Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-09
OLD GRACE CHURCH,
VENERABLE STRUCTURE IN THE
ANCIENT COUNTY OF YORK.
STRANGE HISTORY OF BELL.
@a. Presented by Queen Anne I'm
112f; After the "Civil War; II
WAS sold for Junk. hut wnx nc.-
cued and Hecas..

YORKTOWN, VA. November S-(spe.
riaID-Among the cherished relics Of an
nlustrious past, and coupled with the ear
Jest events Of this ancient town. is old
Grace church. around which one can well
imagine HAT the shades CT departed spir-
Us hold icrelT,ies among the noss-covered
tomls and corners of the venerable build
tng Most important of all the venerable
belongings of the Aud Kirk is the
time worn bell which for nearly two cen
tur.es has called the communicates to
worship, rung merrily at all the wedding
festivities, and mournfully tolled its sad
dest requiems as the funeral cortece of
some departed soul entered the sacred
portals. : most interesting history is
connected with this ancient bell. whose
tintinnabulations have gone down the cor
1icors Of the long ago-a history scarcely
ecltpsed by the sacred Philadelphia relic
which chimcd forth the glorious t;dincs
Of American liberty
Popular tradition tells us that this
Grace church bell was presented by Queen
me OF England. in 1924 to York-Hamp-
ION parish. of which Grace church was
The most important charge Its history
during The stormy scenes of the Revolu-
Ton is somewhat reilef in mystery but it
again comes prominently into view in 1914
when the sacred cdifice suffered in the
general cunfiagration incident TO the war
OF that period with England. 1t fell then
WAS era eked. and made unfit for use. The
next fifty years it spent in oblivion, moul-
derlDg in idlenesS and buried meath the
rank growth of weeds which raise their
IoNious heads high above everything else
in The Church yard
SENT TO PHILADELPHIA AS JUNK.
Toward the close of the civil strife. and
before Nirginians had gained control Of
our State government, the long forgotten
mutilated remains of this interesting relic
were gathered together and shipped to
philadelphia as common junk, along with
g consignment of other worthless rub
bIsh.
Followed by a streak of good luck the
old bell fell into the hands of friends who
upon seeing the inscription on its SCARED
lace at once recognized its value. These
people were connected with the Hooks
Smelling Company, of Philadelphia who
,ecast The bell, engraved it with the same
inscription it had before. and in 1881 gave
it baC! 10 the old church. where to-day it
is doing its duty as faithfully as when
it left The shores of ''Old England '-the
gift of one of the most illustrious ladies
who ever ruled over the British Isle, or
extended her sceptre TO the virgin shores
OF America.
DESTRUCTION OF CHESTNUT TREES
Can any good ever come of barbed
fence wire-1i!e cruel, merciless barbs
that have injured SO many fine specimens
of the brute ton. and even pricked
the cuticie of the genus homo with re-
morseless energy whenever he came in
contact with ii? Barbed wire has certain
" fulfilled q mission. noble mission, IN
deed In years back our forests We're
rich in noble specimens of the chestnut
tree and the rich brown nut, now SO fash
tonable and scarce, was a. very common
commodity thought fit only as food for
squirrels and other wild varmints of
the wood The Old Dominion has ever
been noted for The picturesque old chest
nut worm fences. and right here we find
the charity of the harbed wire fence and
its raison q etre. Not a chestnut sapiing
three inches Oh the stump was formerly
SHARED by the ruthless band Of woodmen
while the venerable monarchs of the for
est were sacrificed as mercllesSly. All
alike have fallen victims to the axe and
al alike have been destroyed until scarce
IL a specimen of the chestnut remains.
Scattered here and there one occa sionally
Gnds a few or even a small grove, but
il would be an impossibility TO obtain
telephone poles enough of that wood tc
run one mile of wire in the county of
York.
Indian summer in ali the grandeur Of
lis beauty is again with us. and the