The Reverend John Wingate: An Economic Casualty of Revolutionary Virginia

During the American Revolution John Wingate, the rector of St. Thomas parish in Orange County, Virginia, an ecclesiastical unit of the established Church of England, gave up his cure and departed for Great Britain. A hundred years later Philip Slaughter, a well-known church historian, asserted that Wingate left behind such an extraordinary "disloyal odor" that the vestrymen, who were ardent patriots, refused to employ another minister for 23 years (Green 32). Since that time scholars have accepted Slaughter's opinion that Wingate was a fervent Tory who disgraced himself and his church; little more of him has heretofore found its way into print.(1) Who was John Wingate? What was his clerical and Revolutionary record? Was he a passionate royalist? What happened to him after his departure? This essay, by answering these and related questions, will contend that economic, not political, considerations primarily prompted his removal from Virginia. Wingate was an undistinguished clergyman, but his obscurity can not justify flippant assertions which may be inaccurate. If scholarly generalizations about Virginia's Revolutionary clergy are to have validity, correct data of individual parsons are required. Wingate was born in 1747 and was the second son of Thomas Wingate of Kincardine parish in the shire of Perth, Scotland. He lived in the parish until adulthood, according to church officials, except for "a part of the time of his education" (Fulham Papers 26: 63). In 1763 he matriculated as a student in Glasgow University and presumably took his degree four years later (Addison 71). In early 1769 the young Scot embarked for Virginia where he planned to act as a private tutor; he carried a testimonial from his minister and assistant ministers, who declared that Wingate had always "behaved with a character becoming a Christian," and that there was "nothing to hinder his reception into any Christian Family or Society and have church privileges" (Fulham Papers 26: 78). By June 1769 Wingate was serving as tutor in Stratton Major parish in King and Queen County, probably in the home of the recto William Dunlap, who in that month announced that he had "engaged a tutor for his own sons, properly qualified to teach the learned languages," and that he would "take in two or three boys to board and educate them" (Purdie and Dixon June 8, 1769). At the same time Dunlap sent a letter recommending an ordinand to the bishop of London and Wingate signed his name as the sole witness, which also suggests that he was a teacher in the Dunlap home (Fulham Papers 26: 82). Soon, however, Wingate declared himself a candidate for holy orders in the Church of England and prepared himself for the ministry. Dunlap published his intentions in the parish church, charging all parishioners to acquaint him of any reasons why Wingate should "not be admitted into the sacred Ministry." No objections were forthcoming (Fulham Papers 26: 67). Since there was no bishop in America, Wingate recrossed the ocean in mid-1771 to seek the blessing of the bishop of London, the nominal diocesan of the colonial churches. His credentials included testimonials of his good conduct and character and his Anglican orthodoxy from Dunlap and three other local parsons. There was also a short endorsement from Richard Corbin, a resident of King and Queen, a Councilor, and the Receiver General of Virginia. Archibald McRoberts, rector of Dale parish in Chesterfield County, supplied the requisite title by appointing Wingate as his curate. James Horrocks, the commissary, that is, the bishop's representative in Virginia, could give Wingate only his half-hearted approval. He apologized for his deficiency in learning, a judgment not shared by William Dunlap and not easily accepted since Wingate was college educated; but, because of the candidate's good testimonials and his potential usefulness, the commissary recommended him to the bishop for ordination (Fulham Papers 26: 69-74). …