Visit to Pohick Church. Its dilapidated Condition.

Worship there.

Rev. Mason L. Weems.

Washington's Pew spend the Sabbath there. Informed that the roads between Occoquan and Fredericksburg were worse than those I had traversed the day before, I concluded to return to Alexandria, and go down the Potomac to Aquia Creek on Monday.

I left Occoquan after a late breakfast, and rode as far as Pohick Church, on the road to

Alexandria, where I understood a Methodist meeting was to be held that day. No person had yet arrived, but the broad doors of the church stood wide open, inviting ingress. Within that venerated fane I awaited the slow-gathering auditory for more than an hour. When they were all assembled, men and women, white and black, the whole congregation, including the writer, amounted to only twenty-one persons. What a contrast with former days, when some of the noblest of the Virginia aristocracy filled those now deserted and dilapidated pews, while Massey or Weems performed the solemn and impressive ritual of the Church of England! No choir, with the majestic organ, chanted the Te Deum or the Gloria in Excelsis; the Decalogue was not read, nor did solemn, audible responses, as in other days, go up from the lips of the people. Yet the glorious hymn, beginning "Come, holy Spirit, heavenly Dove!" was sung with fervor; and, standing behind the ancient com

munion-table, a young preacher in homely garb, with the eloquence of true piety, proclaimed the pure Gospel of love, and warmed the hearts of all present with emotions of Christian charity, the burden of his discourse. I sat in the pew, near the pulpit, wherein Washington and his family were seated, Sabbath after Sabbath, for many years, and I looked with peculiar interest upon the LAW, the PRAYER, and the CREED, inscribed upon the walls back of the chancel, on which, a thousand times, the eyes of the Washingtons, the Masons, the Fairfaxes, the Coffers, and the Hendersons had rested. It was a melancholy sight to behold the dilapidation of that edifice, around which cluster so many associations of interest. A large portion of the panes of glass were

1 Reverend Mason L. Weems was rector of Pohick Church for a while, when Washington was a parishioner. He was possessed of considerable talent, but was better adapted for "a man of the world" than a clergyman. Wit and humor he used freely, and no man could easier be "all things to all men" than Mr. Weems. His eccentricities and singular conduct finally lowered his dignity as a clergyman, and gave rise to many false rumors respecting his character. He was a man of great benevolence, a trait which he exercised to the extent of his means. A large and increasing family compelled him to abandon preaching for a livelihood, and he became a book agent for Mathew Carey. In that business he was very successful, selling in one year over three thousand copies of a high-priced Bible. He always preached when invited, during his travels; and in his vocation he was instrumental in doing much good, for he circulated books of the highest moral character. He died at Beaufort, South Carolina, May 23, 1825.

Mr. Weems wrote an attractive Life of Washington, which became so popular that it passed through some forty editions. He also wrote a Life of Marion, which the cotemporaries and fellow-soldiers of that leader disliked. They charged the author with filling his narrative with fiction, when facts were wanting to give it interest. He left a large and well-educated family.

2 A grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington, and sister of Mr. Custis of Arlington House, writing to Mr. Sparks, in 1833, respecting the religious character of Washington, said, "His pew was near the pulpit. I have a perfect recollection of being there before his election to the presidency, with him and my grandmother. It was a beautiful church, and had a large, respectable, and wealthy congregation, who were regular attendants."

3 Pohick Church derived its name from a small river near it, called by the Indians Powheek or Pohick. It is within old Truro parish, and its particular location is ascribed to Washington. Mount Vernon was

A Swallow's Nest.

Location of the Church.

Vestrymen.

A curious Document.

Last of Braddock's Men.

broken out, admitting freely the wind and rain, the bats and the
birds. The elaborately-wrought pulpit, placed by itself on one side
of the church, away from the chancel, was marred by desecrating
hands. Under its sounding-board a swallow had built its nest, and
upon the book-ledge of the sacred desk the fowls of the air had evi-
dently perched. I thought of the words of the "sweet singer of
Israel," "Yea, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a
nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altar, O
Lord of hosts!"" The chancel, too, is disfigured; but the LAW, the
PRAYER, and the CREED, painted on a blue ground above it, are quite
perfect.
The pews are square,
with seats upon three sides, and
painted lead color. Upon the
doors of several of them yet re-
main the initials of the former
occupants, among which I no-
ticed those of George Mason and
George William Fairfax, who,

SIGNATURES OF MASON AND FAIRFAX.

THE PULPIT.

with Washington, were the leading men in the parish.' The whole country around Pohick seems to be degenerating in soil and population, and the old church edifice is left without a guardian, to molder into oblivion.

within Truro parish, and in the affairs of the church Washington took a lively interest. About 1764, the old church, which stood in a different part of the parish, had fallen into decay, and it was resolved to build a new one. Its location became a matter of considerable excitement in the parish, some contending for the site on which the old edifice stood, and others for one near the center of the parish, and more conveniently situated. Among the latter was Washington. A meeting for settling the question was finally held. George Mason, who led the party favorable to the old site, made an eloquent harangue, conjuring the people not to desert the sacred spot, consecrated by the bones of their ancestors. It had a powerful effect, and it was thought that there would not be a dissenting voice. Washington then arose, and drew from his pocket an accurate survey which he had made of the whole parish, in which was marked the site of the old church, and the proposed location of the new one, together with the place of residence of each parishioner. He spread this map before the audience, briefly explained it, expressed his hope that they would not allow their judgments to be guided by their feelings, and sat down. The silent argument of the map was potent; a large majority voted in favor of the new site, and in 1765 Pohick Church was built. 1 Psalm lxxxiv., 3.

2 Washington was a vestryman, in 1765, of both Truro and Fairfax parishes. The place of worship of the former was at Pohick, and of the latter at Alexandria. Among the manuscripts in the library of the New York Historical Society, is a leaf from the church record of Pohick. It contains the names of the first vestry, and a few others. By whose desecrating hand it was torn from the records, or how it found its way to its present resting-place, I know not. The following is a copy from the original, from which I also obtained the signatures of Mason and Fairfax, given above. The names were signed at different times, during the summer and autumn of 1765.

"I, A B, do declare that I will be conformable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, as by law established.

"1765. May 20th.-Thomas Withers Coffer, Thomas Ford, John Ford.

"19th August.-Geo. Washington, Daniel M'Carty, Edward Payne, Thomas Withers Coffer, Thomas Ford, Edw. Dulin, John Dalton, Danl. French, Richard Sanford, Thos. Shaw, Thos. Wren, Townsend Dade. Charles Broadwater, J. W. Payne, William Adams.

"20th August.-G. W. Fairfax, John West, William Lynton, Wm Gardner.

66

16th September.-Edward Blackburn.

"17th September.-George Mason, Charles Henderson.

"October 21st.-John Possey.

"21st April, 1766.-T. Ellzy."

Captain Broadwater was the owner of a slave who drove a team with a provision-wagon, belonging to his master, over the Alleghany Mountains in the memorable campaign in which Braddock was killed. The slave's name was Samuel Jenkins. He was in the battle at the Great Meadows, but escaped unhurt. On the death of his master, when he was about forty years of age, he was purchased by a gentleman, who took him to Ohio and manumitted him. He settled in Lancaster, Ohio, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1849, when he was 115 years old. He was probably the last survivor of Braddock's men.

Return to Washington.

Thunder-shower in December. Aquia Creek. Almost a Serious Accident. Potomac Church.

The preacher told me that I might travel ten miles in any direction from Pohick (except to Alexandria) and not find a school-house! A few northern farmers are now redeeming some of the upper portions of Fairfax county; and it is to be hoped that the circles of their influence may enlarge until Pohick Church is included, and its walls saved from destruction. When I left the church, a slight drizzle omened an approaching storm, and I hastened to Alexandria, where I ascertained that I could not get upon the Potomac steamer with my horse without going to Washington City. Damp, weary, and vexed, I gave Charley a loose rein, for the day was fast waning. When within half a mile of the Long Bridge, a vivid flash of lightning, followed by a loud thunder-peal, burst from the clouds, and seemed to open "the windows of heaven," and set free all the "treasures of the cherubim." Another flash and thunder-peal, with the accompanying deluge, came while I was crossing the draw'bridge, and I reined up at the "Indian Queen," on Pennsylvania Avenue, at twilight, with all the concomitants of a disappointed disciple of Isaack Walton. A thunder-shower in December is a phenomenon so rare that I almost enjoyed the misery.

The steam-boat for Aquia Creek left Washington the following morning at two o'clock. I was upon her deck in time, but a careless servant having left a part of my baggage behind, I was obliged to return and remain in Washington another day. It proved a fine one for traveling, and the very reverse of the next day, when I was upon the road. The dawn opened with sleet and rain, and a raw east wind. This was sufficiently unpleasant for a traveler; yet a more vexatious circumstance awaited my debarkation at Aquia Creek. From the landing to a plantation road leading to the Fredericksburg pike, almost two miles, there was no wagon-track, the rail-road being the only highway. I mounted my wagon. upon a hand-car, employed two stout negroes as locomotives, and, leading my horse along the rough-ribbed iron way, finally reached a plantation lane on the edge of a swamp. Where the rail-way traverses a broad marsh, deep ditches cross it transversely. My horse, in attempting to leap one of these, fell between the iron bars, with a hinder leg over one of them, which prevented the use of his limbs in efforts to leap from the ditch. I momentarily expected to hear the thigh-bone snap, for almost the entire weight of his body rested upon it. The salvation of the animal depended upon getting that leg free. I had no aid, for the negroes had neither will nor judgment to assist. At the risk of being made a foot-ball, I placed my shoulder in the hollow of the hoof, and with strength increased by solicitude, 1 succeeded in pushing the limb over the rail, and the docile animal, who seemed to feel the necessity of being passive, stood erect in his prison of iron and soft earth. Within a rectangle of a few feet, and a bank, shoulder high, he was still confined. He made several

efforts to spring out, but his knees would strike the margin. At length, summoning all his energies, and appearing to shrink into smaller compass, he raised his fore-feet upon the bank, gave a spring, and, to my great joy, he stood safe and unhurt (though trembling in every limb) upon the road. With a light and thankful heart I traveled the sinuous pathway, through gates and bars, for five or six miles, to the high road, the storm increasing.

The distance from Aquia Creek to Fredericksburg is fifteen miles. When about halfway, I passed the ruins of old Potomac Church, once one of the finest sacred edifices in Virginia. The plan of the interior was similar to that of Pohick. The roof is supported by square columns, stuccoed and painted in imitation of variegated marble The windows are in Gothic style. The Law, the PRAYER, and the CREED were quite well preserved upon the walls, notwithstanding the roof is partly fallen in, and the storms have free passage through the ruined arches. It is surrounded by a thick hedge of thorn, dwarf cedars, and other shrubs, festooned and garlanded with ivy and the wild grape, which almost effectually guard the venerable relic from the intrusion of strangers. With proper care, this church might have been a place of worship a century longer, but like many other old churches, consecrated in the appreciating mind of the patriotic American, this edifice is moldering through neglect.

The Rappahannock. Fredericksburg.

Washington's Birth-place. First Monumental Stone. Notables of Westmoreland

a 1727.

1 crossed the Rappahannock' upon a long toll-bridge, and entered Fredericksburg at noon. The city is old in fact, and antique in appearance. A century and a quarter ago the settlers who had begun to cultivate extensively the rich lands upon the Rappahannock, applied for a town charter. It was granted ;a and in honor of Prince Frederick, the father of George III., and then heir-apparent to the British throne, it was called Fredericksburg. At that time there was only a tobacco warehouse on the site of the present city with its four thousand five hundred inhabitants. The town is regularly laid out. Many of the houses are of brick, but few are in modern style, or of apparently recent construction.

Fredericksburg is interesting, as connected with our subject, chiefly from the fact that Washington passed his youthful days in its vicinity, and that near the city, beneath an unfinished monument, repose the remains of his beloved mother. The place of Washington's birth was about half a mile from the junction of Pope's Creek with the Potomac, in Westmoreland county, the "Athens of Virginia." It is upon the "Wakefield estate," now owned by John E. Wilson, Esq. The house in which he was born was destroyed before the Revolution. Upon its site, George W. P. Custis, Esq., placed a slab of free-stone, b represented in the engraving on the following page, on which is the simple inscription, "HERE, the 11th of FebRUARY [O. S.], 1732, George WasHINGTON WAS BORN.'

b June, 1815.

The Rappahannock is one of the largest streams in Virginia. It rises in the Blue Ridge, 130 miles northwest of its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay, 25 miles south of the Potomac. It is navigable for vessels requiring ten feet of water, to the Falls of the Rappahannock, a little above Fredericksburg.

2 This name has been given to Westmoreland on account of the great number of men, distinguished in our annals, who were born there. Washington; the two Lees, who signed the Declaration of Independence; the brothers of Richard Henry Lee (Thomas, Francis, and Arthur); General Henry Lee; Judge Bushrod Washington, and President Monroe, were all born in that county. Richard Henry Lee's residence was Chantilly, on the Potomac. Monroe was born at the head of Monroe's Creek. In Stratford, upon the Potomac, a few miles above the residence of Richard Henry Lee, is still standing one of the most remarkable buildings in this country. I greatly desired to visit it, and portray it for this work, but circumstances prevented. It was built by Mr. Thomas Lee, father of Richard Henry Lee, who was president of the King's Council, and acting governor of Virginia. While governor, his dwelling was burned, and this edifice was erected for him, either by the government or by the voluntary contributions of London merchants, by whom he was greatly esteemed. There is no structure in our country to compare with it. The walls of the first story are two and a half feet thick, and of the second story, two feet, composed of brick imported from England. It originally contained about one hundred rooms. Besides the main building, there are four offices, one at each corner, containing fifteen rooms. The stables are capable of accommodating one hundred horses. Its cost was about $80,000.

3 The public career of Washington is illustrated in every part of these volumes, for he was identified with all the important events of the Revolution. His life is too well known to need an extended memoir. I will here briefly chronicle a notice of his family, and the events of his early life. He was descended from an old family of the English aristocracy. The name of Washington, as a family, was first known about the middle of the thirteenth century. Previously there was a manor of that name, in the county of Durham, owned by William de Hertburne, who, as was the custom in those days, took the name of his estate.

Washington's Birth-place. His Ancestors. Arms and Monuments. First Monumental Stone to the Memory of Washington.

The house in which his nativity took place was precisely the same in appearance as the family residence on the Rappahannock, delineated opposite, being of the better class of plain

From that gentleman have descended the branches of the Washington family in England and America. The name is frequently mentioned in the local histories of England as belonging to persons of wealth and distinction. Sir Henry Washington was renowned for his bravery at the siege of Worcester against the parliamentary troops, and at the taking of Bristol. Monuments erected in churches with the name of Washington upon them, are proofs of their opulence. The ancient seat of the Washington family is said to be yet well preserved. It is built of stone of great solidity. The timber is chiefly of oak; and in several of the rooms, particularly in the large hall or banqueting-room, are remains of rich carving and gilding in the cornices and wainscoting. Over the mantel-pieces, elaborately carved, are the family arms, richly emblazoned upon escutcheons. The walls of the house are five feet thick. The entire residence is surrounded by a beautiful garden and orchards. The old family monument, erected to the memory of "SIR LAURENCE WASHINGTON, Nite," grandson of the first proprietor of the name, of Sulgrave, and the ancestor of General Washington, is in the cemetery of Gardson Church, two miles from Malmsbury. It is of the mural style, and bears the family arms. Sir Laurence Washington died in May, 1643. Two of his sons, John and Laurence Washington, emigrated to Virginia about the year 1657, and settled at Bridge's Creek, on the Potomac, in Westmoreland county. The eldest brother of the emigrants, Sir William Washington, married a half sister of George Villiers, duke of Buckingham.

John Washington, soon after settling in Virginia, engaged in military expeditions against the Indians, and rose to the rank of colonel. He married Ann Pope, by whom he had two sons, Laurence and John, and a daughter. Laurence married Mildred WarARMS OF THE WASH- ner, of Gloucester county, and had three children, John, Augustine, and Mildred. Augustine first married Jane Butler, by whom he had three sons and a daughter. His sec

INGTON FAMILY.*

1 This, and the picture of the residence of the Washington family on the Rappahannock, are from drawings by John G. Chapman, Esq. Under date of August 21, 1851, Mr. Custis kindly furnished me with an interesting account of the dedication of this first monumental stone to the memory of Washington. In June, 1815 (a few days before the corner stone of the Washington monument at Baltimore was laid), accompanied by two gentlemen (Messrs. Lewis and Grymes), he sailed from Alexandria in his own vessel, the Lady of the Lake, for Pope's Creek. Arrived at the hallowed spot with the inscribed tablet, they proceeded to deposit it in a proper place. "Desirous of making the ceremonial of depositing the stone as imposing as eircumstances would permit," says Mr. Custis, "we enveloped it in the 'STAR-SPANGLED BANNER' of our country, and it was borne to its resting-place in the arms of the descendants of four Revolutionary patriots and soldiers-SAMUEL LEWIS, son of George Lewis, a captain in Baylor's regiment of horse, and nephew of Washington; WILLIAM GRYMES, the son of Benjamin Grymes, a gallant and distinguished officer of the Life Guards; the CAPTAIN of the vessel, the son of a brave soldier wounded in the battle of Guilford; and GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, the son of John Parke Custis, aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief before Cambridge and Yorktown. We gathered together the bricks of the ancient chimney that once formed the hearth around which Washington in his infancy had played, and constructed a rude kind of pedestal, on which we reverently placed the FIRST STONE, commending it to the respect and protection of the American people in general, and the citizens of Westmoreland in particular."

*The shield with the stars and stripes, in the lower part of the picture, forms the seal of General Washington. I have a copy of it, taken from the death warrant of a soldier.