Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-03-17
QUAINT OLD TOWN IN VIRGINIA
WHERE PAST AND PRESENT
ARE SUBTLY BLENDED.
WREN DESIGNED COURTHOUSE
Interesting Memorial Tablets in 5ru-
ton church-Wythe House, the
"Powder Horn" and the College of
William and Mary.
BIZ HOWARD 3. CLARK

TcCtlNeu ueSTeeS ITOm llie Olu CVicSC
of William and Mary, Virginia ill.,
stitutiOn founded In the early days at
Williamsburg. Williamsburg Is not far
from Washington, so far as time and
distance are concerned. Members of
congress and other government off,
Gals occasionally go there, lured by
the historic associations of the old
place, by the sights to be seen and by
the general restfulness of it's surround.
ings.
1t Is only three miles across coun-
try from jamestown island, where the
first settlement In Virginia was made.
to Williamsburg. jamestown is large
ly memory. while Williamsburg is both
memory and reality. The past and the
present are met in its streets and
there is subtle blending of the two In
to a mid-time atmosphere. Happily,
the Virginians have held to the love OF
the old things. 1t is worth something
to know that the main street still Is
known as Duke of Gloucester street.
1t Is a fine thoroughfare and on 1t
stands a courthouse designed by Sir
christopher Wren, the architect OF
Saint PauPs cathedral in London, Eng
land. and many of that city's churches.
Bruton church, in which Is the font
used at the baptism of Pocahontas at
jamestown, also stands facing Duke
of Gloucester street. 1t is an appeal
ing structure. The building is clad
with the Ivy Of England, which grows
and thrives In this latitude. A church
yard, as quiet as that Of the "Elegy,"
lies without its walls. 1t is supposed
that the church was named by one of
the early secretaries of the colony
who was born In Bruton, England.
Some Bruton Church Tablets.
In the churchyard Is a tomb with
this inscription:
under this marble lieth the body
of Thomas Ludwell, Esqr., Secretary
of Virginia who was born at Bruton,
in the County of Somerset, in the
Kingdom of England, and departed
this life In the year 1878" -
Close to the north door Of the
church are the graves of two children
of Mrs. Martha Custis, who, when
widowed, became the wife of George
Washington. 1t is not the intention to
make a neurology of this writing, but
it is barely possible that two inscrip-
tons, which appear on tablets inside
the Bruton church, extolling the vir-
tues of the dead, may have living in
terest. Here is one of them:
"Near this marble lyes We Honble.
Daniel Paeke, of We County of Essex,
Esdr.. who was one of his masters
Counsellers and sometime Secretary of
the COLONY Of Virga. He dyed We 9th
of March, Ammo 1879. His other feleci-
tyes were crowned by his happy mar
ridg with Rebecka, the daughter of
George Evelyn, of the County of Sur
ry, Esqr. She died We End of Janu-
airy, Ammo 1872, at Long Ditton, in ye
county of Surry, and left behind her a
most hopeful progeny"
The other tablet bears this:
"MDCCLH. Inscribed to the memory
of Doctor William Cooke, an English
physician, born OF reputable parents
MDCLXXI, at Sudbury in Suffolk, and
educated at Queens College, Cambridge
He was learned and polite. of undis-
puted skill In his profession and un
bounded generosity in his practice
which multitudes yet alive can testify
He was many years of the Council
and Secretary of State for the Colony
In the reign of Queen Anne, and OF
King George, he died suddenly, sitting
Judge upon the bench Of the General
Court, in the capitol, MDCCXX. His
Hon. friend Alexr. Spottswood, Esqr.
then Govnr with the principal gentle
men of the country, attended his flu
neral, and weeping, saw the corpse In
TERED at the west side Of the alter II
this church."
Wythe House and powder Horn"
Almost within the shadow Of Brutor
church stands the Wythe house, fol
some time the headquarters of Georg'
Washington during the siege OF York
town. which, with its historic mem
cries, lies only few miles away. Tit
seeds of history were sOwn thick here
abouts.
Just back of the church and at
point easily reached from Duke o
Gloucester street stands the old "Pow
der Horn" built by Governor Spots
wood in TIA. This magazine, put VI
by the British governor, was used aft
erward by Washington to store pow
der which subsequently was ramme'
into cannon to hurl shot at Cornwalli
behind the breakwaters of Yorktown
The Virginia Society for the Preser
walton of Antiquities has restore
the Powder Horn, and IT is now mu
scum for relics of the past.
If loyal Williamsburger lends hi
sightseeing aid you will not be a
lowed to leave the "oldest incorpoI
ated city in America" until you hav
visited the College of William an
Mary. the oldest college In Americs
barring only Harvard.
A>k>r~s& lnAf~A Etnkxa.