Reverend Patrick Henry resigned his charge in 1734, and Sir William Gooch, Governor, sent a Mr. Smith, who, on account of his “faithfulness or the contrary,” was very generally disliked, and after two sermons, left. The names of two ministers, father and son, appear successively on the interesting old yellow rolls at this time, Reverend James Marye, Sr., and Reverend James Marye, Jr. who officiated at St. George’s for almost half a century, and who were faithful and zealous. The salary of these men was fixed by law at sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco. It is impossible to compute with accuracy this equivalent in English money, “minister’s tobacco” representing many varieties, and its value seeming to fluctuate. In general four pounds of tobacco equaled one shilling. The elder Marye married Letitia Mary Ann Staige, the sister of the first rector; and Yeamans Smith, who built the attractive country seat “Snowden” in 1806, married Ann Osborne, a daughter of James Marye, Jr. From these families are lineally descended many of the worshipers at old St. George’s today.
The Oldest Cemetery Here
In 1751 the first bell, the gift of John Spotswood, was used. In 1755 the legislature passed an act directing that each parish should provide for the maintenance of the poor, thus the first “poor-house” was established. In 1722 an act was passed by the General Assembly relating to the churchyard, and authorizing the vestry to reduce the dimensions thereof. This small and interesting spot, so carefully maintained today, was used as “God’s Acre,” before the legal establishment of Fredericksburg in 1727. Contiguous to the church on the north, this little “City of the dead,” is a grassy hillside, sloping gently to the east; and amid the sturdy elms and maples, the graceful fronds and purple blossoms of the wistaria and lilac, the old fashioned roses, the clinging ivy and periwinkle, rest the ashes of those who helped to make the Fredericksburg of long, long ago. We love to think of those noted personages sleeping there, that
“It is not hard to be a part of the garden’s pageantry
When the heart climbs too, set free.”
Colonel Fielding Lewis, of Kenmore, and his three infant grandchildren, sleep beneath the old stone steps of the church. William Paul, the brother of John Paul Jones, is under the linden tree. Archibald McPherson, the generous Scotchman and friend of the poor, sleeps under a tangle of ivy and roses. Reverend E. C. McGuire and his relict, Judith Lewis, great niece of General Washington lie close to the loved old church beneath the weeping willow. Under the shade of the same beautiful tree, sleeps the father of Martha Washington, Colonel John Dandridge of New Kent County. Others, well known, are not far away.
Reverend James Marye, Jr., a faithful scion of the Huguenot faith, taught a parochial school here, which George Washington as a youth attended. It is thought to have been at this school that he wrote, under Mr. Marye’s dictation, his celebrated “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior,” the original of which is preserved among the country’s archives. The faithful service of Reverend James Marye, Jr., ended with his death on October 1, 1780, and during seven years following the parish was without a minister.
In 1785 agreeably to the law passed in the legislature giving all Christian denominations the privilege of incorporation, the people of St. George’s Church met, and elected the following vestrymen: John Chew, John Steward, Mann Page, Thomas Colson, Thomas Crutcher, Daniel Branham, Thomas Sharp and James Lewis.
In 1787 Reverend Thomas Thornton was unanimously elected rector of the church. Steady faith, unaffected piety, ability to associate the dignity of the minister with the familiarity of the man, are some of the characteristics which his biographers have attributed to him, and which made him acceptable to all classes. It was during his ministrations that the Fredericksburg Academy was held in such high estimation. Many eminent men have attended this old school.
Washington’s Last Attendance
Four pews in the gallery of St. George’s were reserved for the use of the professors and students. An interesting incident which occurred at this time is told by Judge John T. Lomax, then a small boy. An addition to the galleries had just been completed, when George Washington, with freshly won honors, came on what proved to be his last visit to his mother, and as usual attended service at St George’s Church. Because of the presence of the hero, a great crowd gathered. Suddenly, during the service, there was heard from the galleries the sound of creaking timbers; this proved to be only the settling of the new rafters, which had not been well adjusted, but which caused great fear and excitement in the congregation.