The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1908-05-21
ST. GEORGES PARISH
Work OF the EpiseOpaIianS Here in
Colonial Days
St Georges Church Has Had Twenty Rec
interesting History Etc.

n ick, fredericksburg, ia 1GO, and In
1910 an act of the assembly was passed
establishing a fort at. or near, the Falls
oi the Rappehannock
fhtip Slaughter, in his book on st
ueprSe fariSh, from which much of
tllS Articl, i taken. SAYS that prior To
/ ! ~ the counties Of Essex. King William
aud King and Queen exercised iurisdir-
tipn over hat n now st Gcorg,.'s Par
/ lSh- Tn 80. at "a General Assembly
ueguh and holden at The Capital. in the
city "i Williamsburg. ou the second dav
OF November. Ia the seventh year of the
! r+ign ut our sovereign lord. George the
hrs 10y the ac' of q. Il. Of Gteat Brit
"in, France and lr,land. King. defender
oi the ia. th etc aud ia the year OF our
L"rd, ii2u, on act was passed for
erecting, IN the county uf SpotSylvania.
aud establishing the parish of 81 Geor0p
! henhlug statute II as iOilOwe:
Preamble that the Frontiers towards
The high mountains are exposed 1 ,danu-
er from the Indians. and the late settle
ments ui the French 70 the westward of
the said mountains
Enacted ,Spotsy lvania county bounds
upon SNOW Greek up to The Mil. thence
10y a southwest hns 20 the river North
Anna, thence up the said river t.s far as
convenient. and the ~ by a line To be
run over the high mountains. thence
down the said river until II comes
against the head ot kappahanDock river;
ana down that river 10 the mouth ui
Snow Greek; which & at of hand from
the hrst Oi May. lT2l. shall become "A
county, by the name of Spotsylvania
county. Five hundred pounds for
chufch, court house. prison ,pillory and
stocks, here the governor shall appoint
them Ia the county oi SpotsylvAnia. aud
the governor L. empioy work men. bro.
vide materials, etc. The whole oi
Spotsy wanna made one paris IA, by the
hume oi ST. G-orSe."
The seat uf Justice of the new count,
was formed At GermannA. In tn. tr.t
Court, which sat ON August I.t IT3J
Augustine smith. John TAiiaf,.rro. John
Nailer VIM. Han siJrd, Richard johnson
and NuI. liledsoe were sworn a. Justices
oi the pence, and II l. interesting to note
tiiht these men afterwards plANed nn i'm
portAnt part in the estab.i-hm, ut of th,,
early Church ia this section. Tho nrst
meeting of the Nestry OF st Georges Par
lsh WAS in 1922. but the record OF the
Nestry was lost for many years. and
later was iound by Mr.. John Minor. In
the C.ty OF Uliamsbu'g the proceedings
from li23 To lf2G being torn out. The
FIRST meeting 81 the Nestry. of which
I j
lt2d, and the Nestry was comIos~d al
i'ev. Iheodorius Staige Minister; Aug
ustine Smith aud John GRAY son. Ward
ems John TallaierrO, Francis Thornton
THOMAS Nhew, VIM. Hansford. stephen
Sharp ana George Mheatle The Nestry
was required TO divide the parish into as
many precincts a. seemed convenient and
the proc, sings of division contained "A
large space IN the records OF the Vestrv
Tobacco then played an Important part
In the commerce Of the new world. and
plants aud the cured products passed as
Current Coin of the Realm"
la the year 1927 an act Of assembly
had been passed, founding the town OF
fredericksburg, which was named iron,
Prince Frederick, father of George the
second, aud the town was established
upon petition OF the citizens of spotsyI-
yania, 30 acres of land, belonging to
John koyster and Robert Buckner. being
taken Tor the town site and vested I'm
John Robinson, Henry Willis. Augustine
Smith, John Taliaferro and John Waller
trustees OF the new town, who were re-.
quired to lay ii OF in lots and streets.
and set apart portions for a church and
church yard and In l72S there seems to
have been three churches ia the Parish.
one at Germanna, one near the present
site OF fredericksburg, and one at Mat
tapony. Rev. Mr.. Staige ceased To be
rector IN November, 1928, and Rev. Rod
ham kenner became rector In March.
lf29, and continued rector until Octo-
Der, 1890.
In 1882 the first church in Freder
icksburg was built upon the site of the
present Episcopal church.
Rev. Patrick Henry next served as
rector from Jan, 1913, to April, 1874,
and was succeeded in October, 1875. by
the Rev. james Marye, who was rector
up TO 1907. Prior to 1851 two chapels
were built, and In 1851 the first bell was
put In the church at Fredericksburg. be-
ing given to the church by Mr.. John
Spotswood. In 1913 an addition was
made to the church at fredericksburg.
ana In lfJ4 dials were provided in the
church yard to regulate the times of 20
Ing INTO church, which was II O'Clock
from March 10th to Sept 1Oth, and
ll;3O O'Clock from Sept. 10th to April
10th.
In 1895. pursuant TO an act OF the as
sembiy, the Vestry ofSt. Georges church
rented house In Spotsylvania county.
win 100 acrts OF land attached aud this
was the first poor house" in Spo'syl-
vanla county. Rev. James Marye died
Ia 1867 and was succeeded as rector by
his son, Rev. Jas Marye. Jr., tho served
as rector from Jan, 1883. to July, 1891
james Marye, Jr., was educated at VII
liam i Mary College; was ordained In
England ana upon bis return to America.
took charge OF the Parish 10 Orange
county, where he resided until he sue
ceeded his father as rector of st. Georges
church.
In 1872 a church yard at Fredericks-
burg, as originally laid out, extended
from Main Street to Princess Anne Street.
The ground on Main St-proving insult
able for place OF burial, by the act of
the assembly passed in 1879, the Yestry
were empowered to sell So much OF the
church as had not been used Tor the
burying ground. and the money arising
from the sale was ordered to be applied
! towards purchasing a more convenient
piece OF ground in the town for same
purpose. This sale was affected. and
from the authority OF DIR. Mcclure. IL "a
believed the money arising from the sale
was lost TO the church in troublesome
times Of the Revolution.
In 1870 the Parish as originally laid
out was divided by line from the
mouth OF the Rapid Ann to the mouth Of
Wilderness Run, thence up Wilderness
Run to the bridge, thence southwest to
the Pamunkey riveT-all above said line
was erected into a new Parish, called st. |
Marks. and the remainder retained the
name OF st Georges.
In lTG9-10 the Parish was again
divided by the river Pc. and Berkeley
Parish was established west from the