baptised here as
were several of those who later joined in the establishment of
Trinity Parish. With the loss of revenues, consequent upon the
Revolutionary War, services there were discontinued. But an im-
press had been made which did not die. It was the forerunner of
Trinity Parish. The spot where it stood should be marked as sacred,
for there stood the first building in this locality dedicated to the
Worship of Almighty God. For many years after its abandonment,
services were almost unheard of in this section. There are records
showing that Bishop Ravenscroft preached several times near
here? and the Rev. N. Norment officiated occasionally in the
Vine Hill Academy.® Tradition associates the name of Mrs. Re-

becca Hillt with the organization of a new congregation.

I quote from the record book of the Church:

“In November, 1831, the Rev. Joseph H. Saunders® and the
Rev. William Norwood commenced officiating in a small con-
gregation in Scotland Neck, each once a month on Friday.” This

 
=
5
=
=
—_
or
Z
a4
| sp
~
—

TRINITY PARISH 37

afforded the congregation two services a month but no Sunday
service and continued until December, 1832.

“On the first Sunday in December 1832, the Rev. William Nor-
wood commenced officiating on two Sundays each month to this
congregation, and continued his ministrations to them until March
1834. During this period the Church building was erected.”7
The building referred to stood on the lot in Scotland Neck now
occupied by the residence of Mr. R. C. Josey, Jr. Mr. Norwood
was a man of consecration and much learning. Perhaps his great-
est work was in the establishment of St. Paul’s Church in Rich-
mond, Virginia.

The record book shows the Certificate of Consecration of the
Church by Bishop Ives,’ under seal, as follows:

Know all men by these presents that I, Levi Silliman
Ives, D. D., by the Grace of God, Bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the Diocese of North Carolina, have
on this 28th day of April, in the year of our Lord Christ,
one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, it being the
third Sunday after Easter, consecrated to the service of
Almighty God, in hearing His Holy Word, in receiving His
Holy Sacraments and worshiping His Holy Name, according
to the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in these
United States, a building called Trinity Church, situated
in Scotland Neck, County of Halifax, North Carolina was
erected by members of the Protestant Episcopal Congrega-
tion in that place, and by them to be hence forth separated
from all unhallowed worldly and common uses and devoted
to the sole worship of said congregation in the manner
aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my name
and seal in the place and on the day above written and in
the second year of my consecration.

(Signed) Levi Silliman Ives (Seal)

The record continues:

At a meeting of certain citizens of Scotland Neck, held
in February, 1833, an Episcopal congregation was regularly
organized® according to the provisions of the 7th Canon of
the Diocese of North Carolina, as follows:

We, whose names are hereunder written do consent to
form ourselves into an Episcopal congregation to be des-
ignated the Congregation of Trinity Church, Scotland Neck,
and further we do consent to adopt and be governed by

 
38 TRINITY PARISH

the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the Diocese of North Carolina.

Signed:!°

I. Simmons J. Baker, Sen. XIV. Susan Smith

II. George E. Spruill XV. Elizabeth Packer
III. Robert A. Ezell XVI. Richard Smith

IV. Richard H. Smith XVII. Rebecca Hill

V. Thomas B. Hill XVIII. Mary G. Lowrie

VI. William R. Smith, Jr. XIX. Winifred B. Hill
VII. Whitmel J. Hill XX. Rebecca S. Lowrie
VIII. Simmons J. Baker, Jr. XX. ihaura beaker
IX. Felicia Vaughan XXII. Elizabeth Baker

a -Ann Os baker XXIII. Lavinia Hill

XI. Sally Packer XXIV. James M. Hunter
XII. William R. Smith, Sen. XXV. Rebecca, a colored
XIII. Sarah W. Smith woman.

Of the foregoing signers, Mr. Richard H. Smith, Sr., tells us
that Mrs. Sarah W. Smith, Miss Sally Packer, Dr. Simmons J.
Baker, Mrs. R. Hill, Mrs. M. G. Lowrie, William Ruffin Smith,
Sen., Mrs. S. J. Baker and Rebecca, the old colored woman, were
baptized members of the old Colonial Church.

We read further:

In April 1834, the Rev. John Singletary! commenced
officiating to the congregation of Trinity Church, perform-
ing service and preaching two Sundays each month.

The first vestry of Trinity Church was composed of Simmons
J. Baker, Sr., and George E. Spruill, Wardens, Thomas B. Hill,
Secretary, Robert A. Ezell, and Richard H. Smith, elected in 1833,
when the Rev. William Norwood was officiating missionary. Up-
on removal!? from the parish of Robert A. Ezell and George E.
Spruill in 1835, Richard Smith, Sr. and William R. Smith, Jr.,
were elected.

Mr. Richard H. Smith writes:

In 1833, I was elected by the vestry of Trinity Church
delegate to the Convention in Warrenton. This honor has
been accorded me at every convention since, making fifty-
six years in succession. I have also been a vestryman and
senior warden for nearly all of that period.

Mr. Smith was also several times delegate to the General Con-
ventions (National) of the Church, especially during the period

 

 

TRINITY PARISH 39

of the Civil War and at the convention of 1865 where he was an

able assistant to Bishop Atkinson in re-uniting the northern and
southern branches of the Church. He says in his pamphlet en-
titled “Organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the
Confederate States A.D. 1861 and its Re-union with the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the United States, A.D. 1865:”

It needed but a moment or two to discover that we were
alike convinced that after the fall of the Confederate na-
tionality there no longer existed any “raison d'etre” for a Con-
federate Church, and that no time should be lost in seeking
a resumption of our organic relations. Thus Bishop Atkin-
son set forth to the General Convention, while I was glad
to follow him “Haud passibus aequis.”

The next minister was the Rev. John Morgan,'* who had
charge of the parish from February 1838, until the spring of 1839.

February 5, 1841, the vestry invited the Rev. Joseph
Blount Cheshire to take charge of this congregation in con-
nection with Windsor and Halifax, which invitation was
accepted. “This brief entry in the record chronicles the be-
ginning of a ministry rich in God’s blessings to the parish
and its members, continuing for twenty-eight years. It also
marks the birth of that tie of love which bound Dr. Cheshire
to the people of Trinity Parish for the remainder of his
life, and which still lives, after ninety-two years, in our affec-
tion for his son, our beloved Bishop.”

Of Dr. Cheshire’s ministry in Trinity Parish, Mr. Richard
Smith writes:

In the year 1841, February 5, God put it into the hearts
of our people to call to the rectorship the Rev. Joseph
Blount Cheshire, a young man, full of missionary Zeal and
energy, and above all, endowed with the true Christian
spirit. For twenty-eight years he officiated two Sundays in
each month, “Laboring in season and out of season,” until di-
sease broke down his constitution, and his medical adviser
recommended rest as the only means of saving his life. In the
year 1861, he was assisted by the Rev. A. A. Benton’? who
had charge of the colored congregation in connection with
the parish. On the 27th day of May, 1855, it being Whit
Sunday, a brick church was consecrated by the Rt. Rev.
Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of the diocese, and the name
“Trinity” given: to’ it° In September, 1869, the Rev. Mr.
Cheshire resigned the charge of this parish much to the
regret of the congregation. During his ministration the

 
TRINITY PARISH

number of communicants increased ten fold, a brick church
was built with ample and beautiful burying grounds sur-
rounding it, in which sleep many of her communion.!6

Of the building of this church, Bishop Cheshire says:

The proposition for a new church building being made,
the three Smith brothers, William, Richard, and James, con-
curred in thinking that it was needed, and as a consequence
they built it. They authorized the rector to obtain such
plan as might meet his views of what the church should be,
and he wrote to Frank Wills!? of New York, one of the
best architects in the country, and had plans and specifica-
tions prepared. There were no subscriptions solicited nor
any attempt made to solicit money. The three brothers set
their men to work to burn the necessary brick and to get
the lumber for the frame, and floors and roof out of the
forests. ‘They employed skilled mechanics for such parts of
the work as their slaves could not do, and within a com-
paratively few months the building was completed. Dr.
Simmons J. Baker, who, I believe, removed from Raleigh
back to his former home about this time, sold a pew
which he had owned in Christ Church, Raleigh, and
gave the proceeds towards the new church; some other
smaller amounts were given by others; but no accounts were
kept, or indeed could be kept, of the entire cost, and no one
knew, and no one specially cared to inquire what the cost
had been. Those who had undertaken it, paid for it, and
said nothing about it, and did not suppose they were do-
ing anything very extraordinary.

Twenty-eight colored persons were baptized during the min-
istry of Dr. Cheshire. After the Civil War, and his resignation,
the parish register discloses no others. This throws an interest-
ing light upon the relationship between Negro slaves and their
owners.'§ The custom of receiving these colored people into the
church had come down from colonial times. Some of us can still
remember several of them, Harriet Blount, Harriet Whitaker, and
old Ben Cheshire, how regular they were in coming to the altar
rail to take communion, after the white people were through.
None were more faithful than they and they lived lives worthy of
the profession which they had made.

In his letter of resignation, which is spread upon the records
of the vestry, Dr. Cheshire said in part:

After a ministry of twenty-eight years, I can truly say
that this is the only unpleasantness which has ever occurred

 

 

TRINITY PARISH

to disturb in the least the harmony that has ever existed in
our intercourse as minister and people. You have always
yielded me the greatest respect and consideration, both as a
man and as your minister, and have received my teachings
however imperfect, as the instructions of heaven for your
salvation. I can never forget your kindness to me and mine,
nor shall I ever cease to pray that the God of all Grace may
bestow upon the whole congregation of Trinity Church
the choicest blessings of this life, and crown you at last with
the infinite glories of the life to come.

For about three years after the resignation of Dr. Cheshire,
the parish was without a minister. Several were called but no one
accepted. However, the church services were continued by the
lay reader, Mr. Richard H. Smith, until October, 1872.

Trinity Church has always been fortunate enough to have in

its membership one or more men, able and willing, to act as lay

readers. This has contributed in a large measure to the mainten-
ance and growth of the parish. These men have been licensed by
our bishops, only upon a knowledge of their fitness, acquired
through personal acquaintance or by careful investigation. They
have been men who commanded the respect and confidence of
the community. Though there may have been others, I think the
following is a complete list:

Dr. Simmons J. Baker Alfred Luther Purrington

Richard H. Smith, Sen. Isaac H. Neal.

John Young Savage Stuart H. Smith

Walter Dupree Shields William Edward Smith

Richard H. Smith, le. Henry T. Clark

Their service covers the entire period of the history of the
Parish from its organization to the present time.

In October, 1872, the Rev. J. J. Norwood!® accepted a call by
the vestry. His ministry lasted till July 1, 1874, when he resigned
On account of ill health. His resignation was accepted with reluc.
tance.

Our next minister was Dr. Aristides S. Smith,?° a man of great
piety and learning. Coming on March 1, 1875, he remained until
October 1, 1881. For three years he preached twice a month on Sun-
days; then during the last three years, he came only one Sunday
in each month.

During the period of his ministry the Ladies Sewing Society
(now the Church Improvement Society) was organized in 1878,
with Mrs, Rebecca N. Smith as its president. Its immediate ob-

 
 

42 TRINITY PARISH

ject was to build a rectory. Heretofore the men, though much in
the minority, had managed the affairs of the church especially
those relating to finance and business. But conditions had changed.
A period of great depression was on.*! It was hard for the men
to raise the minister’s salary. If the parish was to grow with the
community it was necessary to have a resident minister and a
house for him to live in. The ladies undertook to provide this
and began their work. They soon acquired a rectory lot by a small
outlay of money. There they moved an old store building, which
they remodeled, adding four rooms in front. Several years passed
before all this was done, but, though it was not entirely com-
pleted, Mr. Hilton, the next minister lived there. Improvements
were made from time to time. Many other things have been ac-
complished by this society, a complete account of which would
show material assistance in the building of two brick churches,
the purchase of organs and church furniture, beside numerous
works and gifts of charity in the fifty-four years of its existence,
under the leadership of Mrs. Smith and after her death in 1915,°
under that of her daughter, Miss Lena Smith. To them and to
the other devoted and consecrated women who labored incessantly
with them, the rectory will remain a fitting memorial. It is espe-
cially appropriate that this memorial should be a home.

From October 1, 1881, to October 1, 1885, the Rev. Horace G.
Hilton** had charge of this parish, in conjunction with St. Mar-
tin’s, Hamilton, North Carolina. So much good was accomplished by
him in a short time that in July 1882, when there was a proposi-
tion to make Mr. Hilton evangelist in the Edenton Convocation
district, the vestry declined to release him.

On the night of March 27, 1884, the parish church and all its
contents, including the parish register were destroyed by fire, the

origin of which was never discovered.?* At a meeting of the con-
gregation held in Edmondson’s Hall, April 1, steps were taken
towards building a new church within the corporate limits of the
town.”> In the early fall of the same year work was commenced
on a new building on a lot purchased from the trustees of the
Vine Hill Academy. Shortly after this, an offer was made by Mrs.
Martha Clark,?° a former member of the parish, to restore the

old church and put it in a condition to be used for Divine wor-
ship. The offer was accepted and as soon as the work was com-
pleted the old church was used regularly until the new church

 

 

1884.

OF

THE Fire

Ovp Trinity CHURCH BEFORE

 
 

44 TRINITY PARISH

was so far completed as to be used for worship, which was in the
spring of 1886.77

While the old church was being restored the Methodists per-
mitted us to use their church building in Scotland Neck for about
twelve months. A suitable resolution of thanks appears upon the
minutes of the vestry.

Within six weeks $2,369.38, of which $278.19 was cash, was
subscribed for the new building. Mr. Peter E. Smith, a vestryman
of the church and a practical builder and architect was given
charge of the work. By his devoted and untiring energy, it was
ready for use in a comparatively short time.?® A debt of $1000.00
had been incurred. It took 15 years for us to pay this off.

Mr. Hilton resigned October 1, 1885. After several months
he was succeeded by the Rev. Herbert W. Robinson of Ontario,
Canada, who remained till March, 1888. He was the first minister
to hold services in the new church. Mr. Robinson had a splendid
voice and took great interest in the church music. He established
a vested choir composed of men and boys. This was among the
first of its kind in North Carolina.2® It was kept up for several
years after Mr. Robinson left the parish.*° For a while he at-
tempted full choral services and the chanting of parts of the
psalter, but this was soon abandoned. Ladies were not excluded
from the choir but sat near the organ and did not wear the vest-
ments. Because of the high standard which Trinity Church has
always maintained in Church music, I give the names of those,
who as organists have directed it:

Mrs. Rebecca N. Smith Mrs. Mary Smith Robertson

Mrs. Mary Smith Johnson Mrs. Anna Clark Gordon

Mrs. Nan Hill Elliott Mrs. Elizabeth Hyman Smith

Mrs. Sallie Smith Busbee Mrs. Nannie Shields Bryant
Mrs. Lizzie Hall Bond

Upon completion of the new church, the following questions
were submitted to the bishop:

1. Which building takes the name of Trinity Church?

Answer: The new one as it received the assent of the con-
gregation to its removal to the town of Scotland Neck.

2. Can the vestry regulate the services of the Church?

Answer: No, but can make any suggestions to the Rector.

The Bishop recommends that two full services be held
yearly at the old church, one on Sunday after Easter (low
Sunday) , the other on All Saints Day.

 

THE 3RD CHURCH OF TRINITY ParIsH, 1886-1924.

 
 

 

46 TRINITY PARISH

The recommendation of the Bishop was adopted and for many
years services were held in the old church, regularly, on those
days

Reverend Walter J. Smith accepted a call to the parish on June
22, 1888. He was the son of William R. Smith, Jr., and grand-
son of William R. Smith, Sr., who were among the organizers of
the parish. The new rector had been baptized and confirmed in
old Trinity Church. He was a man of great piety and endeared
himself to people of all denominations.*!

During the period of his ministry, the tower to the church was
built and a bell installed. This bell was a gift from Mrs. Bessie
S. Leak and her sister, Miss Sadie L. Smedes, as a memorial to
their parents, Dr. Aldert Smedes and his wife Sarah Lyle Smedes.
Intended for St. Mary’s Mission Church, when Mr. Smith became
rector of Trinity Church, at his suggestion it was given to this
church. A consideration which suggested the transfer was the
fact that in and around Scotland Neck there were many old pupils
of St. Mary’s School who loved and revered the memory of Dr.
and Mrs. Smedes. In a letter to Mr. Richard H. Smith, dated
July 24, 1888, Miss Sadie Smedes and Mrs. Leak acknowledged
receipt of his letter of acceptance and expressed pleasure that the
bell was placed at Scotland Neck.

The Woman’s Auxiliary was organized in 1890, with Miss Ade-
laide E. Smith as its president. Under her leadership and after
her death under Mrs. Henry Irwin Clark, Mrs. William E. Smith,
and Mrs. John D. Hall successively this organization has been a
great factor in spiritual growth among the women, and in fostering
missionary zeal and a broader knowledge of the work of the church.

Mr. Smith was requested by the Bishop to take charge of the
Thompson Orphanage in June, 1898. He was granted a leave of
absence for twelve months by the vestry, but resigned as rector, be-
fore the twelve months had expired, in the fall of that year.

Taking charge temporarily when Mr. Smith first went to the
orphanage, Rev. Girard W. Phelps*? was elected as rector in charge
of the parish, in November 1898. He remained until June 1908.
The Church debt having been paid in full, the Church was put
in order and consecrated July 5, 1903, on the Fourth Sunday after
Trinity, by the Rt. Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, D.D., the Bishop,
assisted by the Rev. Charles Fetter, the Rev. A. B. Hunter, the
Rev. Francis Joyner, the Rev. W. J. Smith, the Rev. G. W. Phelps,

 

 

 

TRINITY PARISH 47

and by the Rev. Theodore Dubose Bratton, who preached the
consecration sermon.33

Rev. F. W. Arthurs was minister in charge from June 27, 1908
to September 7, 1908 when he left to resume his studies in the
seminary.

From July 15, 1909 to April 15, 1911, the Rev. G. G. Bradley
was rector. At this time the rectory was improved and made more
comfortable, money for the purpose having been borrowed.

In the fall of 1911 Dr. R. W. Anderson came. He died before
he had been here a year. His work was hampered by failing health.
During a short ministry he greatly endeared himself to those who
knew him. He is buried just in front of the old Church.

During the last twenty-five years we have had five rectors, the
Rev. A. W. Blackwelder, the Rev. Floyd Cartwright, the Rev.
Reuben Meredith, the Rev. Theodore H. Patrick, Jr., and the
Rev. Thomas Clarkson. All of them are living and invited here
today to participate in this celebration. Each has made his con-
tribution to the growth of the parish.*t In many respects great
things have been accomplished, in all church activities, in the
growth and development of the Sunday School, the study and
teaching of the word of God, and in the spiritual welfare of our
People. In contribution to the endowment of St. Mary’s School,

rinity Church was the first in this diocese to “go over the top.”

It has given liberally to the Thompson Orphanage and to the
University of the South.

In January 1924 for the second time our Church building was
destroyed by fire. Our Baptist and Methodist brethren at once
offered us the use of their churches, and we held services in both.
Plans were made at once for building a larger and more beauti-
ful house of worship. To this exigency our people responded
liberally and beyond their means. The purchase of a parish house
was undertaken at the same time. The entire cost of the Church,
Parish house, and furnishings, including the organ, amounted to
about $55,000.00. All of this has been paid except about $9,000.
This indebtedness has greatly hampered us in our ability to do
other things which we should and would like to do. But taking
everything into consideration Trinity Parish is in a better condi-
tion to go forward than it was twenty years ago.

In looking back over one hundred years, the lives of our
parents and grandparents pass before us. The retrospect is in-
Spiring. Economic and political changes have been great. Two

 
 

 

4
g
[-4
<3}
a
Zz
z
ms
N
nn
S
©
ce
ce
q
1S)
“4
~
a
Oo
al
=}
Zz
z

 

 

TRINITY PARISH 49

major wars have sapped our lifeblood. There have been times
of prosperity and of depression. Many who were rich have become
poor; some who were poor have become well off and are now
poor again. But throughout it all we have gone forward. This
has been accomplished by the leadership of some and the co-opera-
tion of all. Three ministers have been born and baptized in
Trinity Parish, the Rev. Walter J. Smith, Rev. Henry Clark
Smith and the Rev. Zach. T. Vincent. To this list might be add-
ed the name of Isaac N. Neal whose studies for the ministry were
terminated by ill health, and Susan Smith, a missionary in Alaska,
and, too, we feel that have a claim upon the Rev. Morrison Bethea,
who was once a member of our Sunday School.

As typical of our church membership, and in no way in
disparagement of the large number of others, men and women,
who have rendered faithful and zealous service, I shall give a list
of the wardens as disclosed by minutes of the vestry, and of the
Secretaries who have kept the records during the one hundred
years,

Wardens: Simmons J. Baker, George E. Spruill, Richard H.
Smith, William R. Smith, Jr., James N. Smith, William H.
Shields, Richard H. Smith, Jr., Isaac H. Smith, James S. Paull,
William E. Smith, Charles H. Smith, C. Shields Alexander, and
Henry T. Clark.

Secretaries: Thomas B. Hill, Peter E. Smith, F. I. Smith, John
ys Bishop, James S. Paull, A. L. Purrington, J. B. Hall, N. S. Smith,
T. W. Bell, P. E. Shields, and W. J. Grimes.

The church has always taken a lively interest in the Thompson
Orphanage. A guild was formed in August 1888 by the Rev. Wal-
ter J. Smith and for ten years sent contributions regularly. Each
year our Sunday School has sent its box and contributions at
Thanksgiving Day or Christmas.

The St. Mary’s Guild, organized in 1907 by Miss Adelaide E.
Smith with former pupils of that institution, has likewise rendered
valuable service.

The Parish owns the following real estate:

Trinity Church in the town of Scotland Neck, built in 1924
by Nat Pierson of Enfield, Contractor; plans and specifications by
Benton and Benton of Wilson, North Carolina. This property
is subject to an incumbrance of about $7,000 to the American

Church Building Fund.

 
 

 

50 TRINITY PARISH

The Parish house, adjoining the Church in Scotland Neck.
This is used by the Sunday School, and the Young Peoples Serv-
ice League, and for all meetings of a secular nature and connected
with the parish.

The rectory: This with the parish house is subject to a mort-
gage of about $2,000 to the Home Building and Loan Associa-
tion of Scotland Neck.

The old Church Standing in the cemetery, on the hill just out
of town, keeping watch over those who lived for it and loved it
so. It is beautiful and picturesque, but needs repairs to prevent
its falling into decay.

We have every reason to hope for a bright future. Depression
and debt surround us, but these things call for more effort and
more co-operation. Every sacrifice will be compensated by the
joy of winning a good victory.

We have come a long way since twenty-five men and women
formed themselves into a congregation to be designated “Trinity
Church.” We have grown perhaps beyond their expectations but
the community has grown likewise. Opportunities and responsi-
bilities call to us for increased work and larger sacrifices. Let us
heed that call, each one seeking in his own life to know and to do
the will of God, and we shall not fail in our trust.®°

 

NOTES RELATIVE TO
THE HISTORY OF TRINITY PARISH
By, C.°0, Sere, Jr,

1. Halifax County Registry: Book I, p. 257

2. From “The Journal of the 8th Annual Convention of the Dio-
cese of North Carolina—1824.” P. 15, from the Journal of Bishop
Ravenscroft.
Finding an appointment made for me the next day at a
place of public worship calied Cahukie, distant 25 miles, I
left Tarboro early and met the congregation there assembled,
between twelve and one o'clock. The day was rainy and many
were consequently prevented from attending. A goodly num-
ber, however, were present; but here also the service could
only be partially used; though on the opposite hill once stood
a temple, the walls of which were once vocal with the devout
strains of our spirit stirring liturgy. I however preached to
the people assembled, but whether to their edification I had
no means of judging.
Bishop Ravenscroft also visited Kehukee in 1828. (Journal of
the 12th Annual Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina.)

Q

29. From the “Journal of the 13th Annual Convention—1829.” From
the Journal of Bishop Ravenscroft.

On my return homewards, I visited the district assigned to
the missionary labours of the Rev. Mr. Norment, and
preached in Windsor, at Kahukee Meeting house, and in St.
Mark’s Church, Halifax Town.

Report from the Missionary Society of the same convention.

“The Rev. Mr. Norment has been employed for the year
past in Halifax, Scotland Neck, and Windsor and has dis-
charged his duties with diligence and assiduity.”

There is little information available about the Rev. John H.
Norment. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Ravenscroft, May
1828, According to the Journals of the Diocese, he served for a
while, St. James Church in Greenville, Pitt County, and several
churches in Beaufort County. In 1831 he was given dismissory let-
ters to the Bishop of Pa. and apparently moved there.

1. Rebecca Norfleet (1783-1845), the daughter of Reuben Norfleet
and Mary Figures of Bertie County, North Carolina and wife of

Thomas Blount Hill (1775-1815) of “The Hermitage,” Halifax

County, North Carolina.

 
 

NorteEs

5. The Rev. Joseph H. Saunders was born in Edenton, North Car-
olina in 1800 and was graduated from the University of North Car-
olina in 1821. He was ordained deacon in 1831 and officiated as
missionary in Warren, Franklin, and Halifax Counties. He was
later chaplain at the Episcopal School for Boys at Raleigh (now St.
Mary’s) and in 1836 became rector of Christ Church, Pensacola. He
died in Pensacola of yellow fever on October 24, 1839. He married
in Scotland Neck, Laura Baker, the daughter of Dr. Simmons
Baker. (See sketch of the Rev. Joseph Saunders, in “Reminiscences
of North Carolina,” by John H. Wheeler).

6. The Rev. William Norwood was born in Hillsboro, North Car-
olina in 1801 and was graduated from the University of North Car-
olina in 1826. While a missionary in Halifax and Bertie counties,
he married Winifred Hill, the daughter of Thomas B. Hill of Hali-
fax County. In 1834 he became rector of Emmanuel Church in
Warrenton and in 1838 was called to assist Bishop Moore at Monu-
mental Church in Richmond, Virginia. He was later rector of St.
Pauls in Richmond, in 1854 Rector of St. George’s in Georgetown,
D. C. and from 1862-1869, rector of St. John’s Church in Rich-
mond. He died in 1887.

7. From the Journal of the 16th Annual Convention of the Diocese
of North Carolina—1832 from the Journal of Bishop Ives.
On the 6th I returned to Scotland Neck and on the 9th,

being Ashe Wednesday, I preached and administered confir-

mation to 7 persons, being assisted in the services by Rev.

Messrs. Saunders and Norwood. The next day with the same

assistance, I preached and administered the communion to

about 20, some of them belonging to the surrounding sects.

Here I was much gratified with the prospects of the church;

a people that appear so grateful for our services, although

obtaining them only once in two weeks and that on a week-

day, deserve our best exertions in their behalf. The neighbor-
hood is wealthy and they are about erecting a place of Epis-

copal worship. . .

From the journal of the same convention, from the Parochial
report to the Convention for Halifax County and Town, by Rev.
Joseph H. Saunders.

Scotland Neck is a joint weekday station of the Rev. Mr.
Norwood and myself, who officiate there alternately every
other Friday. The prospects of the church there are believed
by both of us to be extremely promising, and it is thought

by us to be one of the most important of any of our stations.
Much attention and personal concern about religion have

 

 

NOTES

been awakened in the minds of different persons. Two adults
have been baptised since the Bishop’s visitation in March,
and they, together with at least three other persons, are now
desirous to receive the apostolic rite of confirmation.

_ The friends of the church in this neighborhood are tak-
Ing active measures to provide themselves with a comfortable
church. A sufficient sum of money for the erection of a suit-
able building has already been or shortly will be subscribed
for that purpose, a site for the building is fixed upon and a
gentleman engaged to erect it.

8. Journal of the 17th Convention of the Diocese—1833—; from
the address of Bishop Ives.

: On Friday, the Ist day of March, I proceeded in company
with the Rev. Mr. Norwood to Scotland Neck where I was
gratified to find a neat and commodious church edifice,
through the praiseworthy efforts of the congregation here,
nearly completed. I preached here on the mornings of both
Saturday and Sunday, confirmed eleven persons and adminis-
tered the Holy Communion, the Rev. Messrs. Saunders and
Robertson assisting in the service I preached at Scot-
land Neck on Sunday 21, being in that neighborhood on my
Way to meet my family. On Sunday, 28th also I preached at
this place in the morning and consecrated to the worship of
Almighty God, the Church edifice (mentioned in connection
with my former visit) by the name of Trinity Church, Scot-
land Neck. . .

Journal of the 17th Convention of the Diocese—1833.

The Committee to whom was referred the application
for admission of new congregations into union with this con-
vention, do report as follows: that they have examined the
certificates from Trinity Church, Scotland Neck and Calvary
Church, Tarborough, and find that the requisitions of the
Canon have been complied with. They further report on the
applications of St. Bartholomew’s, Pittsborough, St. Mary’s
Church, Kinston, Lenoir County, and St. Thomas Church,
Craven County, that the evidence of compliance with the
canon is informal but is satisfactory to the committee; they
therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolu-
tion:

Resolved: That the Congregation of Trinity Church,
Scotland Neck; Calvary Church, Tarborough; St. Bartholo-
mew’s, Pittsborough; St. Mary’s Church, Kinston, Lenoir
County; St. Thomas Church, Craven County, be admitted
into union with this convention.

The following appeared to be elected delegates to repre-
sent Trinity Church, Scotland Neck in this convention: Dr.

 
54

10. Biographical Notes on the Original Congregation of Trinity

 

Notes

Simmons J. Baker, George E. Spruill, Richard H. Smith,
Robert A. Ezell.

Parish:

I. Dr. Simmons Jones Baker (1775-1853), son of General Lawrence
Lawrence Baker of Gates County, M. D. Edinburgh, member of the
House of Commons and State Senate 1816-1818. He lived for a while
in Jackson County, Fla. and was active in the formation of St. Luke’s
Church, Marianna.

Il. George Evans Spruill (1792-1845), son of Benjamin Spruill and
Ann Hines of Tyrrell County, North Carolina. He was graduated
from Yale in 1814 and practiced law. He married Mary Louisa, the
daughter of Thomas B. Hill of Halifax County, North Carolina.

III. Robert A. Ezell. Little is known about him. His marriage record
appears in the Parish Register. He moved away in 1835. Possibly he
is the Robert Allison Ezell who received a M.A. at the University of
North Carolina in 1839. (See Battle’s History of the University.)

IV. Richard Henry Smith (1812-1893), son of William Ruffin Smith
and Sarah W. Norfleet. He married Sally, the daughter of Judge John
Hall of Warrenton.

V. Thomas Blount Hill (1813-1888), son of Thomas B. Hill and Re-
becca Norfleet (See above). He married Maria Simpson of New Bern.
He moved to Warrenton in 1850 and later to Hillsboro.

VI. William R. Smith, Jr. (1803-1872), son of William R. and Sarah
Smith.

VII. Whitmel John Hill (1804-1871) , of “Kenmore,” Halifax County,—
the son of Thomas B. Hill and Rebecca Norfleet.

VIII. Simmons Jones Baker, Jr. (1805-1896) , son of Dr. Simmons Baker
and Polly Smith. He later moved to Marianna, Florida and was active
in the Episcopal Church there.

IX. Felicia Vaughan—Felicia Norfleet, the daughter of James Norfleet
and Sarah Gordon of Gates County. She married Dr. George Vaughan
in 1821.

X. Ann C. Baker (d.1843), Ann Cleverius Leavitt, widow of Henry
Hunter and second wife of Dr. Simmons Baker, Sr.

XI. Sally Packer—nothing is known about her.

XII. William Ruffin Smith, Sen. (1779-1845), the son of Arthur Smith
and Anne Ruffin of Scotland Neck.

XIII. Sarah W. Smith (1784-1873), Sarah Walton Norfleet, of Gates
County and wife of William R. Smith, Sen.

XIV. Susan Smith (1810-1895), Susan Evans, the daughter of Peter
and Ann Johnston Evans of Edgecombe County and wife of William R.
Smith, Jr.

XV. Elizabeth Packer (1813-1890). She was a native of the Palmyra
section and for many years lived in the house hold of William R. Smith,
Jr.

XVI. Richard Smith (d.1837), the son cf Drew Smith and Sarah Bell
of Scotland Neck. He married Anna Maria Baker, half sister to Dr.
S. J. Baker.

 

 

 

 

 

NOTES

XVII. Rebecca Hill. See note four above.
XVIII. Mary G. Lowrie—Mary Gordon Norfleet, the daughter of
Reuben Norfleet of Bertie County. In 1811 she married Judge Samuel

Lowrie of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

XIX. Winifred B. Hill (1812-18 ?). The daughter of Thomas B. Hill
and Rebecca Norfleet and wife of the Rev. William Norwood.

XX. Rebecca S. Lowrie; the daughter of Mary Norfleet and Samuel
Lowrie, married the Rev. John M. Robinson. He came from Maryland
and in 1833 served as missionary in Bertie County. In 1834, he removed

to Huntsville, Alabama.
XXI. Laura L. Baker (1810-1881), daughter of Dr. Simmons J. Baker

and wife of the Rev. Joseph H. Saunders.

XXII. Elizabeth Baker (b.1818), the daughter of Dr. Simmons Baker
and his second wife Ann C. Leavitt. She married William H. Dudley of
Wilmington.

XXIII. Lavinia Hill (1808-1848), the daughter of James Barnes and
Temperance Atherton and wife of Whitmel John Hill.

XXIV. James M. Hunter—the grandson of Dr. S. J. Baker. No
further record. He may have removed to Florida.

XXV. Rebecca—a colored woman. She is no doubt the “Old Beck”
referred to by Richard H. Smith in his memoir on church history, who
was baptised in old Kehukee Chapel on the same occasion as his father.

1]. From the journal of the 18th Annual Convention of the
Diocese 1834—from the proceedings of the missionary Society.

The Rey. Mr. Singletary has but just entered on upon his
labors. He reports to have found in Tarboro 5 communi-
cants, in Scotland Neck 10.

The Rey. John Singletary was born in Washington, North
Carolina, in 1792, was graduated from Yale and practiced law for
several years. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Ives, April 6,
1834, and the following Sunday began his labors in Scotland Neck
and Tarboro. In January 1837 he was called to St. Peter’s Church
in Washington, N. C. In 1843 he went to St. Johns-In-the-Wilder-
ness, Flat Rock, North Carolina where he died in 1845. He mar-
ried a daughter of Dr. Robert Williams of Pitt County by whom

he left issue.

12. Bishop Ives commented on the removals in his journal at the

20th Annual Convention of the Diocese in 1836.

On Tuesday, in Trinity Church, Scotland Neck, I
preached according to appointment and addressed the par-
ents and children of the congregation. The interests of this
parish, chiefly from removals, have suffered materially since
my last visitation. It is hoped, however, that the pious zeal
of the few remaining friends of the church, sustained by

 
 

56 NOTEs

pious confidence in its great Head, will not permit the min-

istrations of the Gospel to entirely fail among them.
13. The Rev. John Morgan was received by letters from the
Bishop of New York in 1838 and was assigned to Trinity Parish
and Calvary Church, Tarboro. During the next year or so he
was on a leave of absence in Europe and does not seem to have
done much work in his two parishes. In 1842 he was transferred
to the diocese of Conn. He may be the same John Morgan who
was rector of Christ Church, Rowan from November 1832 until
1835, also during that time serving Charlotte and Lincolnton.
According to Rumple’s History of Rowan County, p. 318, this
John Morgan was born in England, moved to Maryland in 1835
and died on Staten Island, N. Y. in 1877.

14. The Rev. Angelo Ames Benton was born in Crete. His father
the Rev. George Benton was an Episcopal missionary in Greece
who later held a parish in Cumberland County, North Carolina
where he died. The Rev. A. A. Benton served St. Timothy’s
Church in Wilson in 1869 and from 1871-1874 was rector of St.
Pauls Church in Edenton. Later he was professor of Dogmatic
Theology at Sewanee, Tenn.

15. Journal of the 40th Annual Convention of the Diocese—1856
from the convention address of Bishop Atkinson.

’

May 29, I consecrated the new and beautiful church
of Trinity Parish, Scotland Neck, in Halifax County. The
rector, the Rev. Mr. Cheshire, Messrs. Drane, Buxton, Park-
man, and R. H. Mason took part in the services. I preached
and confirmed one person, and with the assistance of Messrs.
Drane and Cheshire, administered the Holy Communion.
The building thus set apart for the service of Almighty
God, reflects great credit on the large hearted zeal of the
laymen and the perservering energy of the Minister, by
whose efforts it was erected. The congregation is not large,
but the House of God which they now have in their midst
has, I think, no equal in any country parish in the diocese.

16. In his convention address at the 42nd Annual Convention in
1858, Bishop Atkinson commented on Trinity Parish during the
ministry of Dr. Cheshire.
Nowhere in this diocese, since I have been its Bishop, has
a parish grown and strengthened more than in this locality;
and while I attribute much of this under God to the faith-

ful and unwearied labors of the minister and the cordial
affection reciprocally felt by him and his congregation, I

 

NortEs

do not attribute it entirely to these influences. Much is due
to the enlightened Christian liberality of the congregation
themselves. They have erected for the worship of God a
large and handsome brick building instead of a small one
of wood; they have provided it with organ, bell, and spa-
cious churchyard. They have thrown it open to the whole
community; they have provided good music; the beauty of
our ritual is made to appear. Aliens from the church come
from curiosity it may be, are received as having equal rights
with those who built the house, are struck by a service so
different from, and so much more solemn and attractive
than, any to which they have been accustomed, and re-
solve to come again. The result has been that in three years
the congregation has trebled; the church, thought to be un-
necessarily large when it was built, 1s found too small; the
number of persons seeking its ordinances is greatly increas-
ing and the temporal as well as spiritual interests of the en-
tire community advanced, and this too in a rural region
afar off from any one even of our small towns and vil-
lages. :
17. Frank Wills (1827- ?-) was a prominent architect in mew
York City who designed several Episcopal Churches in the North
and South in the period just prior to the Civil War. He was the
author of Ancient English Ecclesiastical Architecture and Its
Principles Applied to the Wants of the Church of the Present Day;
New York, Stamford and Swords, 1850.

18. From the parochial report of Dr. Cheshire to the 35th An-

nual Convention of the Diocese, p. 30. ;
A few of the communicants of the Church in this parish,
the spiritual wants of their servants,

In consideration for 4

have built a large and commodious chapel at a convenient

location for their plantations on the Roanoke River in

which I officiate twice a month to large and attentive con-

gregations of colored people.

From the address of Bishop Atkinson to the 40th Annual Con-
vention of the Diocese in 1856.

In the afternoon of the same day, I sense 8 4
firmed two of the congregation at a Chapel bui : o1 , .
colored people some miles from the church whic 1 I hac
just consecreated, but at a cost of the same «ci gt to
; "his church is well attended and evinces
a great extent. This church is well ut seve omellbiwi
the care which these masters have of the souls as we . €
bodies of their servants, is by God’s Mercy, not without

fruit.

 
58 NoTEs

The exact location of this chapel has not been ascertained.
It is thought to have been on the river farm of the late W. E.
Smith. The small marble font used in chapel is now preserved in
old Trinity Church.

19. The Rev. John Jones Norwood (1842-1919). He was the son
of the Rev. William Norwood— (See Note 6 above.) He was or-
dained in 1872 and after leaving Scotland Neck, served parishes
in Franklin, Virginia and Fauquier County, Virginia.

20. The Rev. Aristides S$. Smith was born in Abingdon, Virginia
in 1809 and was graduated from Yale in 1828. He was ordained
priest by Bishop Meade in 1842. From 1845 to 1861, he was en-
gaged in educational work. During the Civil War, he was
chaplain of the 11th North Carolina Regiment. Thereafter, he
was briefly an assistant at St. Paul’s Church, Petersburg and Rec-
tor of St. Paul’s Church, Centerville, Maryland. In 1873 the Rev.
Mr. Smith accepted a call to St. Clement’s Church, Ringwood,
Halifax County. While in Ringwood he was at times rector of
Trinity Church, Scotland Neck, St. Mark’s in Halifax, Grace
Church, Weldon, and the Church of the Advent in Enfield. He
died April 16, 1892.

21. From the parochial report of the rector, The Rev. A. S. Smith,
to the Convention of the Diocese in 1879.

Trinity Church has been able to do but little to build
up the church beyond its own parish bounds and but little
there. Probably no church within the Diocese has suffered
more in a pecuniary way than it has done. From being
one of the strongest Churches in the Diocese, it has become
of the weakest, and will, after this, be able to support a
clergyman only one quarter of the time. The services of the
Church however, are well attended, not only when the Rec-
tor is present, but when they are held by a lay reader, and
I am happy to be able to state that the church is opened
regularly every Sunday and once or twice a week during
Lent. It has lost heavily by removals during the last two or
three years and I fear this process is not at an end.

22. Rebecca Norfleet Smith (1830-1915), the daughter of Whitmel

John Hill and Lavinia Barnes of “Kenmore,” two of the original
members of the parish, and the wife of Peter Evans Smith.

23. The Rev. Horace Gray Hilton was born in 1825 and was or-
dained in 1871. He was at different times, rector of St. Thomas
Church, Bath, other churches in Beaufort and Hyde counties,

 

NOoTEs 59

and St. David’s, Scuppernong. He left Scotland Neck to take
charge of Grace Church, Plymouth, and St. Thomas Church,
Windsor. He died in 1887 soon after leaving Scotland Neck.

24. The following account of the burning of Trinity Church
appeared in The Church Messenger of April 10th, 1884.

The Burning of Trinity Church

Trinity Parish is in tears over the destruction of its beauti-
ful house of worship on the night of the 29th of March.

That it was the work of an incendiary hardly admits of
a doubt. The day had been devoted by a number of per-
sons to the pleasant task of working the ground and clean-
ing up the church preparatory to the Bishop’s visit on the
succeeding Sunday. No fire during the day is known to
have been used in the church yard and everything of a
combustible nature was taken from the church; in fact,
every floor and closet was swept and worked by the inde-
fatigable exertion of the ladies of the Parish; and never
have I seen the ground and church in better condition for
the solemn services of the Church. Many hearts went up in
thankfulness to God that they had such a beautiful sanc-
tuary in which to worship Him. Alas, little did they realize
that before the dawn of another day, all would be laid
in ruin. About 11 o’clock at night a colored man passing
by discovered the fire and gave the alarm, but before any
assistance could come, the whole interior was in flames and
nothing could be saved. The organ, the font, the altar and
lecturn of solid walnut, the Sunday school library and
church register in a few hours were in ashes. I am told by
those who saw the fire that the sight was awfully grand be-
yond description. The gothic tower and walls of the church
stood out in all their beautiful proportions. The flames,
lighting up the church yard, displayed the silent monu-
ments of the dead as mute spectators of the horrible work,
whilst could be read in living light on the rear chancel wall,
the beautiful inscription:

“We wait for thy loving kindess O God in the midst of
thy temple.” f

The loss of the church has produced a profound
sympathy in the hearts of all classes of our citizens,
save possibly the degraded wretch who lighted the torch.
The congregation has taken prompt action toward building
a new house of worship in the town of Scotland Neck, the
old church having been located thirty years ago on its pres-

ent site before a town or rail-road was contemplated in this

 
 

 

 

Notes

section by the most enthusiastic person. Many tears have
been shed and many heart been made sad by the action of
the congregation in deciding not to rebuild on the old site.

The base walls, without one brick being thrown from
them, still stand in all their beautiful gothic proportions,
grand in their very desolation. The congregation is poor
in this world’s goods and will need much help from abroad
to enable them to rebuild. They have commenced in faith
that some of the wealth of the church will reach them and
cheer their hearts ’ere long with a new sanctuary in which

to worship the God of their Fathers.
Richard H. Smith

25. The burning of the parish church and the erection of the
new church in a more central location was not without advantage.
The town of Scotland Neck had grown up after the church was
built, and its location inconvenient for most of the congregation.
The Rev. A. S. Smith, in his parochial report to the annual con-
vention in 1878, wrote as follows:

Since my last report, I have commenced an afternoon
service in Greenwood, the lower extremity of Scotland
Neck, nearly two miles from Trinity Church. These services
are always well attended and I hope, will result, at no dis-
tant day, in the erection of a chapel in this end of town.
Trinity Church is beautifully located, but if it were situated
a mile lower down in the town, I believe that in hot or rainy
weather, the congregation would be fifty percent larger
than they are. About twelve months ago, I commenced an
afternoon service once a month, in the church, for the
colored people. For several months, the church was nearly
filled, but they have since built a church of their own in
the heart of town and my congregations have become so
small that I have determined to give the Sunday afternoons
devoted to them to Crowell’s Cross Roads, a village twelve
miles distant.

26. Martha Goodwin (1815-1897), born in Scotland Neck, married
in 1837, Wm. Ruffin Clark of Scotland Neck (1809-1861) . They
had no issue. The children of her brother-in-law Gen. David
Clark placed a memorial window to her in the third church of
Trinity Parish, which was destroyed when the church was burned
in 1924. The following information relative to Trinity Parish and
Mrs. Clark appears in The Bishops of N. C., by M. Haywood,
p-. 170. “In Passing through Scotland Neck, in Halifax County,
where the principal crop could not be marketed on account of

 

NOTEs 61

the war, Bishop Atkinson asked whether the congregation of
Trinity Church, in view of their reverses, would be able to raise
the usual contributions to missions and the amount necessary for
the support of the parish, and received the answer that their
contributions to the church would be increased, because there
was greater need for them. One lady of that parish, Mrs. Martha
Clark, hearing that the Church’s educational interests were suf-
fering for lack of funds, sent two thousand dollars to the Bishop
to aid the work.”

27. From the address of Bishop Lyman to the Annual Conven-
ion of the Diocese in 1885.

April 29th, in the Methodist Church at Scotland Neck,
after morning prayer by the Rev. H. G. Hilton, I preached
and confirmed two persons and administered the Holy Com-
munion. I also addressed the congregation, urging to a
united and vigorous effort to push forward to completion
the new church edifice, now only roofed in. The building
is of brick and quite capacious, and occupies a very central
Position. When once it is made ready for occupancy, I
feel pursuaded that a new impulse will be given the work
of the Church in that neighborhood. I was also glad to
learn that through the liberality of a former parishioner,
the old church had been covered with a new roof and
would be soon in a condition to be used for all funeral oc-
casions and sometimes also for a communion service. Stand-
Ing as it does, in the midst of the cemetery and with so many
tender associations clustering around it, how fitting that it
should be thus preserved and employed for such sacred
purposes.

From the address of Bishop Lyman to the Convention of 1886
Wednesday, April 14, had a conference with the vestry of
Trinty Church, Scotland Neck, and then went to the new
Church building, lately completed, and held its opening
service. After Morning Prayer by the Rev. Walter J. Smith
and the Rev. Herbert W. Robinson, I made an address to
the congregation, preached, confirmed seven persons, ad-
dressed them, and administered the Holy Communion. I
was very glad to meet and welcome the new Rector, who has
been transferred to this Diocese, by Letters Dismissory from
the Bishop of Toronto. Mr. Robinson has been most kindly
welcomed by the people, and very cordial and affectionate
relations have already been established. Rev. Mr. Hilton
resigned the charge of the Parish last autumn and has re-
moved to his old home in Plymouth. The new church, at

 
 

 

NOTEs

Scotland Neck, is about a mile and a half from the old
building, and is in the center of a large and populous neigh-
borhood, which has sprung up long since the erection of the
old church. The new building is considerably larger than
the old one, and is a very neat and solidly constructed brick
edifice. It was entirely filled on the day of my visitation,
and I feel encouraged to believe that there is now before
the Parish a career of increasing prosperity.

29. In his address to the Convention of 1887, Bishop Lyman com-

mented on the choir organized by the Rev. Mr. Robinson.

Easter Day, April 10th, proved a most brilliant and love-
ly day and the hearts of the good people of Scotland Neck
were made glad by its jubilant services. Large congrega-
tions were present, both morning and evening. The es-
timable rector has given a fresh impulse to the work of
the Church. He has organized a surpliced choir and the
music is of a very simple, earnest and congregational char-
acter. After Morning Prayer by the Rector, I preached
confirmed six persons, addressed them, and administered
the Holy Communion. The Rev. Walter J. Smith came
over and took part in the Evening Service, when I preached
again.

30. The Rev. Mr. Robinson was in charge of St. Mark’s Halifax,
while in Scotland Neck. When he left Scotland Neck, he accepted
a parish in Iowa. The parochial report of Mr. Robinson to the
Convention of the Diocese in 1887, giving an account of his first
year in Scotland Neck, is of interest.

The past year has been one of great activity in the Parish.
“The Ladies Sewing Society” has expended nearly $250 on
the rectory, which is now nearly completed. May God bless
them in their work.

A surpliced choir was introduced at Christmas and has
been a perfect success, adding very much to the impressive-
ness of the services. The Bishop’s visitation at Easter will
not soon be forgotten. Bright, hearty services, eloquent
sermons, large congregations, and beautiful weather, com-
bined to give all that could be desired. As the fruit of the
self-denial of the congregation during Lent, there were many
and valuable Easter offerings—a carpet for the chancel,
matting for the nave, white frontal for the altar, hand-
painted new lamps, brass altar vases, and a pair of five light
candelabra.

31. The Rev. Walter Johnson Smith, b. July 26, 1852—died August
2, 1924, was ordained to the priesthood in Trinty Church on Nov.,

 

NOoTtEs 63

15th, 1886. He married Arabella, the daughter of Gov. Henry
Toole Clark of Edgecombe County. When called to Scotland
Neck, he was in charge of St. Mary’s Mission, Speed, Edgecombe
County, and St. Martin’s Parish, Hamilton. In 1889, the year
after he came to Scotland Neck, the Rev. Mr. Smith reported to
the Convention of the Diocese.

On Dec. 2nd. (1888), I started a mission at Spring Hill,
six miles distant, and have since then held services there
once a month with good attendance. - - - - the tower (of
Trinity Church ) has been about completed and the yard

enclosed with a neat fence.
In 1891, he reported that in addition to his work in Scotland

Neck, he was holding monthly services at Palmyra, Spring Hill,
and Hobgood. His visits to Palmyra developed into an organized
Mission, St. Anne’s, which, however, lasted for only a few years. In
1895, he reported that he was holding monthly services at Tillery
and Spring Hill, and that a chapel had been erected at Tillery.
Bishop Cheshire’s address to the same convention contains the
following reference to this chapel. “Friday August 10th, at Tillery,
Halifax County, I laid the corner stone of the Chapel of the Holy
Innocents, being assisted in the service by the Rev. Walter J.
Smith, whose faithful endeavors, aided by the liberality of Mrs.
Fries of New York and the N. C. Lumber Company of Tillery,
have brought the work nearly to completion.” Dr. and Mrs. Fries
of Buffalo, N. Y. had bought “The Mansion House,” the former
home of the Tillery family just south of the village of that name,
and lived there occasionally during the winter. Tillery and Spring
Hill continued to be missions of Trinity Church for many years
but were finally abandoned.

32. The Rey. Girard W. Phelps was born in Hyde County, North
Carolina in 1832, served (while deacon) as chaplain of the 17th
North Carolina Infantry and was ordained in 1869. His first
Parishes were St. David’s, Scuppernong, and later St. Mary’s Gates-
Ville. From 1872 to 1879 he was rector of St. Timothy’s, Wilson,
and also the infant Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount.
Following this he seems to have moved to Virginia. In 1895, he
resided in Littleton as evangelist of the Convocation of Tarboro,
being in charge of missions in Halifax and Edgecombe Counties.
After coming to Trinity Parish, he at first continued to be in
charge of the Missions of St. Mary’s and Grace Memorial in Edge-
combe County, but he later confined his labors to the parish pro-

 
 

 

64 NOTEs

per with its two missions at Tillery and Spring Hill, together
with occasional visits to the State Convict farm near Tillery. He
retired from the ministry after leaving Scotland Neck and moved
to Victoria, Virginia where he died in 1918.

33. See ‘““The Sermons and Addresses—Delivered On the Occasion
of The Consecration of Trinity Church, Scotland Neck—Sunday,
July 5, 1903,” Elam and Dooley, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1903.

34. The Rev. Locke Winfield Blackwelder came to Scotland Neck
from Plymouth on June 1, 1913. He was in charge of Trinity
Parish and St. Mark’s Halifax. On January 1, 1915 he left Scot-
land Neck to become rector of St. Mary’s Church, High Point.

The Rev. Floyd Cartwright, Deacon, officiated in Scotland Neck
and Halifax from October 1, 1915 to June 29, 1916.

The Rev. Reuben Meredith became rector of Trinity Parish
on July 1, 1916. He held his Scotland Neck charge in conjunction
with the Church of the Advent, Enfield, and St. Clement’s Church,
Ringwood. However, he resided in Scotland Neck. The Rev. Mr.
Meredith was born February 16th, 1870, in Virginia, and died in
Oxford, N. C. on August 5th, 1948. He left Scotland Neck on
March 1, 1926 to assume charge of St. Stephen’s Church, Oxford.

The Rev. Theodore Partrick, Jr. succeeded Mr. Meredith on
September 1, 1926 and remained until November 1, 1930. The
Rev. Mr. Partrick was born in Clinton, N. C. June 2, 1889 and
was ordained to the priesthood in 1920. He died in Raleigh in
1935. On leaving Scotland Neck he became rector of the Church
of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh. While in Scotland Neck, he
was also rector of the Church of the Advent in Enfield and in
charge of St. Clement’s Church, Ringwood.

The Rev. Thomas Simmons Clarkson was never officially as-
signed to Scotland Neck. He was ordained July 21, 1931 and
held services in Scotland Neck once a month in the interim pe-
riod following the resignation of the Rev. Mr. Partrick. The Rev.
Mr. Clarkson at this time was in charge of St. Paul’s Mission,
Smithfield, and St. Gabriel’s, Selma, under the supervision of the
Bishop. He resided in Raleigh while in charge of these missions.

35. Trinity Parish Since 1932

On June 18, 1933, the Rev. Benjamin Thorpe Brodie was or-
dained to the Diaconate in Holy Innocents Church in Henderson
and was immediately assigned to Trinity Church, Scotland Neck
and the Church of the Advent in Enfield. He was also in charge

 

Trinity CHURCH.

of St. Glement’s Church, Ringwood. The Rev. Mr. Brodie was
born October 17, 1909, the son of Benjamin T. and Florence Mc-
Intosh Brodie. On December 28th, 1933, in Trinity Church,
Scotland Neck, he was ordained to the priest-hood by Bishop
Penick. During his rectorship, the debt on the church building
was paid off and the church was consecreated by the Bishop on
April 25, 1943. This is the present church used by the congrega-
tion of Trinity Parish and the fourth building erected since the
Organization of the parish in 1832. The Rev. Mr. Brodie resigned
Oct. 1, 1946.

He was succeeded by the Rev. John William Drake, Jr. on
June 1, 1947. The Rev. Mr. Drake was the first rector in the his-
tory of the parish to serve Trinity Church alone. During his rec-
torship, the old rectory was sold and the proceeds applied to-
wards building a new rectory in the Clarksville section of Scot-
land Neck, only a short distance from the former one. The new
rectory was completed in Nov. 1949. The Rev. Mr. Drake left
Trinity Parish on May 1, 1951 to assume charge of the recently
organized St. Timothy's Church in Winston-Salem, on September
15th.

 
 

 

66 NOTEs

September 15th, 1952, the present rector, the Rev. Robert
Emerson Davis, took charge of the parish. The Rev. Mr. Davis
was educated at St. Laurence University and the Theological School
of St. Laurence University at Canton, N. Y. He was ordained
Deacon October 18, 1950; Priest April 25, 1951. Before coming to
Trinity Parish, the Rev. Mr. Davis was rector of St. Paul’s Church,
Lewiston, in the diocese of western New York.

A cross section of Trinity Parish today in 1954 shows the Rev.
Robert E. Davis, rector; a membership of 155 communicants and
172 baptized persons; and a Sunday School membership of 102.

CHURCH OFFICERS
Eric W. Rodgers—Senior Warden
Samuel M. Hanff—Junior Warden
C. S$. Alexander—Secretary
Jack Lawrence—Treasurer
VESTRY
Jack Lawrence Henry T. Clark D. E. Henderson, Jr. OLD TRINITY CHURCH

Peter E. Shields Cc. S. Alexander Samuel M. Hanfft
Charles Hale Charles H. Smith Eric W. Rodgers
SUNDAY SCHOOL
W. O. McDowell—Superintendent
Samuel T. Gregory—Asst. Supt.
Miss Blair Maddison—Secretary
Cary Knight—Treasurer
WOMAN'S AUXILIARY
Trinity Auxiliary Susan Smith—Auxiliary
. C. H. Neville—President Mrs. Alvin Wilson—President
. J. D. Hall—Vice-President Mrs. Laurence Maddison—Vice-Pres.
Clarence House—Secretary Mrs. Samuel T. Gregory—Secretary
. Samuel M. Hanff—Sen.-Treas. Mrs. Richard Pittman—Treasyrer
ALTAR GUILD
Mrs. William A. Kitchin—Chairman
TRINITY PARISH IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE
P. E. Shields—Chairman
Samuel T. Gregory—Secretary
Mrs. C. H. Neville—Treasurer

ADAPTED FROM A SKETCH WRITTEN By LENA H. SMITH.

Charles Hale Mrs. T. Douglas Temple
Mrs. Balfour Dunn C. S. Alexander
Charles H. Smith Samuel M. Hanff

YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICE LEAGUE
Betsy Brodie—President
Blair Maddison—Vice-President
Lee Green—Secretary
Joe Billy Riddick—Treasurer

 
 

 

 

 

OLD TRINITY CHURCH

The first church of Trinity Parish was a small wooden struc-
ture erected in the village of Clarksville (now the northern por-
tion of Scotland Neck) by Mr. Thomas B. Hill in 1832. In 1855,
a larger church was needed by the growing congregation and a
more favorable location was selected. The church was built on
a beautiful elevation just above a stream of water, a mile north
of the first frame church. At that time the public road that divided
the lands of Richard Smith and Peter E. Smith crossed the brow
of the hill selected for the site of the church. Each of these two
men gave part of the land for the building and the ample burial
ground around it.

The three Smith brothers, William, Richard, and James are
credited by Bishop Cheshire with the building of Trinity Church.
However, contributions were made by others. The following un-
dated documents was found in the papers of Peter E. Smith, now
in the Southern Historical Collection at Chapel Hill.

We, the undersigned do agree to pay to the vestry of
Trinity Church, Scotland Neck, the sum opposite our re-
spective names for the purpose of building a brick church
and constructing a public burying ground, to be located at
some convenient spot in the neighborhood.

Richard H. Smith Dre Ac iS eral William Slocumb
James N. Smith William H. Smith John T. Lawrence
Ann Evans John H. Speed B. W. Cotten
William R. Smith Dr. James M. Johnson Heshborn Bishop
Whitmel i]. eee George A. Higgs William H. Shields
Peter E. Smith Thomas D. Lawrence Charles Shields
A. J. Cooper

An account of the erection of the church is given elsewhere.
The church was planned by Frank Wills, a New York architect,
and it was the first Gothic Church in this part of the country. The
interior had an open timbered roof. The walls were painted to
resemble square blocks of stone. The chancel was enclosed by a
large arch over which in letters of gold leaf were the words;
“Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness, Be Ye Doers of The
Word and Not Hearers Only.” On the rear chancel wall, over the
triplet of windows were the words: “We wait for Thy Loving
Kindness O God in the Midst of Thy Temple.” This wall re-
mained intact after the fire which destroyed the church in 1884.
The sentence is still there as placed in 1855. The witnesses at the

 
 

70 Ovp Trinity CHuRCH

fire said the sentence stood out through the smoke and flames.

There was a choir loft across the rear end of the nave with a
fine pipe organ. The choir loft was reached by a stairway in the
tower. The chancel furniture was of walnut with a massive altar.
The windows in the church were of leaded glass with diamond
shaped panes; the triplet in the chancel was of stained glass with
medallions of Christian symbols.

The silver communion service used in this church escaped de-
struction when the building was burned. Part of it is marked 1842
and it must have been bought for the old church, built in 1832.
This communion service is still in use in the present, the fourth
church of Trinity Parish.

The church building was mysteriously destroyed by fire with
all that it contained March 27, 1884. The parish decided to erect
a new church within the town of Scotland Neck. At a vestry
meeting held soon after the church was burned, it was resolved
that the remains of old Trinity Church be not disturbed except
in case of necessity in the last resort and James N. Smith was ap-
pointed custodian of the remains of the old church building and
grounds. The church was restored late in 1884 sufficiently to be
used for services through the kindness of a former parishioner,
Mrs. William Ruffin Clark of Baltimore. The restoration was made
on the condition that Trinity Parish would make no improve-
ments in it until after the new church in Scotland Neck, then under
construction, was consecrated. Consequently, it has never been
restored to anything like its former beauty. After the restoration,
a bridal gift of money to Louisa Hill Smith, who married Thomas
S. Norfleet was used to furnish the chancel.

After the church was burned, Bishop Cheshire wrote:

The readers of The Church Messenger have already been
informed of the great calamity which has befallen this parish

in the destruction by fire of its beautiful church building

in the night of March 27. It is a sorer affliction to them than

any one can understand who has not known the parish and

its people long and well. Their church was one of the few

things associated with the old days of wealth and prosperity

which had been left to them. That which they kept, they
lost—This church which they had given to God, they had
kept and now it, too, is gone,

The building just destroyed was erected about thirty years

ago during the rectorship of the Rev. Joseph Blount Che-
shire, D.D., and was consecrated May 27, 1855. It was built af-

 

 

INTERIOR OF OLD TRINITY CHURCH AS RESTORED.

 
Op Trinity CHurRcH

ter designes by Frank Wills, the eminent New York architect
and was a gem of art, simple and unpretentious, but grace-
ful and satisfying. It was the first specimen of Gothic archi-
tecture which the writer ever saw and in later years, after
having seen some of the most famous structures in this
country, he remembers his feeling of agreeable surprise up-
on revisiting Scotland Neck, at finding that this modest
country church had lost nothing of its charm by contrast
with greater works. The meadow lily is not so handsome a
flower as the rose, but it is no less perfect and no less pleas-
ing in its place. The graceful tower of Trinity Church,
Scotland Neck, crowning the gentle elevation on which it
stood, was a sight not to be forgotten. It was without ques-
tion the most beautiful country church in North Carolina.

In recent years the church building fell into decay and could
no longer be used for services. A restoration movement was started
in 1946 by interested persons to save the building from ruin and
today (1953) it is in a good state of repair. As the restoration
in 1884 was only a partial one, plans are being made to restore the
church to something more closely approximating its appearance
when it was built.

A large churchyard was provided for when the church was
built in 1885. This was open to the public and used by all de-
nominations. The Rector, Dr. Cheshire, a botanist and landscape
gardener, laid out the yard and planted the evergreens and shrubs.
After the public burying ground was established, several graves
were moved here from private cemeteries. Hence some of the
monuments antedate the establishment of the cemetery. The oldest
monument in the cemetery is that of Col. Whitmel Hill (1743-
1797), a colonel in the Revolution and a member of the Con-
tinental Congress. His grave was moved here from his former
home “Hills Ferry,” near Palmyra, in eastern Halifax. The church-
yard was used by all denominations and by 1881, the sections were
nearly all appropriated. In that year, the Baptist Church requested
land for a separate cemetery and the vestry alloted them the land
lying south of the churchyard.

 

JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE
1814—1899

By J. B. Cuesuire III

 
 

 

JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE

John Cheshire emigrated about 1750 to Norfolk, Virginia, from
Liverpool and married there on August 16, 1759, Mary Frances
Miller. He was a lieutenant in the Virginia Revolutionary Navy
and later Captain of the armed brig “Lord Chatham” of North
Carolina’s similar Navy. He was lost at sea in this service about
1778-1779. His wife and two of their children, Margaret and
John, removed to Edenton when their home was burned in the
confusion resulting from the capture of Norfolk by Lord Dunmore
and its recapture by the Patriots. John Cheshire IJ, born June 8,
1769, also followed the sea before his marriage and was captured
by the Morrocan Pirates in 1805, but was rescued by one of Lord
Nelson's frigates a few days before the Battle of Trafalgar.

On December 12, 1812 John Cheshire II married Elizabeth
Ann Blount, daughter of Joseph Blount and Ann Gray of Eden-
ton. John Cheshire II and his wife were both members of St.
Paul’s, Edenton, and her father, grandfather and great grand-
father had been wardens and vestrymen of St. Paul’s since 1701.
After his marriage, John Cheshire II was a merchant of Edenton
until his death on February 17, 1830. The eldest son of this union
was Joseph Blount Cheshire, born at ‘‘Cheshire Hill,” Edenton,
December 29, 1814.

Joseph Blount Cheshire was educated first at the Edenton
Academy and was then sent to The Episcopal School of North
Carolina in Raleigh. After finishing this school he studied law
under Mr. Thomas P. Devereaux in Raleigh, receiving his license
to practice in the inferior courts of the State on December 26,
1836, and his license for the Superior and Supreme Courts on
December 29, 1837. He practiced for two years in his native
Chowan and adjoining counties but his heart was never in the
law, and feeling a strong call for the ministry, he was admitted a
Candidate for Holy Orders on August 8, 1838, beginning his
Studies at once under the direction of Bishop Ives. He was or-
dained Deacon early in 1840 and Priest on May 9, 1841.

His first work was as a missionary in Bertie and Halifax
Counties, having especial charge of the towns of Halifax and
Windsor. At the suggestion of Mr. Thomas B. Hill, he began
holding services in the Scotland Neck neighborhood early in 1840.
Soon after this Mr. James N. Smith was confirmed; but there
were no other men confirmed there for the next ten years, when
Mr. William R. Smith and his son Peter E. Smith, were baptized

and confirmed at the same time.

 
JosePpH BLOUNT CHESHIRE

Mr. Thomas B. Hill was soon the bearer of an invitation to
the young priest to come and hold services at Calvary Church,
Tarboro. He visited that Parish in June, 1842, with the result
that these two Churches, Trinity, Scotland Neck, and Calvary,
Tarboro, became the fields of his life work.

In Tarboro he found a wife, daughter of his Senior Warden,
Theophilus Parker. On February 8, 1843, Joseph Blount Cheshire
and Elizabeth Toole Parker were married in Calvary Church,
Tarboro, by the Rev. John Singletary, Rector of St. Peter’s
Church, Washington, North Carolina. Four children of this union
reached maturity. Joseph Blount Cheshire (1850-1932) ;  Theo-
philus Parker Cheshire (1852-1893) ; Annie Gray Cheshire (1859-
1951); Kate Drane Cheshire (1862-1935) .

His permanent home became Tarboro. He retained also the
Rectorship of Scotland Neck for almost thirty years, dividing his
time between Tarboro and Scotland Neck, but soon after his
marriage he gave up Halifax and Windsor. He said at the time
that he had taken Scotland Neck and Tarboro as he had taken
his wife “to have and hold till death do us part.”

By 1868, the Rector’s health became so imparied that he was
compelled on July 1, 1869 to resign the Rectorship of Trinity
Church. He left it the strongest and most vigorous country parish
in the Diocese, not only in numbers, but in the character and in-
telligence and devotion of its members, and inferior in numbers
and material equipment only to be the principal parishes in the
largest towns, Edenton, New Bern, Wilmington, Fayetteville, and
Raleigh. All other Churches in the Diocese were inferior to it in
all of the elements of Church strength.

At Tarboro the work progressed less rapidly than in Scotland
Neck. After ten years, 1853, there were only nineteen commu-
nicants, and in 1858 thirty-three. The small Church of 1834 was
still in use but the churchyard was soon doubled in size and be-
gan to show the effect of the Rector’s enthusiasm for beautifying
the property with walks, and trees, shrubs and flowers. A new
church was found necessary and $9,000 was subscribed for its erec-
tion. Some of the contributors were not members of the Church.
The architect was William Percival and the builder Thomas Coats,
both of Raleigh. No debt was contracted in the building of this
Church. By the fall of 1860 the walls and towers of brick and
the spires had been built, the roof finished, and the floors laid at
a cost of about $18,000, all paid for. The impending War made it

JosepH BLOUNT CHESHIRE 77

necessary to stop. The Church was boarded up and remained so
until 1866. Work was then resumed and the Church was finished
and consecrated on May 10, 1868, during the session of the
Diocesan Convention. The Church then finished is the beautiful
Calvary Church, Tarboro, of today.

Dr. Cheshire’s! first sermon, after Tarboro had been occupied
by Federal Troops in 1865, was offensive to some of the United
States Army officers present in the Church and their feelings were
not soothed by his failure to pray for the President of the United
States. The next day, the Commanding Officer, by a note delivered
through his orderly, requested a copy of the sermon which was
at once furnished. The sermon was promptly returned with a
polite note of thanks and nothing further was heard of the in-
cident.

In September 1865, amid the tears of his family, he took the
oath of Allegiance to the United States. He saw clearly that the
Confederacy was dead and he could not perform a marriage cere-
mony nor bury the dead until he had taken this oath.

Now he began to reap the reward of his many years of work
in ministry. His Parish grew and prospered. But by 1889 he be-
came so feeble that he felt it necessary to resign as Rector of
Calvary Church, which was then stronger than all other religious
bodies in the community combined.

The Negroes and their religious welfare always had his in-
terest and sympathy. In both his parishes he regularly had serv-
ices for them on Sunday afternoons. During the morning services
for the white people, the Negroes who attended sat in the gallery
or on the rear seats; while at the afternoon services for the colored
people, the seating arrangements were reversed, the Negroes oc-
cupying the main body of the church and the white people the
back and gallery seats. Lhe Communion services were in the
morning and both races joined in these services and received the
elements, the Negroes coming to the Altar rail after the white peo-
ple.

In his own family the white and Negro children were all re-
quired to attend in the house, before the mistress, on Sunday
afternoons and learn together the Church catechism, his own
children enjoying only the distinction of standing at the head of

the line.

eo
1. He had been made a Doctor of Divinity by Madison College, Sharon, Miss-

issippi in 1861.

 
JoserpH BLOUNT CHESHIRE

On the Bishop’s visitation candidates from both races were
presented and confirmed together. No objection so these methods
were ever made by either race.

On completion of the new Calvary Church in 1868, the old
building was devoted to the colored congregation and was given
the name of St. Luke’s. Here services were conducted for them
as in the past, though they still came to the Parish Church for the
Communion and for Confirmation, which services were; not sep-
arate until they had a minister of their own. In 1872 this con-
gregation began an existence of its own with eighteen commu-
nicants and a large number of adherents among the most in-
telligent and respectable colored people of the town. It was in
that year admitted into union with the Diocesan Convention as
a Parish, the first colored parish in the present Diocese of North
Carolina. Dr. Cheshire was a deputy to the General Convention
from 1856 through 1871 (except 1862) and he declined election
after 1871. He never missed a Convention of the Diocese of North
Carolina for thirty-seven years. He also took part in raising funds
to have a Confederate Prayer book printed in England. Our North
Carolina Confederate Prayer Book was the only edition which
successfully escaped the Federal blockade and it was used in the
Churches of the State.2 One of his Scotland Neck parishioners
furnished the money for his part in this enterprise.

In the face of strong opposition, under the statesmanship of
Bishop Atkinson, the Diocese of North Carolina, in September
1865, elected a full delegation of clerical and lay deputies to the
General Convention at Philadelphia in October 1865. Dr. Che-
shire and Mr. Richard H. Smith of Scotland Neck were of this
delegation. Everyone of the delegation attended. The happy is-
sue of this wise course, in at once re-uniting our church, North
and South, has been a great blessing to the Episcopal Church.

On October 13, 1893, Joseph B. Cheshire II, the eldest son of
Dr. Cheshire was consecrated Bishop of North Carolina in Calvary

2. This was known as the “Cotton” Prayer Book. Five North Carolina parishes:
Christ Church, Raleigh; Trinity, Scotland Neck; St. John’s, Fayetteville; St.
Bartholomew’s, Pittsboro; and St. James, Wilmington, each contributed a bale
of cotton which was sent to Liverpool on a blockade runner. The cotton was
sold in England and the proceeds applied toward the publication of a prayer
book. (The Church in the Confederate States, J. B. Cheshire, N. Y. 1912-pp.
101-102: “The Confederate Prayer Book” by G. MacLaren Brydon, The His-
torical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Vol. XVU, No. 4, p-. 339).

JosEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE 9

Church, Tarboro. Dr. Cheshire’s last service was the funeral of
his own wife. He went to the Church and said the whole office
himself. He died on September 9, 1899 and was buried beside
his wife in the beautiful churchyard of Calvary Church, the work
of his own hands.

 
THE PARISH RECORDS

The parish register of Trinity Parish begins in
1831, before the parish was formally organized.
The records from 1831 to 1858 were kept in the
same volume as the early minutes of the vestry.
This book is extant. The parish registry and the
vestry minutes from 1858 to 1884 were destroyed
when Trinity Church was burned in the latter
year. However, as many dates as could be remem-
bered were recorded in the new register. This
list is naturally incomplete and subject to error.
The records for these years as printed here have
been amplified by records from tombstones in the
churchyard and from family data. The records
from 1884 until the present have been preserved.
Only the marriage, baptismal, and death registers
have been printed herein. The confirmation
register and the minutes of the vestry have not
been included. The dates in the death register
are those of the date of death.

REGISTER
MARRIAGES

NAME
Rev. William Norwood to Winifred B. Hill
Rev. Jos. H. Saunders to Laura Baker
Rev. John M. Robinson to Rebecca Lowrie
Richard Smith to Sarah Hall of Warrenton
Robert A. Ezell to Martha Critchlow
Thomas B. Hill to Maria Simpson of New Bern
Dr. A. Stuart Hall to Emily T. Baker
Alexander A. Austin to Martha Joyner
Dr. Willie J. Eppes to Temperance Joyner
John H. Speed to Ellen Edmundson
Turner W. Battle to Lavinia B. Daniel
Charles to Rosetta (Colored)
John H. Whitaker to Mary Elisa Anthony
William Fenner to Anna M. Smith
Peter E. Smith to Rebecca N. Hill
Richmond to Frances (Colored)
John E. Leary to Lucy Anthony
Dr. James M. Johnson to Mary Weldon Smith
William Grimmer to Lavinia P. Edmundston
A. W. Whitehead to Mary Camp
Rufus Purrington to Sallie Pittman
W. E. Whitmore to Winifred Pittman
Heshborn Bishop to Maria F. Whitehead
Dr. William R. Wood to Henrietta Anthony
Whitmel Dilliard to Laura Tunstall
Richard H. Smith Jr. to Mary Herbert Cocke
Thomas H. Peters to Susan Hyman
John B. Neal to Nannie Elizabeth Smith
Norfleet Smith to Mary Rebecca Alexander
Alexander H. Smith to Anne Hayes Cocke
Isaac H. Smith to Sallie F. Baker
William E. Smith to Virginia Peterson Cocke
John H. Darden to Mrs. Mary E. Grimes
Fabius Busbee to Sallie H. Smith
W. A. Dunn to Catherine Speed
Frank Brinkley to Mary Biggs
William R. Bond to Lizzie Hall
Dr. William McDowell to Olivia Lawrence
J. C. Lassiter to Mattie Biggs
Nelson Smith to Henrietta Letsinger (Colored)
J. H. Alexander to Mary G. Shields
George Turner to Clara Whitaker (Colored)
Gideon Lamb to Olivia Shields
Walter D. Shields to Rebecca Whitmel Smith
William Edward Gray to Edith Robinson

DATE

April 11, 1833
April 23, 1833
May 20, 1833
Dec. 4, 1833
Dec. 1833
Sept. 15, 1836
June 15, 1841
Feb. 24, 1842
Nov. 2, 1843
April 28, 1850
May 1, 1850
Dec. . 25, 1850
June = 17, 1851
Oct. 28, 1851
Dec. 22, 1852
March 5, 1853
Jan. 9, 1854
June 13, 1854
April 22, 1855
, 185

, 185
» 306.5.

, 186

, 186

, 186
12, 1865

13, 1865

14, 1865

15, 1867

14, 1869

15, 1871

12, 1873

1874

5, 1877

, 1878

, 187

eyo (B73

, 1877

, 187

5, 1885

, 1883

18, 1884

15, 1887

22, 1887

11, 1888

 
82 REGISTER

NAME

Oliver H. Perry to Lena W. Hyman

James L. Josey to Martha T. Herring

Harry C. Roberts to Kate Irene Gregory
William P. Van Horn to Bettie S. Stearns

John H. Porter to Honoria D. Currie

W. H. Lawrence to $. Whitaker (Colored)

Peter Whitehead to Mary Hilliard (Colored)
George V. Strong, Jr. to Sallie Hall Smith

J. Charles Worrell to Mamie Whitehurst
William Henry Josey to Mary Cornelia Cotten
James S. Darden to Cleopatra Ware

John Coughenour to Elizabeth Joyner

John Timothy Riddick to Claudia Darden

Philip St. George Barraud to Sallie Turner Smith
Mordecai C. Flemming to Nannie Bell

Edward L. Whitehead to Mary Daisy Crump
Charles M. McNaughton to Jennie Maybry Joyner
Gustavus Smith White to Etta Hall Cotten
William Whitehurst to Nannie L. Bell

Robert V. Smith to Minnie C. Whitehead
William W. Pittman to Naomi Gertrude Ware
Charles Speed to Nannie Paull Cotten

Luther Hyslop to Blanche Hall Bishop

John S. Turner to Janie B. Rhem

Richard F. J. Johnston to Sallie Collins Smith
Frederick Guion to Nannie Hayes Smith

Benj. Ware to Anna S. Pittman

John A. Anthony to Bessie Riddick

Casper W. Gregory to Mary J. Rhem

Charles F. Pittman to Pauline A. Ware

Charles A. Beck to Martha W. Cotten

Charles H. Herring to Pauline A. Shields
Thomas M. Robertson to Nathalie C. Smith
Amous Curtis Prince to Alma Virginia Speed
Samuel M. Hanff to Blanch Baker Smith

James Norfleet Smith to Elizabeth Whealtley Hyman
Samuel Johnston Hinsdale to Rebecca A. Smith
John W. Isanogle to Margaret Bowers

Clarence J. Smith to Lena Leggett

William J. Gordon to Anna Barrow Clark

Henry Toole Clark to Cornelia Justice Josey
John Leroy Edwards to Nellie J. Baggett
William Thomas White to Elizabeth Pittman
William Hugh Kitchin to Hattie Leggett

Enoch M. Cherry to Lena Roberson

David Franklin Bryant to Nannie Dupree Shields
Newsome Allsbrook Riddick to Nannie Louise Josey
Howard Earle Dodge to Frances Rives Meredith
Julian A. Pittman to Rebecca B. Bradley

1889

, 1890

1890
1890
1890
1890
1891
1891
1891
1891
1893
1893
1895
1896
1896
1896
1896
1896
1896
1896
1897
1898
1898
1900
1901
1902
1902
1902
1902
1903
1904
1905
1907

, 1909

1910
1911
1912
1913
1913
1913
1916
1916
1917
1917
1917
1917
1918
1918
1918

REGISTER

NAME
Rufus Sugg Shaw to Ellen Bankhead Meredith
Claiborne Thweatt Smith to Bertha Sears Albertson
Charles Shields Alexander to Mattie Herring Josey
Elmer Hyman to Rosa Lee Taylor
Willie Keel to Selma Roebuck
Roscoe M. Porter to Madeline Riddick
Addison Mayfield Marrow to Jane Marshall Meredith
Andrew N,. Adams to Roberta H. Temple
Albert Sidney Page to Mary Josephine Josey
William McDowell Dunn to Ellen Edmondson Speed
George R. White to Mary E. Lamb
Dr. Kempton P. A. Taylor to Elizabeth Herbert Smith
Robert Heber Meade to Billy Hodges Temple
Thomas Douglas Temple, Jr. to Mary Powell Josey
Marion Ramsey to Hermine Ausbon
Paul Heydenrich to Mary Wood Hall
Lawrence Beckley Maddison to Jane E. Purrington
The Rev. Benjamin T. Brodie to Julia Boyd Smith
Mills Scott Benton to Katherine Stuart Hall
Merle Dumont Bonner to Blanche Baker Hanft
George C. Green, Jr. to Alethia W. Johnson
Bennie E. Wheeler to Clarie Neville
Carl D. Parker, Jr. to Joyce Mae House
John Lawrence Hodges to Helen M. Hilliard
James B. Hall, Jr. to Elizabeth Benson Pippin
Earl G. Whitson to Lucille Worthington Bass
Leon Cedric Pittman to Evelyn Edmondson
George R. Gammon to Rebecca Whitmel Bryant
Richard David House, Jr. to Cornelia J. Clark
Francis S$. Harrell to Sarah Bellamy Hall
Fletcher H. Gregory to Mary Louise Riddick
James Alvin Wilson to W. Rodney Cherry
Sidney Ray Williams to Anne Dupree Bryant
Harry Marvin Havins to Ruth Doyle House
John Robert Herring to Eunice Marie Allsbrook
Richard Bradley Pittman to Joyce Melba Baucom
Edwin Wilson Watkins to Lucy Morton Rogers
Albert McCoy Shaw to Martha R. Cherry
Archibald McDowell to Janet May Todd
Charles Herbert Herring to Bertha B. Roberts
John McNeill Holmes to Willie Marjorie Riddick
John Leon Rogers to Katherine R. Johnson
Allen T. Powell, Jr. to Dorothy Whitaker Marks
Lewis Winston Gregory to Dorothy Miller Shields
Lee R. Biggerstaff to Olivia Shields White
John H. McCaw, Jr. to Pearle House

DATE
April 17,
Ney: 22
june Hi,
Aug. 9,
March 31,
April pF
April 16,
Oct. 19,
Nov. 18,
Dec. 26,
Jan- 9,
et... ae
June 19,
Aug, 25,
Oct. 4,
Sept. 2,
Oct.
June :
Oc: Fi
Jan. 30,
June
Nov.
Nov.
May
July
April
Sept.
Jan.
Feb.
Feb.
April
June
Nov.
Jan.
Dec.
May
June
Dec.
June
Jan.
June
June
Oct.
Aug.
Aug.
Oct.

83

1923
1923
1924
1924
1925
1925
1925
1925
1925
1925
1926
1928
1929
1930
1930
1931
1934
1935
1936
1937
1939
1939
1939
1941
1941
1942
1944
1945
1945
1946
1946
1946
1946
1947
1947
1948
1948
1948
1949
1950
1950
1950
1950
1951
1952
1952

 
1831

March

May
June
July
Sept.
May
March
March

1840
16, 1841

21, 1841
4,

14, 1841

REGISTER
BAPTISMS

George E. Spruill, Adult.

Mary Louisa Spruill, Adult.

Rebecca Lowrie, Adult.

Winifred Blount Hill, Adult.

Anna Maria Hunter, Adult.

Laura L. Baker, Adult.

Rebecca Norfleet Hill, daughter of Whitmel J. and Lavinia
Hill.

Rebecca A. Spruill, Louisa Spruill, George and Mary Spruill,
children of George and Mary Spruill.

Elizabeth Packer, Adult.

Mary Louisa, daughter of Benjamin S. and Margaret Spruill.
Thomas H. Spruill; Robert A. Ezell.

Peter Evans Smith, son of William R. and Susan Smith.
Richard Smith, Adult.

Atherton B. Hill, son of Whitmel J. and Lavinia Hill.

Mary Anne Smith, daughter of William R. and Susan Smith.
George Alexander Smith, son of William and Susan Smith.
Bolivar, Mary Rebecca, Sarah and Jane Vaughan, children of
George W. and Felicia Vaughan.

Susan Smith, Adult.

Thomas Norfleet Hill, son of Whitmel J. and Lavinia Hill.
Harriet Bond Marshall, at Halifax, daughter of F. S. and
Martha Marshall.

William Long Bond, at Halifax, son of Robert and Martha
Bond.

Lucy Williams Moore.

Mary Elizabeth Arnott.

Rebecca Hill, daughter of Thomas Blount and Maria Hill.
Mary Louise, Bartholemew and Lucy Williams, the children
of Bartholemew and Lucy Moore at Halifax.

Alexander McClellin, colored, at Halifax.

Mary Louise Powell.

Olivia Cox, Adult.

Eliza Angelina Strickland.

Margaret Hadley Bell.

Martha Joyner.

Temperance Joyner.

Anne Blount, Ellen Jane, and Lavinia Edmondson, daughters
of John and Anne B. Edmondson.

Sarah Ann Baker and Emily Turner Baker, daughters of
James L. G. and Sarah Smith Baker.

Sallie Cook Justice.

Rufus Holmes Purrington and Rebecca Foster Purrington
children of Dr. and Mrs. Purrington.

William Henry Edmondson, son of John and Anne Ed-
mondson.

May 20, 1841

June 27, 1841
Feb. 26, 1842

March 13,

May 32;
June 26,
Septic: 25;
April 30, 1843

june:c2s
May 23, 1843

July 1, 1843

April 28, 1844
April 27, 1845
May _ 5, 1844
May 12, 1846

July 26, 1846
13,

1, 1847
28, 1847
7, 1848

26, 1849

May
Oct.
Nov.
June
Feb.
May

March 30, 1851

REGISTER 85

Marmaduke Norfleet Cox, William Ruffin Cox, Olivia Ruffin
Cox, and Caroline Ann Cox, children of Thomas and Olivia
Cox.

Danford Edmondson, son of John and Anne B.. Edmondson.
Annie Bond, daughter of Dr. R. C. and Martha Bond of
Halifax.

Richard Henry Smith, son of Richard and Sarah Smith.
Augustus Weldon Powell, and Thomas Cox Powell, sons of
Dr. Lemuel B. and Mary L. Powell.

George Body Moore, son of B. F. and Lucy Moore, at Halifax.
Martha Young Pender.

Sarah Simpson Hill, daughter of Thomas B. and Maria Hill.
James Norfleet Smith, Adult.

Elizabeth Norfleet Smith, Adult.

Edward Hall, son of Dr. A. S. and Emily T. Hall.

Adelaide Evans Smith, daughter of William and Susan Smith.
Temperence W. Austin, child of Alexander and Martha
Austin.

James Smith Baker, William L. Baker, Susan Evans Baker,
and Henry Hyer Baker, children of James L. G. Baker and
Sarah Baker.

James Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.

Sarah Eliza Smith, daughter of William and Susan Smith.
Anne Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Richard and Sarah Smith.
Alexander Hall Smith, son of Richard and Sarah Smith.
William Edward Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
James Baker Hall, son of Dr. A. S. and Emily Baker Hall.
Lucy Anne Hill, Louisa Catherine Hill, James Charles Hill,
children of Whitmel and Lavinia Hill.

Sarah Louisa Moore and Anna Maria Moore, the children of
B. F. and Lucy Moore of Halifax.

Charles Stuart Smith, son of William and Susan Smith.
Francis Johnston Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
Isaac Hall Smith, son of Richard and Sarah Smith.

Ben Smith, colored.

James Moore, son of B. F. and Lucy Moore—at Halifax.
Helen Olivia Hervey, daughter of Peyton and Harriet Her-
vey—at Halifax.

John Eppes, colored—at Halifax.

Sallie Hall Smith, daughter of Richard and Sarah Smith.
Margaret Andrews Norfleet.

George, Harriet, Frances, and Rosetta, colored adults.
Robert Walton Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
James and William Smith, colored.

Mollie Carey Drew Savage, Margaret Anne Cordey Savage,
Victoria Albert Savage, and Benj. Oliver Savage, children of
John and Julia Savage.

Arthur Lillington Smith, son of William and Susan Smith,
Weldon Smith, son of Richard and Sarah Smith.

 
June: 22,
June 29;
Febi2:: 29;
March 6,
March 14,
April 4,
May &

Ost. 3;

Oct,'+. 31;
Nov. 28,
May i,
yh Ree & 8
Oct. &

1852

1854

1854

1855

1856

, 1861

1862
1864
1865

REGISTER

Lucy Ann Speed, daughter of John and Ellen Speed.

Della, Joseph, Serena, Henderson, Mary and Margaret—
colored, the children of Patsy.

Columbus, colored, the son of George and Martha, Robert,
colored, the son of Laura.

Andrew, colored, the son of Laura.

Lawrence, Laura, Catherine, colored, children of Mary.
Richard Smith Hall, son of Dr. A. S. and Emily Hall.
Andrew Joyner, adult, at Halifax.

William Ruffin Smith, Adult.

Anne Ruffin Baker, daughter of James L. and Sarah Baker.
Rebecca Elizabeth Whitaker, child of John and Mary Whitaker.
Joseph Cheshire Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
Jno Benjamin and Mary Frances Ellixson, children of Ben-
jamin and Mary Jane Ellixson.

Walter Johnston Smith, son of William and Susan Smith.
Margaret, Caroline, Amous, and Emily, colored.

Mary, colored, the child of Silas and Cynthia.

Lucy, colored, child of Charles and Rosetta.

Julia Pocahontas Savage.

Laura, colored adult.

Louisa, colored adult.

Rebecca Wilson Shields, daughter of William and Ann Shields.
Elizabeth Norfleet Smith, child of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
John Robert and Cornelia Whitaker Herring, adults.
Cornelia Smith Fenner, daughter of William and Anna
Maria Fenner.

Sarah Elizabeth Hall, daughter of Dr. A. $. and Emily Hall.
Bettie Norfleet Johnson, daughter of Dr. James and Mary
Johnson.

Ann H. Shields, Adult.

Amanda Peebles Ferrall.

Mary Griffin Shields, daughter of William and Ann Shields.
Catherine Gary Fenner, daughter of William and Anna
Fenner.

Susan Evans Smith, daughter of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
Anne Dupree Shields, daughter of William and Ann Shields.
Weldon Edwards Hall, son of Dr. A. §. and Emily Hall.
Peter Evans Smith, son of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
Eunice Rebecca Sand, daughter of Edward and Frances Sand.
Mary Cornelia Johnson, daughter of Dr. James and Mary
Johnson.

James E. Shields, son of William and Ann Shields.

Rebecca Whitmel Smith, daughter of Peter and Rebecca
Smith.

Atherton Barnes Smith, son of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
William H. Shields, Adult.

Walter Davis Shields, son of William and Ann Shields.
Benjamin Gordon Smith, son of Benjamin and Louisa Smith.
Nannie Hill Smith, daughter of Peter and Rebecca Smith.

 

 

Nov.

Jan.
March

June
Sept.
Oct.

REGISTER 87

1865 Lucius Junius Johnson, son of Dr. James and Mary Johnson.
1866 Richard Henry Smith, son of Richard and Mary Herbert
Smith.
1866 Susan Evans Smith, daughter of Benjamin and Louisa Smith.
1867 Richard Smith Neal, son of John and Annie Neal.
1867 Sarah Banks Applewhite, son of John T, and Laura Apple-
white.
1868 Weldon Thweatt Smith, son of Richard and Mary H. Smith.
1868 Lavinia Barnes Smith, daughter of Benjamin and Louisa
Smith.
1868 Eleanor Stuart Smith, daughter of Norfleet and Mary R.
Smith.
1868 Olivia Norfleet Shields, daughter of William and Ann Shields.
1869 Nathalie Cocke Smith, daughter of Richard Smith, Jr. and
Mary Smith.
1869 Mary Cornelia Cotten, daughter of Dr. Joseph and N. B.
Cotten.
1869 Susan Cotten, daughter of Whitmel and Martha Cotten.
1870 James Norfleet Smith, son of Benjamin and Louisa Smith.
1870 John Baker Neal, son of John Baker and Nannie E. Neal.
Sallie Hall Smith, daughter of Alexander and Ann Hayes
Smith.
Sallie Turner Smith, daughter of Norfleet and Mary R. Smith.
William Ruffin Smith, son of Benjamin and Louisa Smith.
William Baker Smith, son of Isaac H. and Sallie Smith.
Mary Herbert Smith, daughter of Richard Jr. and Mary Smith.
William G. Grimmer, Adult.
Laura Catherine Ware.
Helen B. Briggs.
Edward L. Tarkinton.
Charles Stuart Whitehead.

Nettie Mullen Gilliam, daughter of George and Antionette
Gilliam.

Nannie Elliot Hill.
Sallie Smith Neal, daughter of John and Nannie E. Neal.
Virginia Cocke Smith, daughter of Richard and Mary Smith.
Martha India Pulley, Adult.
James S. Tarkinton.
Sarah Jane Tarkinton.
Sallie Collins Smith, daughter of Isaac Smith and Sallie Smith.
Emily Baker Hall, daughter of Dr. James and Mary Wood
Hall.
John Robert Herring, Martha Thomas Herring, Joseph Nor-
fleet Herring, children of John and Cornelia Herring.

28, 1874 Cora Hart Shields, daughter of William and Leah Shields.
James Norwood Hill, son of Thomas and Eliza Hill.
Nannie Cocke Smith.

12, 1874 Sarah F. Henderson.

12, 1874 Catherine E. Pittman.

 
April

Nov. 19,

Nov.
Feb.

March
Sept.
Nov.

June
June

Oct. 16,

Dec. 14,
April

March 5,
june 11;

July 16,

April 27,
April 17,

1875

1875

1876

1876

1877

1883

Sept. 16, 1883

March 20, 1884

May 4,
June a;
Augis 30;

Aug. 10,
Oct. 79,

Nov. 11,

April 28, 1885

April 21,

REGISTER

William Edward Smith, son of W. E. and Virginia Cocke
Smith.

Louisa Hill Smith and Nannie Hill Smith, daughters of
Benjamin and Louisa Smith.

Virginia Thweatt Smith, daughter of Alex. H. and Nannie
Smith.

Richard Henry Smith, son of Isaac and Sarah Smith.
Claudia Irene Darden, daughter of John H. and M. E. Darden.
Whitmel Hill Smith, son of Benjamin and Louisa Smith.
Nathaniel Cocke Smith, son of William E. and Virginia Smith.
Pauline Arrington Shields, daughter of William and Leah
Shields.

Mary Weldon Smith, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Smith.
Alexander Weldon Neal, son of John B. and Nannie E. Neal.
Elizabeth Curtis Smith, daughter of Richard and Mary Smith.
William Norfleet Herring, son of John Robert and Cornelia
Herring.

Charles Herbert Herring, son of John Robert and Cornelia
Herring.

James Norfleet Smith, son of William Edward and Virginia
Smith.

Isaac Hall Smith, son of Isaac Hall and Sarah Smith.

John Thomas Applewhite, son of Henry and Nannie Apple-
white.

Anne Hayes Cocke Smith, daughter of William and Virginia
Smith.

Richard Henry Smith, son of Richard and Mary Smith.
Blanche Baker Smith, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Smith.
Charles Young Speed, son of John and Mattie Speed.

Annie Lane Darden, daughter of Goodman and Mary Lane
Darden.

Norfleet Saunders Smith, son of Norfleet and Mary Rebecca
Smith.

Robert B. Gammons, son of Benjamin and Emily $. Gammons.
Nathalie Cocke Smith, daughter of Richard and Mary Smith.
Francis Robert Smith, son of William Edward and Virginia
Smith.

Rebecca Ellen Pender, Adult.

James Harper Alexander, son of J. H. and Mary Alexander.
Alma Virginia Speed.

Rebecca Alexander Smith, daughter of Norfleet and Mary R.
Smith.

Archibald Stuart Hall, son of J. B. Hall and Mary E. Hall.
Adelaide Evans Smith, daughter of William Edward and
Virginia Smith.

Mary Lee Lassiter, daughter of J. C. and M. L. Lassiter.
Josephine Adele Darden, Adult, daughter of John and Mary
Darden.

Lillian Steptoe Riddick and Bessie Lee Riddick, daughters
of W. and Georgianna Riddick.

REGISTER 89

Nannie Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Smith.
Zachary Taylor Vincent, son of Z. T. and Bettie Vincent.
Annie Eugenia Hill, daughter of Whitmel and Josephine Hill.
Sarah Indiana Bishop, Adult; William E. Bishop, Blanche
Hall Bishop, Rebecca Purrington Bishop, Joseph Leslie
Bishop, Alice Shields Bishop, children of J. B. and Sarah
Indiana Bishop.

Aug. ; Annie Dupree Alexander, daughter of J. H. and M. G.
Alexander.

June 18, 1886 Ruby Louise Hassard-Short, child of Algeron and Routh
Hassard-Short.

June 24, Sarah E. Vincent, daughter of Z. T. and Bettie Vincent.

Sept. ai Joseph Hubbard Saunders, son of Joseph Saunders.

Novy... 30, Charles Harrison Cocke Smith, son of William and Virginia
Smith.

Feb. 13, 1887 Fannie Nicholls Hill, daughter of Whitmel and Josephine
Hill.

April F Loulie Bridgers, child of John and Mary Eliza Bridgers.

April if Annie Smith Fenner, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Baker
Fenner.
Mattie Allen Tillery, daughter of Thomas and Martha Tillery.

June 12, Bessie Wilson Vincent, daughter of Z. T. and Bettie S. Vincent.
Paul Allen Tillery, son of Thomas and Martha Tillery.

Mow. 3: UG) Wm. Samuel Alexander, son of James H. and Mary Griffin
Alexander.

April 8, 1888 Walter Johnston Smith and Gilbert Elliott Smith, sons of
Benjamin and Louisa Smith.

Sept. ; Annie Blanche Burroughs, daughter of Robert M. and Helen
Burroughs.

Nov. &; Elizabeth Herbert Smith, daughter of William Edward and
Virginia Smith.

Nov. ; Edward Madison Alexander, son of J. Harper and M.
Alexander.

Jan. 6, 1889 Rowena Hines Shields, daughter of Walter D. and Rebecca
Shields.

March 10, Anna Laura Riddick, daughter of William and Georgianna
Riddick.

March 13, Jennie Mabry Joyner, adult, daughter of William and Nanny
Joyner.
Sallie Dunn, daughter of Sydney and Betty Gray Dunn.

April 2, 1889 Ernestine Alexander, adult, daughter of Henry and Martha
Hornethal.
Mildred Angeline Alexander, daughter of Edmund A.
Alexander.

April." 5; Micajah Whitehead, Adult.

April 10, Helen Marian Pleasants, daughter of Edward and Clarice
Pleasants.

Aug 28, Charles Urquhart Hill, son of Whitmel and Josephine Hill.

Sept 1, 1889 Elva Rosamund Crump, daughter of Walter and Roxanna
Crump.

 
90

Dec. i,
May 11, 1890
June 15,

April 5,
Aug. 20,
May 14,

Sent. (21;
Septt
Dec; - 19,

Dec. -:. 28,

Octs. > 24,
March 13,

Aug.‘ 25,
Dec. 9,

Bec::. 20,
Feb; . 19,
Feb. 19,

April 1,

Oct. 8,

Nov _ 30,
Jani 24
Féb: 2;
March 1,
March 7,
July: 220;
Aug. 13,
Oet «24,

Feb:,: 21,
March 17,
May 5,
March 30,
April 4,
April 26,
May 1, 1896

May 28,

REGISTER

George Charles Lamb, son of Gideon and Olivia Lamb.
Henry Clark Smith, son of Walter and Arabella Smith.

Eli Biggs Riddick, son of William and Georgianna Riddick.
Ruby Lee Darden, daughter of John and Mary Darden.
Harriet Elizabeth Powell, Adult.

Susan Hines Smith, daughter of William and Virginia Smith.
Charles Marshall Burroughs, son of Robert and Helen Bur-
roughs.

Rebecca Hill Shields, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
James Paull Fenner, son of Thomas and Sarah Baker Fenner.
Agnes Brimmage Hyman, daughter of Robert and Agnes
Hyman.

Samuel Midyette Alexander, son of J. Harper and Mary
Alexander. :

Mary John Wood, daughter of John W. Wood.

Henry Williams Gray, son of William and Edith Gray.
Walter Johnston Smith, son of Walter J. and Arabella Smith.
Laura Emily Neal, John Lawrence Neal, Lucy Leonora Neal,
children of Albert and Eugenia Felicia Neal.

Laura Alice Roberts, daughter of Harry and Kate Roberts.
Peter Evans Hines Shields, son of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
Wilson Dupree Lamb, son of Gideon and Olivia Norfleet
Lamb.

Bessie May Van Horn, daughter of William and Bettie Van
Horn.

Nannie Louise Josey, daughter of William and Mary Josey.
Charles Shields Alexander, son of J. Harper and Mary
Alexander.

Frederick Thomas Gray, son of William and Edith Gray.
Sarah Baker Fenner, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Fenner.
Claiborne Thweatt Smith, son of William and Virginia Smith.
Agnes Permelia Lewis, Adult.

Susan Hyman Peters, Adult.

Ruby Lee Darden, daughter of James and Cleopatra Darden.
Elizabeth Gray Dunn, daughter of Sydney and Elizabeth Dunn.
Florence Sylvia Coughenour, daughter of John and Elizabeth
Coughenour.

Annie Dupree Shields, daughter of Walter Shields.

Elizabeth Wheatley Peters, Adult, daughter of Thomas and
Susan Peters.

Mary Clark Smith, daughter of Walter and Arabella Smith.
Nannie Shields Lamb, daughter of Gideon and Olivia Lamb.
Alice Hyman Powell, Adult.

Maud Lovejoy Jenkins, Adult.

Raymond Whitmore Riddick, son of John T. and Claudia
Riddick.

Gavin Llewellyn Hyman, son of Edward and Mary Hyman.
Kelly Jenkins, son of Kelly and Maud Jenkins.

Jennie L. Coughenour, daughter of John and Bettie Coughen-
our.

June 19,
Jan. 5, 1897
jae os FS,
Jan. 24,
Jan: 31,
March 26,

jane; 1];

June 14,
Aug. 24,
Dec. 9,
Feb; ‘27, 1898

March 27,
May 23, 1897

April 11, 1899
Sept. 29,
Sept. 24,
Gepthois3Z9;

Oct. :,

Feb. 4, 1900

Feb. 10,
March 20,

Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Feb.

Feb.s «. M,

May 9, 1901

March 29, 1902
Aug 3, 1902
Aug. 31, 1902

Sept. 8, 1902
Oct. 5, 1902
Oct. 8, 1902
April 3, 1903

REGISTER 91

Frederick William Gregory, son of Samuel and Maria Gregory.
William Henry Shields, son of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
Philip St. George Barraud, son of Philip and Sallie Barraud.
Julian Alphonso Riddick, son of Julian and Mary W. Riddick.
Mary Agnes Lewis, son of George and Maggie Tabitha Lewis.
Edward Wheatley Hyman, son of Edward and Mary Hatton
Hyman.

William Butterworth, son of William and Lena Butterworth.
Hester Louise Darden, daughter of James and Cleopatra
Darden.

John Pittman Darden, son of John and Mary Darden.

Susan Evans Smith, daughter of Walter and Arabella Smith.
Edward Shields, son of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
Walter Dupree Shields, son of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
Mary Eliza Lamb, daughter of Gideon and Olivia Lamb.
Elmira Jenkins, daughter of Kelley and Maud Jenkins.
Emily Llewelyn Peters, daughter of Thomas and Susan
Peters.

Elizabeth Bryan Pittman.

Janet Paull White, daughter of Gustavus and Etta Hall White.
Laura Smith Shields, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
John Lyon Coughenour and Robert Andrew Coughenour,
children of John and Bettie Coughenour.

Mary Whitmore Pittman, daughter of William and Gertrude
Pittman.

William Darden Riddick, son of John and Claudia Riddick.
Mary Stuart Riddick, daughter of Julian and Mary Riddick.
James Henry Kinnon.

Alice Elizabeth Powell, Adult.

William Walton Pitman, Adult.

James Smith Darden, Adult.

John H. Darden.

Lucy Hill Thompson, Adult.

James Paull Speed, son of Charles and Nannie Paull Speed.
Alethia Pope.

Vernia Edna Shelburn, daughter of John and Claudia Shel-
burn.

Thadeus Manning, son of Thadeus and Alethea Manning.
John Noah Pope, son of Joseph and Alethea Pope.

Claudia Elizabeth Riddick, daughter of John and Claudia
Riddick.

Mary Josephine Josey, son of William and Mary Josey.
William Edward Smith, son of William and Juliette Smith.
Alfred Luther Purrington, son of Alfred and Georgie
Purrington.

Madlin Darden Riddick, daughter of Julian and Mary Riddick.
James Darden Riddick, son of John and Claudia Riddick.
Bertha Albertson, daughter of Charles and Maybell Albertson.
Ellen Edmondson Speed, daughter of Charles and Nannie
Speed.

 
92

May

Aug.

May 1904
Sept.

April 14, 1905

Aug. 20,

19,

septs 27,

Feb. 7,

Aug.
on: 2g

Oct. oly

Nov. 14,
Deco: 42;

Feb: (27,1909

March 17, 1910

April 3, 1910

Aug. 14, 1910
Feb. 26, 1911

REGISTER

Hazel Bethea, daughter of Morrison and Gertrude Bethea.
Amy Viola Snipes, daughter of Oscar and Annie Marie Snipes.
Minnie Rebecca Hyman, daughter of Henry and Nannie Hy-
man.

Philip Parker Purrington, son of Luther and Georgia Pur-
rington.

Lois Cotten Speed, daughter of Charles and Nannie Speed.
Elizabeth Webb Josey, daughter of William and Mary Josey.
Juliette Hatton Smith, daughter of William and Juliette
Smith.

Curtis Rhem Gregory, son of Casper and Mary Rhem
Gregory.

Maude R. Leggett, Adult.

Charles Herbert Herring, son of Charles and Pauline Herring.
Emily Pittman Ware and Elizabeth Ware, children of Ben-
jamin and Anna Shields Ware.

Charles Allen Webb, Adult.

Mary Rhem Gregory, daughter of Casper and Mary Rhem
Gregory.

Mary Wood Hall, daughter of James and Cornelia Hall.
James Norfleet Smith, son of William and Juliette Smith.
John Darden Riddick, son of John T. and Claudia Riddick.
Sarah Georgiana Purrington, daughter of A. L. and Georgia
Purrington.

John Brown Robertson, son of Thomas and Nathalie Robert-
son,

Margaret Virginia Leggett, Adult.

Lena Leggett, Adult.

Newsome Allsbrook Riddick, adult, son of Albert and Willis
Riddick.

James Baker Hall, son of James and Cornelia Hall.

James William Fleming, son of Mordecai and Felicia Fleming.
Roliff Holmes Purrington, son of Alfred L. and Georgia
Bosley Purrington.

William Shields Herring, son of Charles H. and Pauline
Herring.

Robert Ivey Jones, son of Rufus and Jennie Jones.

David McKinnie Prince, Annie May Prince, Minnie Gertrude
Prince, William Amos Prince, and Julia Katherine Prince,
children of David Maybury and Minnie Deems Prince.
Thurman Delna Kitchin, son of Thurman and Rebecca Clark
Kitchin.

William Jesse Bowers, James Shepherd Bowers, Franklin
Llewellen Bowers, and Catherine Carlessa Bowers, the chil-
dren of James S. and Carlotta Boothe Bowers.

John Goodrich Smith, son of William Edward and Juliette
Hatton Smith.

Emily Baker Hall, daughter of James Baker and Cornelia Hall.
Florence Ellis Bowers, daughter of J. E. and Frances Nelson
Bowers.

May
Aug.

Aug.
Oct.
Dec.

March
March

Oct.
June
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
April
Oct.
Nov.
Jan.

Feb.
March

March

Nov.

Jan.
Jan.
March
March
Nov.
Jan.
Oct.
March

June

1911

3, 2911

1911

» 1911

1911

agi

5, 1912

1912

5, 1912

1913

1913

1913

1913

, 1914

1914

5, 1914

1915

3, 1916

1916

1916

1916
1918

1918
1918
1918

1918

1918
1918
1919

, 1919

REGISTER 93

John Frederick Pittman, Gertrude Shields Pittman, and Vir-
ginia Ware Pittman, children of Charles Frederick and Pauline
Anne Pittman.

Amos Curtis Prince, son of Amos and Alma Speed Prince.
Blanche Baker Hanff, daughter of Samuel M. and Blanche
Baker Hanff.

Frances Edna Jones, daughter of Robert and Eunice Jones.
Elizabeth Flaugher, daughter of James Flaugher.

Irwin Clark Kitchin, son of Thurman and Rebecca Clark
Kitchin.

Lawrence Norman Howard, son of John and Mattie Howard.
James Blaine Flaugher, son of Harold and Emma Moore
Flaugher.

Katherine Stuart Hall, daughter of James Baker and Cornelia
Whitaker Hall.

Hattie Augusta Leggett, Verna Leggett, and Lucile Leggett,
adults.

Jane Elizabeth Purrington, daughter of A. L. and Georgia
Purrington.

John Wetmore Hinsdale, son of Samuel and Rebecca Alex-
ander Hinsdale.

Harry Victor Beaver Blackwelder, son of the Rev. L. W. and
Minnie M. Blackwelder.

John Robert Herring, son of Charles H. and. Pauline A.
Herring.

Alethia Whitaker Johnson daughter of George Herbert and
Kate Johnson.

Jacqueline Bowers Isanogle, daughter of John W. and Margaret
Bowers Isanogle.

George Fisher Smith, son of Norfleet Saunders and Agnes
Fisher Smith.

Mark Alexander Smith, son of Norfleet and Agnes Fisher Smith.
Rebecca Alexander Hinsdale, daughter of Samuel J. and
Rebecca A. Hinsdale.

William Walton Kitchin, son of Thurman and Rebecca Clark
Kitchin.

Myrtie Ruth Moore, daughter of L. Moore.

Pattie Leggett Rawl, adult, daughter of James Wilson and
Martha Hobgood Leggett.

Henry Jacob Rawl Jr., son of H. J. and Pattie Leggett Rawl.
Henry Toole Clark, son of H. T. and Cornelia Josey Clark.
Haywood Blount Hyman, son of Haywood H. and Stella
Blount Hyman.

William Hugh Kitchin, son of W. H. and Hattie Leggett
Kitchin.
Agnes Winton Smith, daughter of Norfleet and Agnes Smith.

George W. Dunn Jr., son of George and Elsie Gorsuch Dunn.
Archibald Stuart Hall, son of James B. and Cornelia Whitaker
Hall.

Jarl E. Bowers, son of J. E. Bowers.

 
July
Aug.
Feb.
April
April
April
April
June
May
Sept.
Nec.
Dec.

Dec.

Nov.

13, 1919
2, 1919
22, 1920
3, 1920
3, 1920
25, 1920
25, 1920
27, 1920
22, 1921
22, 1921
11, 1921
11, 1921
11, 1921

13, 1921

March 26,

March 26,

May
Dec.

Dec.

28, 1922

30, 1922

17, 1922

March 31, 1923

Aug.
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.

Dec.
Dec.

Dec.

12, 1923
14, 1923
14, 1923
» 1925
1923

1923

1923

REGISTER

Anne Dupree and Rebecca Whitmel Bryant (twins), daugh-
ters of David and Nannie Shields Bryant.

Edward Wheatley Hyman, son of Cavin and Antoinette Pope
Hyman.

Edward Wheatley Hyman, son of Henry H. and Stella Blount
Hyman.

Mary Louise Riddick, daughter of Newsome and Nannie
Josey Riddick.

Rebecca Jane Pittman, daughter of Julian Allen and Rebecca
Bradley Pittman.

Ernest Hodges Leggett, Adult.

Enoch Moore Cherry, son of W. R. and Belle Cherry.
Elizabeth Eleanor Cherry, daughter of Enoch and Lena Robert-
son Cherry.

Ernest Hodges Leggett Jr., son of Ernest and Helen Hilliard
Leggett.

Joe Rix Stallings Jr., son of J. R. and Elizabeth Grey Dunn
Stallings.

Elizabeth Wheatley Hyman, daughter of Gavin L. and Antoin-
ette Pope Hyman.

Cornelia Josey Clark, daughter of Henry T. and Cornelia
Clark.

Phillip Hodges Pittman, son of John Joseph and Molly
Knight Pittman.

John Joseph Pittman, the son of Henry A. and Alice Shields
Pittman.

James Leggett Kitchin, son of William H. and Hattie Leggett
Kitchin.

Frances Bishop, Elise Bishop, Rebecca Whitehead Bishop, and
Eugene Dupree Bishop, children of Eugene and Bethie Harvel
Bishop.

James Harper Alexander, son of J. H. and Ethel Dunn Alex-
ander.

Mary Alexander Wells, daughter of John David Wells and
Mary Shields Alexander.

Annie Elizabeth Johnston, colored.

Margaret Hodges Kitchin, daughter of William H. and Hattie
Leggett Kitchin.

Evans Rousseau Shields, son of Peter E. Hines and Ella Mae
Shields.

Joseph Shields Pittman, son. of Joseph John and Mollie
Knight Pittman.

Julian Allen Pittman, son of J. A. and Rebecca Bradley
Pittman.

William Jesse Grimes.

Loraine Byrd, daughter of Rufus P. and Margaret E. Byrd.
Mary Shields Justis, daughter of Linwood H. and Angelyn
Alexander Justis.

John David Wells, Jr., son of John D. and Mary Alexander
Wells.

Feb.
Feb.

March
March

Sept.
Oct.
Feb.

Feb.
March

March

April

June
May

Nov.
Feb.

Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
April
May

May
May

Aug.
Aug.

Dec.
Dec.

Feb.

REGISTER 95

1924 Robert Lee Johnson, son of George H. and Clara Allsbrook
Johnson.

1924 George Herbert Johnson, son of Robert Lee and Maud
Richardson Johnson.

, 1924 Harry Lee Riddick, the son of Julian S. and Nannie Riddick.

1924 Henry Montague Hilliard, son of Henry M. and Mary Pittman
Hilliard.

1924 Katherine Richardson Johnson, daughter of Robert Lee and
Maud Richardson Johnson.

1924 Edna Adelaide Bryant, daughter of Benjamin F. and Annie
Whitehead Bryant.

1925 Ellen Meredith Shaw, daughter of Rufus S. and Ellen Meredith
Shaw.

1925 Gavin Llewellyn Hyman, son of G. L. and Antoinette Hyman.

1925 Martha Whitfield Hall, daughter of John D. and Sadebelle
McGwigan Hall.

1925 Grace Thompson Neblett, daughter of Bernard and Grace
Thompson Neblett.

1925 Pattie May Shaw, Alexander Wilson Shaw, Nancy Re-
becca Shaw, and Vernon Hill Shaw, children of Alexander
Benjamin and Pattie Kidd Shaw.

Dorothy Miller Shields, daughter of Peter E. H. and Ella Mae
Miller Shields.

1925 Martha Hyman Sherrod, daughter of William B. and May

Boatlight Sherrod.

, 1925 Selma Talitha Hyman Turner.

1926 William Stephenson Riddick and Albert Barnard Riddick, sons
of Julius Stuart and Nannie Stephenson Riddick.

1926 William Stuart Grimes, son of William J. and Mary Stuart
Riddick Grimes.

, 1926 Richard Bradley Pittman, son of J. Allen and Rebecca Bradley

Pittman.
1926 Martha Robertson Cherry and William Rodney Cherry, chil-
dren of Enoch and Lena Robertson Cherry.

, 1927 Will Bishop Pittman and David Lee Pittman, sons of Joseph

John and Mollie Knight Pittman.
1927 Joe Lanier Riddick, son of Preston and Emma Allsbrook Rid-
dick.
1927 Spencer Cotten Lewis, son of John and Lou White Lewis.
1927 Maxie Clarence Riddick, son of Preston and Emma A. Rid-
dick.
1927 Marion Virginia White, daughter of Cary Whitaker and
Jennie Gregory White.
Marjorie Brickell Marks, daughter of Charles F. and Jennie
Sewell Marks.
Mattie Josey Alexander, Adult.
Nancy Adelaide Wood, daughter of Elisha and Mary Bryant
Wood.
Olivia Taylor, negro, daughter of Alexander and Beatrice
Taylor.

 
96

REGISTER

April 7, 1928 Hilliard Montague Leggett, son of Ernest and Helen Hilliard

Leggett.

Aug. 12, 1928 William McDowell Dunn, Jr., son of William McDowell and

Ellen Speed Dunn.

Dec. 2, 1928 George Richard White, son of William and Ivy Hastings

White.

Dec. 30, 1928 Henry Allen Pittman, and Carey Knight Pittman, sons of

Joseph John and Mollie Knight Pittman.

Jan. 21, 1929 Sally White, daughter of Charles and Lucy Applewhite White.
March 30, 1929 Helen Montague Hilliard, daughter of Henry and Mary Pitt-

March 30, 1929

March 30, 1929

Oct... 13, 1929

Nov. 1, 1929

Nov. 14, 1929

July 27,

31, 1930

14,

28,
19,

19,

17,
VW,

1930

1930

1930
1930

1930

1931
1931
1932
1932
1932

man Hilliard.

Willie Marjorie Riddick, daughter of Newsome and Louise
Josey Riddick.

John Winfred Grimes, son of William J. and Mary Riddick
Grimes.

Olivia Shields White, daughter of George and Mary Lamb
White.

Walter Johnston Smith IJ, son of Walter and Frances Parker
Smith.

Harry Lee McDowell, son of Harry L. and Dorothy Dunn
McDowell.

Margaret Grace Ernestine Johnson, daughter of Harlow and
Fanny Coughenour Johnson.

William Franklin Hilliard, son of Henry and Mary Pittman
Hilliard.

Kate Parks Kitchin, daughter of John Arrington and Norma
Cloman Kitchin.

Ethel Ann Kitchin, daughter of Louis and Ethel Pope Kitchin.
Dorothy Whitaker Marks, daughter of Charles and Jennie
Sewell Marks.

Roscoe Marvin Porter, Jr., son of R. M. and Madeline Rid-
dick Porter.

William McDowell Dunn, adult, son of Balfour Dunn.
Paull Speed Dunn, son of William M. and Ellen Speed Dunn.
Lois Bell McRegan, daughter of Ben and Allie M. McRegan.
Rachel Butler, daughter of L. S. and Estelle Butler.
Dorothy Edna Umphlette, Sarah Wells Umphlette, and
Stanley Reuben Umphlette, children of Willie E. and Daisy
Mullen Umphlette.

Janie Marjory House, James Bruce House, Albert Clarence
House, Pearl Smith House, Ruth Doyle House and Joyce May
House, children of Clarence House.

William Preston Shields, son of Dupree and Iona Ward Shields.

Julia Lynn Riddick, daughter of Maxie and Juliette Smith
Riddick.

Cecil Howard Neville, adult, son of Augustus and I. Bellamy
Neville.

Cecil Howard Neville, Jr., son of C. H. and Martha Evans
Neville.

March 1, 1936

July 22, 1936

Nov. 1937
Dec. 5, 1937
April ...9,..1987
April 1937

Nov. 1937
Nov. 1938

Feb. , 1939
May , 1939

Oct. 1939
Nov. 1939

Dec. 1939
May 1940
1940

, 1940

, 1940

1941

1941

, 1941
10, 1941

5, 1942
20, 1942
30, 1943
8, 1944

9, 1944

21, 1944
19, 1944

REGISTER 97

William Edward Smith III, son of W. E. and Louise Stephen-
son Smith.

Pauline Celestia Pittman, daughter of C. F. and Pauline Ware
Pittman.

William Dell Robertson, son of Joshua and Will Andrews
Robertson.

Benjamin Oscar Joyner, Frances Lucille Joyner, Doris May
Staton, and Susie Lee Staton, children of Benjamin O. Joyner.
William Ross Bonner, son of Merle D. and Blanche Hanft
Bonner.

Frances Louise Smith, daughter of William E. and Louise
Stephenson Smith.

Elizabeth Overton, daughter of W. C. and Odelia Overton.
Charles Harrison Smith, son of Charles H. and Lucille Carroll
Smith.

John Hatton Hyman, son of Gavin and Ethel Allsbrook Hy-
man.

Elizabeth Thorp Brodie, daughter of the Rev. B. T. Brodie
and Julia Boyd Smith.

Turner Bass, son of J. C. and Virginia Bass.

William Dennis Grimmer, son of William M. and Mamie
Coburn Grimmer.

Augusta Louise Pittman, daughter of C. F. and Pauline Ware
Pittman.

Hubert McNaughton Riddick, son of M. C. and Juliette Smith
Riddick.

Marnie Norfleet Herring, daughter of W. N. and Marjorie
Warren Herring.

Bettie Ann Arnold, daughter of L. B. and Minnie Stevens
Arnold.

Agnes Kathleen Clay, daughter of Bester and Mary Bailey
Clay.

Alethia Johnson Green, daughter of George C. and Alethia
Johnson Green.

Richard Malcolm Flowers, son of Curfew and Matilda Ber-
bage Flowers.

Mary Ann Bailey Clay, Adult.

Dorothy McDowell Dunn, daughter of Harry Lee and Adeline
Tillet McDowell Dunn.

William Hugh Kitchin III, son of W. H. Kitchin.

Albert Leyton Brown, Adult.

Sarah Blair Maddison, and Lawrence Beckley Maddison, Jr.,
children of L. B. and Jane Purrington Maddison.

George Chancellor Green III, son of George C. and Alethia
Green.

Ruth Ward Jones, negro, daughter of Robert Lee and Ruth
Ward Jones.

William Edward Allmond, son of W. E. and Jane Allmond.
Benjamin Thorp Brodie, son of the Rev. B. T. Brodie and
Julia Boyd Smith.

 
July

Sept.
Oct.

Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.

Nov.
Nov.

March
July
Feb.
July
March
March
May
May
May
June
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.

Dec.

>» 1945

, 1945

1945

, 1945

1945

5, 1945

5, 1945

5, 1945

1945

1946

5, 1946

1946

1947

, 1948

7, 1948

, 1948

, 1948

, 1948

, 1948

, 1948

, 1948

1948

, 1948

, 1948

REGISTER

Mary Powell Josey Temple, adult, daughter of James L. and
Mattie Josey.

Thomas Douglas Temple, III, and James Josey Temple,
sons of Thomas D. and Mary Josey Temple.

Mary Elizabeth McDowell, daughter of William Owen and
Thomasine Rhoads McDowell.

Gerald Scott Allmond, son of W. E. and Jane Page Allmond.
Jane Ross Bass, Charles Dickens Bass, children of C. D. and
Dean Gaylord Bass.

Gertrude Edge Kitchin, Margaret Ann Kitchin, children of
William Hugh Kitchin, Jr., and Blanch Jacob Edge.

Harriet Kitchin Gilliam, daughter of Charles Lamb and
Margaret Kitchin Gilliam.

Albert Clarence House, adult, son of Albert and Emma Sta-
ton House.

Naomi Bennett House, adult, daughter of William Bryant
and Maggie Bennett.

Oscar Julian House, son of O. J. and Naomi B. House.
Sarah Little Thigpen, Helen Louise Thigpen, and Margaret
Woodard Thigpen, daughters of Harry G. and Hattie Thigpen.
Jeanette Daniel Purrington, daughter of Roliff H. and Jeanette
Dunn Purrington.

Patricia Anne Penney, daughter of James T. and Martha
Thigpen Penney.

William Shields Herring, Jr., son of W. S. and Edna Good-
win Herring.

William Owen McDowell, Jr., son of William O. and Thoma-
sine Rhodes McDowell.

Mary Hall Green, daughter of George C. and Alethia Johnson
Green.

Mary Ann Dunn, daughter of Balfour and Elizabeth Josey
Dunn.

Cynthia Paige Allmond, daughter of William E. and Jane P.
Allmond.

Mary Louise Gregory, daughter of Fletcher Harrison and
Mary Riddick Gregory.

Joseph Lanier Riddick Jr., son of J. L. and Willella Murphy
Riddick.

Laura Irwin Clark, daughter of Dr. H. T. and Blanche
Burrus Clark.

Linda Ruth Havins, daughter of Harry Marvin and Ruth
House Havins.

Frank Shaw Hart, son of William Almond and Mary Shaw
Hart.

William Hadkin Lewis, son of Richard Applewhite and
Bertha Parish Lewis.

Sarah Katherine Johnson, daughter of George Herbert and
Joy Dunn Johnson.

Marion A. Josey, daughter of Danford E. and Fredricka Kirk-
land Josey.

Feb.
Feb.

March
April
April
July
June
Sept.
Sept.
Jan.
March

April
Oct.

Oct.
Oct.

Jan.

29, 1949
27, 1949

17, 1949

10, 1949

16, 1949

$1, 1949

26, 1949

11, 1949

18, 1949

, 1950

, 1950

9, 1950
5, 1950

, 1950

1950

, 1951

5, 1951

11, 1951

8, 1951

21, 1951

22, 1951

22; 1951

28, 1951

10, 1952

REGISTER 99

Michael Clark Kistler, son of Clark C. and Mary P. Kistler.
Ethel Margaret Allsbrook, son of Henry C. and Marian
Thorpe Allsbrook.

John Timothy Riddick, son of John Allen and Anne Simmons
Riddick.

James Charles Alexander, Jr., son of J. C. and Margaret
Byrd Alexander.

Charles Stuart White and Dorothy Shields White, children of
Woodrow Wilson and Maxine Shields White.

Edward Todd Hyman, son of Edward Wheatley and Jane
Todd Hyman.

Martha Elizabeth Leggett, and Enoch Gilbert Leggett, chil-
dren of Robert Edward and Eleanor Cherry Leggett.
Henry Toole Clark IV, son of Dr. Henry T. and Blanche
Burrus Clark.

Roberta Linell Josey, daughter of Claude Kitchin and Linell
Bruce Josey.

Franklin Darden Hardy, son of Frank and Aurelia Flowers
Hardy.

Josephine Maddrey House, daughter of Albert Clarence and
Josephine Maddrey House.

David Norman Boyer, son of George N. and Carolyn Boyer.
Ann Dunn Johnson, daughter of George H. and Joy Dunn
Johnson.

James Alvin Wilson, Jr. son of James Alvin and Billie Cherry
Wilson.

John William Drake III, son of the Rev. John W. Drake and
Marjorie Gray Dunn.

Thomas Suiter Green, son of George and Alethia Johnson
Green.

Roliff Holmes Purrington, Jr., son of R. H. and Jeanette
Dunn Purrington.

Mary Louise Alexander, daughter of Louis Ward and Marjorie
Davis Alxander.

Samuel Albritton Leggett, son of R. E. and Eleanor Cherry
Leggett.

Alfred Garland Grizzard, Jr., son of A. G. and Mildred
Flowers Grizzard.

Mallory Scott Barber and Eugenia M. Palmer Barber, chil-
dren of Mallory Palmer and Alice MclIlwain Scott Barber.
Francis Fisher Sater Harrell, Jr., son of F. $. Harrell and Sarah
Bellamy Hall.

Samuel Merrill Hanff, Jr., son of S$. M. and Hazel Womack
Hanff.

Carter Blaine Roberts and Courtney Gilbert Roberts, chil-
dren of Aaron Ernest and Bertha Elinor Boulton Roberts.
Charles Herbert Herring, III, son of C. H. and Bertha Boulton
Roberts Herring.

Jane Wheatley Hyman, daughter of Edward W. and Mary
Todd Hyman.

 
Aug.
Nov.
Dec.
March
March
March
May
Oct.
Dec.

Jan.

Jan.

10, 1952
16, 1952
7; 1952
1, 1953
1, 1953
8, 1953
10, 1953

, 1953

, 1953

, 1954

1832
1832
1839

19, 1845
22, 1845
27, 1845
1, 1846
1846
31, 1851
1851

15, 1851
1852

, 1852

, 1853

, 1853

, 1854

, 1854

REGISTER

Deborah Fern Coggins, daughter of George McDonald and
Hazel M. Coggins.

Robert Beckwith Gregory, son of Samuel T. and Elizabeth
Beckwith Gregory.

Florence Downing House, daughter of Albert C. and Josephine
Maddrey House.

Cornelia Clark House, daughter of Richard D. and Cornelia
Clark House.

William Arrington Kitchin, adult, son of John A. and Norma
Cloman Kitchin.

Susan Victoria Ehrhart, daughter of Charles D. and Hazel
Womack Ehrhart.

Isaac Hall Hanff, son of Samuel M. and Hazel Womack
Ehrhart Hanff.

Marjorie Kay Rogers, daughter of John Leon and Katherine
Johnson Rogers.

Barbara Bruce House, daughter of James Bruce and Barbara
Elizabeth House.

Lynne Whitmel Shields, daughter of Evans Rousseau and
Faye Thomas Shields.

John Cloman Kitchin, adult, son of John Arrington and
Norma Cloman Kitchin.

Mary Hollingsworth Henderson, Margaret Ann Henderson,
and Frances Jean Henderson, children of Dulan Eugene and

Frances Killebrew Henderson.
Rebecca Elizabeth Pittman, daughter of Julian Allen and
Elizabeth Hancock Pittman.

DEATHS

James Baker Smith, infant of William and Susan Smith.
Anne Hunter, wife of Dr. W. Hunter.

Richard Smith, Sen.

Rebecca Hill, the wife of Thomas Blount Hill.

William R. Smith, Sen.

Mary Anne Smith.

Charity Anthony, wife of Whitmel Hill Anthony.

Thomas Pernell of Halifax.

Whitmel Hill Anthony.

David, an old colored man.

Elizabeth N. Smith.

Isaac, an old colored man.

Peter Evans, age 71.

Robert Arthur Smith.

Dr. Simons J. Baker, age 78.

William Paull, infant son of Wm. H. and Cornelia Paull.
Peter McB. Webb, infant son of Richard H. and Josephine
Webb.

Ezekiel Curry, age 65.

Cornelia Smith Fenner, infant of William and Anna Fenner.

March
Sept.

April
Oct.

April
April

0, 1856
4, 1857

1857
1857

, 1858

1858
1858
1858
1858
1858

, 1858

1858

, 1858
» 1859

1859
1859

, 1859
, 1859

1860
1861
1861
1861
1861
1861
1861
1861
1861

9, 1861
, 1861

1862
1862
1862
1862
1863

, 1863

1863
1863
1863
1863
1863
1863
1863

, 1863
, 1863

1863
1863
1863
1864
1864
1864

REGISTER

Dr. Robert Park Hall.

Edward Hall.

J. M. Peebles.

Mrs. Ellixon.

Josephine Webb, age 29, wife of Richard H. Webb.
Mrs. Mary Young.

Jack Sills.

Randolph A. Futrell.

Sarah Futrell.

Frances Cullifer Futrell.

Elizabeth Norfleet Smith, infant of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
Marmaduke Pittman.

Ellen Speed, infant of J. H. Speed.

Thomas L. B. Gregory.

Jesse Manning.

Charlotte Sills.

Reuben Whitehead, age 23.

Ann B. Edmundson.

A. M. Riddick.

Mary E. Bishop.

Thomas Whitehead.

Samuel Gregory.

Rollif Purrington.

Lizzie Hyman.

Eliza Pender.

Arthur Pender.

M. E. Bishop.

Peter E. Smith, infant of Peter and Rebecca Hill Smith.
James Stuart Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
Douglas Barksdale.

L. G. Baker, Jr.

Elias Carr Hines.

Susan J. Shields.

Rebecca Spruill, age 22.

Peter E. Spruill, age 26.

Ida P. Bishop.

Martha Hyman.

Mary Hyman.

Ann Bishop.

Rosa Hyman.

Nathaniel Phelps.

Annie P. Grimmer, daughter of Wm. and Lavinia P. Grimmer.
Susan Evans Smith, infant of Peter and Rebecca Smith.
John Edmundson.

Lucy Ann Speed, daughter of John H. Speed.

Dr. B. F. Halsey.

West Whitaker.

Mary A. Bishop.

Charles L. Purrington.

Mary Johnson, infant of Dr. James and Mary Smith Johnson

 
REGISTER REGISTER

Lucius J. Johnson, infant of Dr. James and Mary Smith John- 1869 J. N. Alsbrook.

son. 1869 Mary Powell, age 40, wife of N. B. Josey.
Emily Gray. 1869 Henry Webb.

Antoinette Spruill, age 24, daughter of George E. and Mary 1870 Heshborn Bishop.

Spruill. 1870 Infant of Harriett Blount, colored.
Atherton B. Smith, infant of Peter and Rebecca Hill Smith. 1870 Infant of Frances and Richmond, colored.
Ben Hall, colored. 1870 Bettie, a colored woman.

Edward Cheshire Lawrence. 1870 Eddie, colored.

Rut Sills. 1870 Simon Peter, colored.

Richard Wood. 1870 Lucy Bradley, infant.

Dr. Keith. 1870 Virginia Camp, wife of James H. Camp.
Breckenridge Peebles. 1870 Virginia Lovejoy.

Emmett Peebles. 1870 Miss Leary.

Norfleet Pender. 1870 Miss Charlotte Hyman.

Pattie Doyle, wife of James Doyle. 1870 Miss Dolly Hyman.

Mr. Davis. 1870 Miss Rosanna Hyman.

Mrs. Sarah Vaughan, age 49. 1870 Sarah Walton Smith, wife of William Ruffin Smith, Sr.
Susan Gray. 1870 Anne R. Saunders.

Infant of M. L. and V. P. Venable. 1870 Louisa Sills.

Spier Pittman. 1870 Mary Whitehead.

Alonza Sills. 1870 Amelia P. Whitmore.

Mrs. Ann Evans, age 77, wife of Peter Evans. 1871 I. M. Morrisett.

John H. Hyman, age 38. 1871 Margaret Morrisett.

Elizabeth Hyman. 1871 Olivia Hyman.

Infant of J. H. Hyman. 1871 Annie E. Griffin.

John L. Hill, infant of A. B. and Eliza Hyman Hill. 1871 Anna Savage.

Gavin Hyman Hill, infant of A. B. and Eliza Hyman Hill. 1871 Helen B. Biggs, infant.

Walter Neal Hill, infant of A. B. and Eliza Hyman Hill. 1871 Peyton T. Anthony, son of John and Lucy Tunstall Anthony.
Mrs. Lassiter. ; 1871 Elizabeth Parsons, wife of Benjamin Curtis.
Mr. Hamilton. 9, 1871 Patrick M. Edmundstone.

Hennie Biggs. 1871 Martha Vaughan.

Lawrence Pender. 1871 Abeilla Pully.

Infant of A. S. Sills. 1872 L. B. Gregory.

Martha Currie, age 67. 1872 M. L. Beadley, infant.

Martha D. Pope. 1872 Sarah M. Roberts.

Ann N. Shields, age 37. 1872 Norfleet S. Warren.

Child of William H. Shields. 1872 Jehu Nichols.

Rosella Wiggins, wife of George A. Smith. 1872 B. Savage.

Whitmel John Hill. 1872 William Baker Smith.

Lawrence Hill. 1872 Sally Smith, wife of Richard H. Smith.
Atherton Barnes Hill, infant. 1872 Edward S. Neal, son of John and Anne Smith Neal.
L. B. Hill, infant. 1872 Martha Pender.

Infant of H. Alsbrook. 1872 Mary L. Sills.

Mrs. H. Alsbrook. 1872 Florence C. Craft.

Sarah E. Alsbrook. June 12, 1872 William Ruffin Smith.

Child of H. Alsbrook. 1873 Jesse G. Holliday.

George Griffin. Nov. 20, 1873 Nathalie Cooke Smith, infant.

Mary N. Lawrence. March 13, 1873 James G. Anthony, age 39.

Infant of J. H. Lawrence. Jesse W. Herring.

Infant of W. P. Jones. Rebecca A. Gammon.

 
 

March

Sept.
June

March

June

Oct.

9,

16,

20,

—

Go co © oO
r~w~w “st
a a a ae

_

1877
1878
1878
1878
1878
1879
1879
1879
1879
1879
1879

REGISTER

Louisa Sills.

Frank Sills.

William Grimmer.

Robert D. Smith.

Joseph Tarkenton.

Claude Raspberry.

Aquilla P. Hyman, age 42.
E. A. Bradley.

John H. Speed.

Virginia C. Smith, infant of Richard H. and Mary H. Smith.

Joseph Heming.

A. J. Cooper.

L. M. Pittman.

Robert Walton Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.

Mary Wood, daughter of Dr. William and Henrietta Wood.

Edward Tarkenton.

Mrs. Ben Shields.

Minor Smith, colored.

Infant George Bracey.

Mr. Whitehead.

Julia P. Savage.

Nannie E. Smith.

Lizzie Sheppard Saunders.

Catherine Devereaux, wife of Patrick Edmundstone.
John Pully.

Edgar Pittman.

William F. Sills.

Nannie E. Hill, infant of A. B. and Eliza Hyman Hill.
Frances Gregory, age 64, wife of Thomas L. B. Gregory.
Benjamin Wells.

Lena Biggs.

Dr. Archibald S. Hall.

John Manning Hill, age 14.

Samuel B. Hyman, son of John L. and Elizabeth Wheatley
Hyman.

Angeline Strickland.

Ann W. Steptoe, age 70.

E. Leary.

Mary Peebles.

Charles C. Shields.

Ed Barnes.

Mary Lawrence.

Henrietta Gray.

Francis Johnston Smith, son of James and Adelaide Smith.
W. M. Crump, infant.

Stuart Shields.

Catherine Ida Currie, age 12.

Kate Bass.

James Camp.

Lucy M. Anthony, wife of John Hill Anthony.

Sept.
June
Sept.
July

May

Aug.
Nov.

» 1879
1880
1880
1880

, 1880

4, 1880
1880
1880
1880
1880

5, 1880
1880
1881
1881

, 1881

, 1881
1881
1881
1882
1882
1882
1882
1882
1882
1883
1883

5, 1883
1883
1883
1883
1883
1884
1884
1884
1884

, 1884

5, 1885

, 1885

, 1885
1885

, 1885
1885
1885

24, 1885

21, 1885

10, 1885

24, 1885

31, 1885

27, 1885

29, 1885

REGISTER 105

Felicia Norfleet Young, age 76, wife of Charles Shields.
Pat Crowder, colored.

Mary E. Barnes.

Pattie Savage.

Anna Peters, infant of Thomas and Susan Hyman Peters.
Benjamin Cotten, age 69.

Anne H. Smith, wife of Alexander Smith.

Mary E. Whitaker.

W. H. Hancock.

Mrs. Burgay.

N. B. Josey, age 53.

Louisa Smith, wife of Thomas Spruill Norfleet.
Henry Garrett.

Milly Smith, colored.

Sarah L. Peters, infant of Thomas and Susan Hyman Peters.
Laura L. Saunders, wife of the Rev. Jos. H. Saunders.
Katherine Peebles.

Mrs. David Pope.

Mary F. Gregory.

Henry F. Ware.

Nannie E. Neal, age 38, wife of John Baker Neal.
James Burgay.

Virginia Bailey, wife of E. G. Whetmore, age 70.
Martha B. Sills.

Susan Hyman, wife of Thomas Peters.

Asa Bishop.

Mark Alexander.

John Roberts.

J. H. Cullifer.

Louisa F. Harris.

Charlotte Medford.

William Lassiter, infant.

Vivian L. Alsbrook, infant.

Annie Mary Neal, infant of John and Sallie McDowell Neal.

Maria Long, age 26, wife of William Weldon Hall.

William Fenner, age 68.

Infant George E. Bracey.

Eliza Evans Hill, age 43, wife of Thomas N. Hill.
Whitmel Hill, infant.

D. H. Harwell, infant.

Katy Hyman.

Weldon Edwards Hall.

Mary L. Brinkley, age 27.

Joseph H. Saunders.

Thomas J. Vaughan, age 62.

Joseph Bishop, infant.

Anna Baker Fenner.

Rowena Hines Shields, age 22, wife of Walter Davis Shields.
Leah A. Shields, age 52, wife of William H. Shields.
Norfleet S. Saunders, age 16.

 
Jan. 15,

April 8,

July 4,
July 16,

Oct. 31,

Nov. 16,
Feb. 4
Feb. 14,
March 19,
jure 21;
July 10,

1885
1885
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1887
1887
1887
1887
1887

Aug 10, 1887

Nov. 8,
Feb: 32a,
March 14,
April 19,
July os
July 9,

April E

June 26,
Nov. 10,
Jan. bs
June: :.17,
jan.’ + 30,
March 2,
March 4,
June 6,
June 17,
July

Aug. 8,
Sept. 10,
Ock ll,
Sept. 20,
April 20,
pay: 733;
Sept. Ds
Oct... 29,
Oct... - 30;
Nov. 16,

1887
1888
1888
1888
1887
1887
1888
1888
1888

1889
1889

1890
1890

1890

Feb. 21, 1891

March 14,
May

May _ 28,
May 30,

REGISTER

George Allsbrook.

Sherod Shields.

Mabry Whitaker.

Rebecca Wilson Shields, age 31, daughter of William Shields.
Ella Dunston Sherrod, age 23.

Sallie Purrington, age 52.

Hannah, a colored infant.

Sally Adams, infant.

Joseph Cheshire Smith.

Mary Anna Whitehead, age 53.

Amanda P. Lawrence, age 15.

Sallie W. Purrington, age 80.

Mary Bond, age 73, colored.

Rebecca Ellen Pender, age 32.

Sallie Speed, age 32.

Ellen W. Speed, age 9.

George E. Spruill.

Eli C. Biggs, [R., age 25:

Robert M. Burroughs, infant.

Joseph Scarborough.

Lucy Anna Allsbrook.

William Lamb, infant.

Gavin L. Hyman, son of John L. and Elizabeth Wheatley
Hyman.

James B. Bishop.

Angeline Alexander, age 65.

Sally Park Turner, age 77, wife of Mark Alexander.
Samuel M. Alexander, Jr., age 30.

LaFayette Whitaker, colored.

Sarah Indiana Bishop.

Nettie Turner, colored.

Laura Smith, age 47, colored.

Rowena Hines Shields, infant of Walter and Rebecca Shields.
Ann Dupree Shields, age 31, daughter of William Shields.
Cornelia Jane Herring, age 54.

Robert M. Burroughs.

Austin Evans, colored.

Mary Herbert Smith, age 45.

Dr. Richard Saunders, age 56.

Robert Lee Adams, age 5.

Elizabeth Packer, age 77.
Ths

John J. Bishop, age 7

Julian Travis Speed, infant.
James MclIltwain Dunn, infant.
Emily Hyman, age 77.

Mary Eliza Anthony, colored.
Ruby Lee Darden, infant.
Alma Shields, infant.

June
July
Aug.
Aug.
Aug.
Oct.

Nov.
Nov.
Dec.
July
April
April
Aug.
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
Feb.
March
March
April
June
Aug.
Aug.

Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
Dec.
Jan.
Jan.
Feb.

March
March
July
Sept.
Ox,
Oct.
Feb.
April
May
June
June
June
July
Nov.

i,
ss
7,
24, 1892
3;
8,
16,

‘,
ps
31,
1, 1893
2, 1893
26,
o
20,
Hy;

26,

23,
28,
12,
17, 1894
22, 1894
31, 1894
28, 1895

‘ot
rs

29,
=
4,

15,
9,

/;

REGISTER

Martin Clark, colored.

Dr. Eugene Speed, age 36.

Marion Oswald White, age 20.
Edward Madison Alexander, infant.
George N. Steptoe, age 28.

John W. Wood, age 28, son of Dr.

Wood.

Lucinda Anthony, colored.
Mary Elizabeth White, infant.
John L. White, age 28.
William L. Riddick.

James Samuel Harwell, age 50.
Martha Eliza Cotten, age 73.
Mattie Johnson, infant.

James F. Whitmore.

Angelo Garibaldi, age 77.
Stephen Andrews, age 76.

Mary M. Hall, age 44.

Richard Henry Smith, Sr., age 80.
William Edward Smith, age 47.
Araminta Pittman, age 50.
Andrew Peebles.

George Turner, colored.

William W. Hall, age 39, son of Dr.

Hall.

Mary Ann Evans, age 84, wife of Dr.

Louisa H. Boyette, age 46.
William H. Shields, age 66.
James Norfleet Smith, age 76.
Philip W. Purrington, age 29.
Maria F. Pope, age 55.
Sallie Cook Justice, age

ied
4d

William and Henrietta

A. S. and Emily

Baker

Samuel Southerland.

Alexander H. Smith, Jr., infant of Alexander and Irene Boyle

Smith.

Wilson Dupree Lamb, infant.
Norfleet Smith, age 54.

John R. Herring, age 60.

Eli C. Biggs, age 63.

Florence Coughenour, infant.
Theodore Lyman Crump, age 12.
Robert Benjamin Gammon, age 70.
William W. Steptoe, age 64.
Justice Edmunds, age 83.

William David Anthony, colored infant.

Cora Hart Shields, age 21.
William M. Shields, age 42.
John Suiter, age 35.

Susan Evans, age 85, wife of William Ruffin Smith.

 
 

June
Aug.
Sept.
Dec.
Oct.
July
July
Sept.
March
May
June
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Dec.
Feb.
Feb.
March
March
May
May
June
Oct.
Oct
Dec.
Feb.
April
May

REGISTER

William H. Smith.

Caroline Gilliam Hall, age 23, daughter of Dr. James and
Mary Hall.

Katy Lee Hudgins, age 9.

Mary Jane Purrington, age 68.

Robert Smith, colored.

Sarah Eliza Lawrence, age 25.

Dr. James M. Johnson, age 67.

Jennie Coughenour, infant of John and Bettie Coughenour.
Eleanor Blanche Moore, age 12.

Alpheus Whitehead, age 66.

William H. Shields, infant of Walter and Rebecca Smith
Shields.

Philip St. G. Barraud, Jr., infant of Philip and Sallie Barraud.
Mary Weldon Johnson, age 61, wife of Dr. James M. Johnson.
Jesse Whitaker Gammon, age 20.

Edward Wheatley Hyman, infant.

John Pittman Darden, infant.

Frances Margaret Nicholls, age 71.

William Frank Butterworth, Jr., infant.

Jesse R. Whitehead.

Infant son of W. D. Shields.

Henrietta Anthony, age 57, wife of Dr. William Wood.
Lillian Steptoe Riddick, age 13.

Dr. William Richard Wood, age 65.

Robert Powell, age 12.

Walter Pittman, age 40.

Dr. James C. Hill, age 54.

Lena Smith Shields, infant of W. D. and Rebecca Shields.
John Lyon Coughenour, age 4.

Leah Clark, colored, age 20.

James S. Darden, age 49.

Edgar Lee Pittman.

Dr. John Stuart Hall, age 49.

Winifred Witmore, age 72.

Benjamin G. Smith, age 64.

Florence Taylor, age 45.

Richard Stuart Whitaker, age 46.

Julia Spruill, age 67, wife of William Smith.

Claudia Riddick, infant.

Walter D. Shields, age 40.

John Noah Pope, infant.

Susan Evans Smith, age 35.

George W. Hudgins.

Mrs. Ellen Taylor, age 56.

Emily Baker Hall, age 28.

Alex H. Smith, age 57.

Sadie E. Coughenour, infant.

Oct.
Dec.
Jan.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.
Feb.
March
June
July
Oct.
March
May
June
July
Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
Feb.
Feb.
May
May
Sept.
Nov.
June
Jan.
June
June
June
Oct.
Dec.
Dec.
Feb.
May
June
Aug.
Oct.
Oct.
Jan.
Feb.
Feb.
March
May
Aug.
Nov.
Feb.
Feb.

19,
11, 1902
21, 1903
29,
:,
24,
14, 1904
14,
22
24,
5,
16,
31,
By

9,

1907

19,

27
Sls

28,
30,
7, 1908
2,
3
14, 1909
6, 1909
29,
26, 1910
I,
8,
16,
19,
31,

27

27, 1911

26, 1912

REGISTER

Eli Bishop Pope, infant.
Mrs. Felicia Savage, age 55.
Rufus Holmes Purrington, age 74.

Augustus Alexander, infant.

Helen Smith, age 12, daughter of Alexander and Irene Smith.
Alden Dunn, age 56.

Barsheba Smith, colored, age 80.

Emily Turner Hall, age 81, wife of Dr. A. Stuart Hall.
E. Nelson, age 50.

Judge Thomas N. Hill, age 60.

Ben Cheshire Smith, age 81, colored.

Virginia Peterson Cocke, age 55, wife of William E. Smith.
Bettie Hyman, wife of Atherton B. Hill, age 69.
Whitmel J. Hill, age 46.

Annie Viola Snipes, infant.

Samantha Currie, age 80, wife of J. H. Currie.

Peter Evans, Smith, age 77.

Emma L. Outerbridge.

Martha E. Hyman, age 76, wife of Aquilla P. Hyman.
Archibald Stuart Hall, age 21.

Atherton Barnes Hill, age 73.

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Charles Whitmel Spruill, age 55.
Anne Saunders, age 65.

E. H. Height, age 45, colored.

J. F. Applewhite, age 60.

Anna Ware, age 26.

Clara Hill, age 54, colored.

Rebecca Purrington.

Mrs. Mary W. Riddick.

Alice Shields, wife of Henry Allen Pittman.

Herbert Hyman, age 46.

Mr. H. A. Pittman, age 63.

Harriet Clark, age 80, colored.

Dr. Robert Alexander, age 69.

Hariett Whitaker, colored, age 80.

Josey Holt, colored, age 24.

Mrs. Adelaide Maria Smith.

Mr. William Henry Hopkins.

Mrs. Margaret A. Savage.

Richard Henry Smith.

Mrs. Alethia Johnson.

Mrs. Amanda Peebles Ferrall.

Mrs. Harriet Elizabeth Cannon.

Mrs. Alice Hyman Powell.

Miss Adelaide Evans Smith.

Miss Georgiana Steptoe.

Emily Baker Hall.

Mrs. Nathalie Cocke Robertson.

 
 

110 REGISTER REGISTER

March 3, Thomas Pender. Nov. 29, Mrs. Fannie C. Saunders.

June 10, The Rev. Richard Warner Anderson. Jan. 24, 1927 Mrs. Thomas Tillery.

Oct. 24; Mrs. Rebecca N. Smith. April 22, Linville Allen Darden.

Feb. 9, George Smith. winy. > 29, Mrs. J. O. Applewhite.

April 19, Margaret Rebecca Pearson. July 28, Mrs. Kate Dunn.

Oet, - 1d; Sally Smith Neal. Oct, 30, Mark Turner Alexander.

Jan. 19, Sarah Eliza Smith. March 26, 1928 O. A. Snipes.

Feb. 9, Edward Wood Hall. Oct. 5, Hilliard Montague Leggett.

Oct. 3, George Dunn, Jr. Jan. , 1929 Mrs. Bettie Cotten Vincent.
Mrs. M. F. Pope. Jan. 5, Henry Haywood Hyman.
James Norwood Hill. Feb. 4 Mrs. Jennie Knapp Vande.
Margaret A. C. Savage. May . Walter Mason Crump.
Grimes, infant. March 2 Mrs. Edward Wheatley Hyman
Mrs. Ellen Speed. July L W. P. Darden.
Jarl E. Bowers. Sept. Andrew Jackson Jones, Sr.
Isaac Hall Smith. March 1930 Francis Robert Smith.

Aug. ! Edward Hyman, Jr. April Mrs. Bettie Mason Dunn.
Mrs. Mattie Herring Josey. April > Dr. Henry Clark.

July 1920 Sidney F. Dunn. Oct. ' Mrs. Susie Cotten Walker.

Aug. 22, James Smith Paull. Jan. , 1931 Mrs. Nannie Paull Cotten.

2. John Young Savage. Jan. ; Atherton Barnes Hill.
20, Julian J. Crump. Nov. ; Abiel McConiber Vande.

May 17, Charles Herbert Herring. March 6, Dudley Whitaker.
William Turner Joiner. Feb. 3, R. F. Coleman.

Aug. 18, Eleanor Stuart Smith. Mrs. Willie Knight.

Feb. 12, 1922 Mrs. Charles Pittman. Jan. 30, 1931 Mrs. Mollie Knight Pittman.

June 6, Martha B. Nicholls. July Thomas W. Hill.

June , Capt. William R. Bond, C. S. A. Oct. a William McDowell Dunn.

yily 23, Caroline Alexander. Feb. 1932 Charlie Speed.

guly. 41, Dr. James Edward Shields. March 18, Mrs. John Speed.

Aug. 9, Mrs. Louisa Catherine Smith. May : Dr. Charles A. Beck.

Sept. 6, Gideon Lamb. Bessie Dunn Stallings.

Sept. 24, Joseph B. Hilton. Dec. , 1932 Biscoe Sherrod.

Feb. 18, Martha Virginia Neblett. Dec. ’ Ben Bryant.

March 6, John H. Speed. Jan. , 1933 Dorothy Dunn McDowell.

Aug. 2, The Rev. Walter Johnston Smith. Feb. Alethia Barrow Clark.

Dec: © 1G; Edward Wheatley Hyman. June ‘ Mr. Norfleet Smith.

Jan. 8, Mrs. Jennice Allsbrook. March 14, 1934 John Darden.

Jan. $l, Charles William Albertson. June j Miss Kate S. Fenner.

Feb. 4, John Lucius Hooker. Aug. : Ernest Hodges Leggett.

April 6, William Etheridge Whitmore. May , Mrs. Margaret Hodges Leggett.

Oct. 24, James Harper Alexander, Sr. May : Nathaniel Cocke Smith.

Feb. 17, 1926 Rufus Ivey Jones. Aug. 17; Mrs. Claudia Keel.

June 21, 1926 Zachariah Taylor Vincent. Oct. 6, Mr. Tom Fenner.

Ang: 158, Mrs. Emily Brown Hill. Aug. 27, 1936 Mrs. J. A. Pittman.

Sept. 8, Charles Anthony Beck. Dec. 30, Harper Alexander.

ee. ay Joseph H. Saunders. March 25, 1937 John Baker Neal.

Ost, 43, Mrs. Norfleet Smith, Sr. April 10, William Herring.

 
 

112

Oct. :.* 26,
Aug: 35,
Oct... - "82;
July 9,
Jatten”. ke,
Nov.’ 22}
Jan. 18,
jan, 18;
April: (47,
Feb. 4,

1938

1939
1940
1938
1939
1940

REGISTER

Gilbert Elliot Smith.

Nannie Cotten Speed.

Sadie Hyman.

Richard Hall.

A. L. Purrington.

Mrs. Sallie Baker Smith.

Miss Nannie Elizabeth Smith.
John Hyman.

Mrs. Rebecca Whitmel Shields.
Mrs. John B. Cloman.

REGISTER

Lydia Shaw Lawrence.
Georgianna Biggs Riddick, age 93.

Elizabeth Joyner Coughenhour, age 84.

KO

Rupert H. Allsbrook, age 52.
John Frederick Pittman, age 51.
William E. Smith, Sr., age 75.

Mrs. Mattie Cotten Beck, age 74.

John William Flowers, age 76.

Elizabeth Pittman White, age 76.

Mrs. Etta Hall White, age 78.

Aug. ms Miss Elizabeth Curtis Smith. ’ Irwin Clark, age 68.
Jate2 2b, Thomas Douglas Temple. Robert A. Shackell, age 64. i
Jan. 28, Fannie: Lambie, Rudolph White, age 61, (Enfield).
March 14, C. Frank White. ; Isaac Hall Smith, age 74.
Aug. 5, Mary Shields Alexander. Mrs. Nan Hill Smith Durham, age 89.
Jan. 4, Gustavus Smith White. William Hugh Kitchin.
April 22, Albert Leyton Brown.

May 8, Mrs. Nannie Flemming Taylor.

Oct. }; David Franklin White.

Dec. 6, Enoch M. Cherry.

Feb. 1; Lena Neville Robertson Cherry

May 10, Lena Hill Smith, age 89.

May 9, Mrs. Walter J. Smith.

Jan. 9, Elizabeth Hall Bond, age 87.

May «15, James Baker Hall, Jr., age 35.

| a4 A Mrs. T. W. Fenner.

July 9, Mrs. Olivia Shields Lamb.

Ly Sa Robert George Shackell, age 77.

Janis. 12, Roberta Hodges.

Feb. 18, Nancy Bennett Flowers, age 70.

March 2, Gavin L. Hyman, age 50.

April 20, Albert Sidney Page, age 42.

June 5, Mrs. Maybelle Sears Albertson, age 69.

Jan. 9, Minnie Gray Riddick.

Jone td, Louise Stephenson Smith.

Bg.” Fo; Newsome Allsbrook Riddick.

Dec, «42; Mary C. Josey.

Dec. 14, 1946 Willie Bishop.

ec... 18; Cary Knight Pittman.

April 20, 1947 Mrs. Norma Cloman Kitchin.

Nov. 16, 1947 Marjorie Marks, age 23.

Noy... 2h, Virginia Margaret Leggett, age 71.

May 13, 1948 Stuart Hall Hill.

July 8, Thomas Norfleet Hill.

Oct. 8, Juliette Hatton Smith, age 72.

Nov. 18, Infant of Chester and Mary Elks.

Jan. 1, 1949 John Denby Hall, age 65.

Jan. 5, Charles Henry Bell, age 78.

March 17, John Timothy Riddick, age 81.

 
 

APPENDIX I

The following list of marriages performed by the Rev. J. B. Cheshire (1814- APPENDIX II

1899) was kept by him in a manual of devotion, entitled The Clergyman’s The following inscription appears on the monument in the Baker graveyard
Companion. This book is now owned by his grandson, J. B. Cheshire III. on the so called Hall farm several miles north east of Scotland Neck near
Cypress Swamp. The inscription is printed here because many of the people

Some of these marriages took place in Trinity Church and appear in the 2 ay : ete :
f mentioned were active in the early history of Trinity Parish.

Parish Register.
THIS MONUMENT

James Allen, Esq. to Miss Margt. West July 9, 1840 WAS ERECTED BY THE CHILDREN
Thomas G. Tucker to Miss M. C. Capehart Nov. 1840 AND GRANDCHILDREN OF DR. S. J. BAKER
Dr. Stuart Hall to Emily T. Baker June 5, 1841 IN COMMEMORA I ION OF THEIR FA . HER
ae ital Miss S.5.C Dec 5 1841 AND OF THEIR ANCESTOR THOS. TURNER
Atlass J. Peebles to Miss S. S. Cannon ec. 1 AND HIS DESCENDANTS AND THEIR
James Webb to Miss S. F. Cheshire Feb. , 1842 CONNECTIONS WHO ARE BURIED
Mr. Alex. A. Austin to Miss Martha Joyner Feb. 1842 AROUND IT
Dr. Thomas to Miss M. S. Clark Nov. , 1843 Milly Turner, daughter to Thomas Turner
Stephen Norfleet to Miss Frances H. Pugh June 1844 married Jas. Smith, died and was
Mr. Franklin Hart to Miss Sarah R. E. Bryan Nov. 5, 1845 1. age — Ey 1 Milly Smitt

Be aed as % me Bea us a urner Smith, son of Jas. and Milly Smith
Mr. W mn. Tr. Dortch to Miss Mary E. Pittman March , 1846 Born Jan. 21, 1757—Died Sept. 1778
Dr. W. F. Williams to Miss Laura S. Pugh June , 1846 Betty Edwards, wife of Turner Smith
Jas. W. Strange to Miss Mary S. Hyman Oct. 5, 1846 Died a few months after her husband 1778
Jos. I. Pugh to Miss C. D. I. H. Williams Nov. 1846 Polly Turner, daughter of Turner and Betty

. ce Sars Se ise: aes ney i Smith Born July 3rd, 1778, married Dr.

Mr. E. D. McNair to Miss Elizabeth A. Cheshire Feb. : thd Simmons J. Baker of Gates Co. Oct. 29, 1795
James D. Howell to Miss Martha A. Gray July 1847 died after the birth of her 8th child Oct. 26, 1812
Dr. John - Rives to Miss Lucy D. Foxhall Sept. 1848 Marciana Augusta Baker, daughter of S. J. and
Mr. Wm. Hill to Mary Elizabeth Outlaw Jan. , 1850 P. T. Baker, born Oct. 15, 1812

Dr. Charles Smallwood to Miss Harriet I. Clark March 1850 Died Sept. 17th, 1813

John H. Speed to Miss Ellen Edmundson April 1850 Emily Turner eldest child of S. J. and

Tarner TA 4 we ; P. T. Baker Born Feb. 3, 1797
Mr. Turner W. Battle to Miss Lavinia B. Daniel May 1850 married Dr. B. B. Hunter—Died Nov. 9, 1822

Charles W. Garret to Miss Mary Sugg June 1851 Ann Jones daughter of S. J. and P. T. Baker
Mr. John H. Whitaker to Miss Mary E. Anthony June 1851 Born April 25, 1801 married G. L. Stewart
Mr. John Parker to Miss Eliza Jane Philips Oct. 5, 1851 Died June 22, 1826 ;
R ae Sect RGR Ce Cheon Ana Maria sixth child of S. J. and P. T.
ev. Drane to] rm. G. ©. Hargrove: Baker, Born June 20th, 1807 married
Dr. John Hill to Miss Willie Ruffin Oct. 1851 Dr. W. Hunter Died Nov. 1832
William Fenner to Miss Anna M. Smith Oct. 1851 Agatha Baker and Elizabeth Harvey
Mr. F. M. Parker to Miss Sally T. Philips Dec. 1851 Also J of ag Rs J. — send — —
a aaa tke eras : ae Also Joseph Harvey, husband of Elizabeth
Genl. J. B. Littlejohn to Miss Sallie Field Oct. 8, 1852 and Eliza their daughter
Mr. Mathew Weddell to Miss Maria T. Clark Oct. 1852 John Simmons, son of G. L. and Ann Stewart
Mr. Peter E. Smith to Miss Rebecca Hill Dec. » 2052 is also buried here
Mr. O. W. Telfair to Miss Pauline D. MacNair March 1853 Martha, daughter of S. J. Baker and his
William H. Smith to Miss Julia A. Spruill Dec. , 1853 second wife Ann C. Born June 9th, 1816
Mr. John E. Leary to Miss Lucy E. Anthony Jan. 1854 : Died Sept. ee Le a we wie
r i . 4 pe alt 1 sawrence, son of S. J. and A. C. Baker

Dr. James M. Johnson to Miss Mary W. Smith June , 1854 Born Sept. 14, 1821—Died July 7, 1826
Rev. John H. Parker to Mrs. Ann Lord Jan. 1854 William son of S. J. and A. C. Baker
Robt. H. Lewis to Sarah E. Howard Nov. , 1854 Born Sept. 5, 1825—Died Aug. 1831
Wm. M. Pippin to Mary H. Powell March 21, 1855 — — _ ee . C. —

. : ee Mise ss Ne . aps orn Dec. 31, 1828—Died Sept. 183
Dr. Jos. H. Baker to Susan D. Foxhall May 1855 Anna €. Baker, Sad wile ch bir. Sanne
Mr. Kemp P. Battle to Martha A. Battle Nov. 1855 J. Baker Died May 3rd, 1843
George A. Smith to Rosella Wiggins June 1856 Dr. Simmons Jones Baker, son of
William Carr to Elizabeth Irwin June 1856 Lawrence Baker of Gates Co. 18th. 1853
Frank P. Haywood to Mrs. Martha Austin Sept. . 5, 1856 Born Feb: 15, IP—aeek Ang, aR. Te
Eli C. Biggs to Martha C. Steptoe Nov. , 1856

Will. R. Cox to Penelope Battle Nov. 1856

 
 

 
 
 

 

 

AVOINOTIET TAIL

30372 0076 9040 4