Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-27

FTNHE INTEREST which attaches to the old
Il hOmesteads, and particularly to the old
church Of the ''Old Dominion" prompts the
writer Of the following sketch to give his RENE
niscences OF time and place which sixty years
of rough contact with men and things have
failed 70 obii.erate, while they have toned down
and softeneI them into an abiding and pleas
ant memory.
The Old Chapelr' By no other name was
it ever known or would now be identified.
We're it called simply The Chapel" none of its
living denizens, If such there be, would recos-
nize its identity with the rustic, moss-grown
old stone structure surrounding a wooded knoll
about the center of the present county Of
Clarke; but, at the time of which speak, in the
county of Frederick, in the valley of Virginia, a
valley far famed for its fertile soil, its fctur-
esdae scenery and the intelligence, culture and
Tehnementof its people.
The claim of this church Of I'VE olden time
To antiquity is fully established IN the fact that
its ancient and venerable wOrshipers knew it
by no other title than that of the Odd Chapel
Evidently no one knew at that day Il speak Of
SIXTY years agOJ when il had been other than
The Old Chapel. or whether. indeed, il Lad
ever had more modern appeilation-
Built Ely EARLY SETTLERS.
Tradition speaks of this old church as having
been built by some of the earlier settlers of the
valley Of Virginia ut a time Wien churches, and
notably Episcopal churches, were few and far
between. These early settlers were generally
gentlemen. large landed proprietors removing
from their estates In the lower and more mall-
riOas counties OF the state and bringing with
them their slaves. seeking Mt trst q more saIu-
brious climate for themselves, their families
and retainers for the summer months but form
ing IN course oil time permanent settlement in
the upper counties of the state. 1t was at
this early date, then, and almost before
they lad fellcd the forests and built for them
selves temporary dwellings,, that these new
settlers OF the valley" began to feel the need
OF !. church in which to worship according to
the tenets of the Church of England" in
which they and their fathers before them had
been accustomed to worship. 1t then that
the Old Chapel was built, probably by sutscrip-
tion. the land having been donated by a certain
Col Nathaniel BaEweH, near the center of
whose then princely estate the Old Chapel with
its God 5 acre was located. Another tradition
speaks OF it as having been built by Lord Fair
fax. whose residence. 'Greenvay Court was
only a Few miles distant. Being English
man and doubtless attached TO the Church Of
England would give some coloriu,, OF truth to
this latter legend, but be this as IL nay neither
the one nor the other initiates aga.n.s its
antiquity.
At this time. the country being thinly settled
and the estates of the gentry large embracing
j.,
gregatlon was necessarily scattered over an
area Of many miles in extent, vet it was an ex-
eeptlonally cold day IN winter or hot day in
summer that did not witness the assembling at
the Old Chapel of a congregation, if not as re-
spectacle III numbers. yet in other respects
comparable with any body of men and women
who ever congregated at a country church.
THE CONGREGATION.
1t was essentially congregation Of ladies
and gentlemen of courtly manners and high
breeding; aristocrats, not in the sense which
unfortunately has rendered the term offensive
not Of wealth, though most of them were
wealthy, but of that quality that marks the
gentleman and gent!ewoulan the world over, an
enyironIle mt too pure to be analyZed, too subtle
TO be defined; not put on as a Sunday dress, but
u habit cf everyday life and conduct and con-
sersatIon; with few exceptions such was the
character Of the Old Chapel congregation.
Before sketching the personnel Of this
ancient and respectable congregation of wor-
shippers it may be well Il glance at the build
ing itself. which, in its p imitive simplicity,
was no inapt exponent of the simple, unosten-
tau5ns forms and ceremonies of the church
which prevailed at that early day in Virginia.
Situated. as has been before said, In the midst
o. a widely scattered country community this
Old Chapel, standing solitary and alone, with no
surroundings save the Primeval oaks which
c-owE TIE rising ground on which it stands,
needed no spire, no belfry, no ''church-going
bath chimes we're in .heir hearts, and to them
did those good old country folk most reverently
listen.
THE CHURCH ITSELF.
An oblong ordinary structure, built of blue
limestone, but, even then, grown gray with
age, with no effort at ornamentation, either
within or without. TO name its order Of archi-
lecture would be to invent a new one, which
might be aptly demonstrated the severely
simple"
Though there were three entrances to this
the third being there, perhaps, for uniformity's
sake. In the gable end was the front or main
entrance, which was reached by five steps,
rickety, dllapidated and probably coeval witl
the building itself. On the Left, about
midway the building. was another en-
trance of safer and easier access,
being but one step above tie ground.
An aisle from the front, extending down the
long diameter Of the building to the ehancel
rail, and another between the two side doors
constituted the only means of reaching the tall,
straightforward, uncomfortable peWs which
thanked either side of these aisles, which, where
they crossed In the center of the building,
formed an open area, in which stood all the
Year round and for many year an old, dilapi-
dated template stove, which, far more than the
burning and irnpassioned celebrations Of
"Parson NJ, brough. tears to the
eyes of his hearers with its plenti-
tude OF smoke and Its paucltude OF
IRE. One can but recognize the holy zeal that
must have warmed and animated those worthy
men and women, who. sabbath after Sabbath,
assembled In this old, comfortless country
church. not only in the balm, days Of spring
time and summer, but in midwiater, when
frost and snow and wretched roads combined
70 keep them TO their homes and tresides.
Genuine religious fervor and the conscious
ness Of right performance Of u sacred and I'M
perative duty TO their God thei- children and
themselves could alone have furnished the
motive for the remarkable disregard of per-
sOnal comfort and convenience which char
xcterized those ancient worthless in the observ-
ance of their religious Obligations, and not
only Was this Conscientious devotion to duty
manifest in their own lives. but far as in
them lay was instiIled into their children both
by precept an example.
GOING TO CHURCH.
The journey to and from the Old Chapel on a
cold winters day to most Of the congregation
generally occupied nearly the whole day, and
many time and Oft has the writer, as q
boy, returned half famished and frozen from
his Sunday service, against which there could
be no appeal save in the case Of sickness or
some such physical disability. As a conse-
quenee the attendance of the boys and girls of
the congregation WAS what would be considered
phenomenal even in this age Of carpeted
churches, cushioned pews and luxurious sur
-oundings.