Religious Freedom in the American Colonies
Exploration and colonization of the New World coincided with the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, a period of religious and civil unrest in Europe which in many ways bled into the colonies. While it is true that groups of Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics (for example) risked much for the opportunity to freely worship as their conscience and faith dictated, once these colonies were established their leaders for the most part expected their citizens to support their particular form of worship – and thus their form of government.1
Religious Freedom in Virginia
The Virginia Colony was founded in 1607 for economic rather than religious principles. However, since the Virginia Colony was chartered by the English (and the then-recently united Scottish) King James I, the Church of England became the official faith of that particular territory. At the first meeting of the Colonial Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619, representatives made attendance at Anglican services mandatory.1 Only some 150 years later as leaders sought to unify religious dissenters to the cause of independence did religious freedom begin to become to be more truly realized.
Virginia Vestries
Parish boundaries were established and periodically divided by the Virginia General Assembly,2 and typically included one central church and 2 to 3 outlying chapels, arranged so that every resident be no more than six miles from the nearest place of worship.3 Each parish had a Vestry, a governing assembly of 12 men that oversaw not only ecclesial affairs but also served as a civic and judicial force – levying and collecting taxes, arranging for the support, education, and apprenticeship of the poor, arbitrating land disputes, and more.4 Vestrymen were expected to be mature, thoughtful, and in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Usually the most discreet farmers, so distributed throughout their Parish that every part of it may be under the eye of some one of them.” 5
Our 6th great-grandfather Benjamin Grayson (ca. 1684-1757) is believed to be of Scottish ancestry. His twice-widowed bride Susanna Monroe Grayson (ca. 1695-1752) was certainly so. Benjamin built a successful mercantile business in Dumfries, Virginia – founded by Scots and named for a city in their homeland – and there he married our ancestress Susanna around 1730, adopted her young children, and together raised four of their own. Many settlers in Virginia were of Scotch origin, thus more likely Presbyterian than Anglican. Vestry members were mandated to swear allegiance to the laws of England and Virginia and to swear oaths “of abjuration of Popery,” 5 including denying Transubstantiation in the Eucharist.4 This excluded Catholics from serving on parish vestries, but not necessarily all fellow Protestants. A majority Presbyterian-leaning vestry was apparently not uncommon.3
Dettingen Parish, Dumfries Virginia
A chapel of ease was first built for Overwharton Parish about 1667 on Quantico Creek in what is now the southwest corner of historic Dumfries, Virginia – soon to be a major trading port on the Potomac River. Subsequent houses of worship were built on the same site, notably a stone structure (with adjoining stone Vestry House) in the 1750s. Dettingen Parish, named for a battle at which county namesake Prince William Augustus was wounded, was established in 1745 from a portion of Hamilton Parish – itself having been established in 1730 from a division of Overwharton Parish – reflecting increased northward and inland European settlement and population. Dettingen Parish centered on Quantico Church in Dumfries and included, variously, chapels at Broad Run, Slaty Run, and Cedar Run. The Vestry records for Dettingen Parish have been preserved,4 and its initial entry declares that among the first 12 vestrymen seated were Benjamin Grayson and Moses Linton, the latter the brother of Susanna Monroe Grayson’s late second husband. Thomas Harrison, the husband of Benjamin’s sister Ann, served as Parish Clerk for a time, as did our future 6th great-grandfather Peter Wagoner. Benjamin served on the Dettingen Parish vestry from its inception until his death in 1757, including a number of years as Quantico Churchwarden, overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Dumfries Church.
Excerpts of Vestry Records
Vestry records indicate the parish population grew steadily, from under one thousand landowning households in 1745 to nearly four thousand by the late 1790s. The annual tax collected by the vestry was used primarily to provide for the needs of the poor. The levy fluctuated and was nearly exclusively calculated in pounds of tobacco, with rare entries in British currency. The use of the latter became more common around 1768-69, and by 1794 the entries were solely calculated in dollars and cents. Examples from 1751 include (original spelling retained): “To the Rev. James Scott MInister 16000 lbs…. To John Carr for keeping Richd. Jones a blind man 600 lbs…. To Nicho. Snow a Poor man 530 lbs…. To Wm. Tackett for keeping a base born child one month 67 lbs…. For building a Gleabe 12000 lbs…. To Mr. James Nisbett for Medisons for John Delgarn 605 lbs… Levied for building two Churches 20000 lbs…. Cash to Mr. Butler for a Chist and Repairing one pue £1: 1: 6”
The End of the Vestries
The Revolutionary War and ensuing independence were only tangentially mentioned in the records, one example being a May 1778 entry paying 150 lbs. of tobacco to William Scott for “Repairs done to the Quantico Church for Damages it had sustained from the Enoccilation of the Continental Soldiers belonging to this State.” An entry in January 1785 hinted at the demise of the Anglican Church in America: “Ordered that the Members of the Episcopal Church meet on Monday in Easter Week for the Purpose of Electing A Vestry Agreable to an Act of Assembly.” The ensuing undated entry names that legislation: “An Act of Assembly for incorporating the protestant episcopal Church,” and that the attendees “do Declare that we will be Conformable to the doctrines, Discipline and Worship of the said protestant Church.” The next vestry meeting held in September 1785 is notable in that it is the final vestry recorded. The entry on the following page of Parish records is dated three years later and includes familiar names, but with new titles: “Overseers of the Poor.”
Rev. Spence Grayson
The Reverend James Scott served as Minister of Dettingen Parish from 1745 until his death in 1782. A temporary Minister was hired and when he resigned an entry in May 1784 reads, “The Vestry proceeded to the Election of a Minister… & thereupon Unanimously Made Choice of the Revd. Spence Grayson as Incumbent and Minister of this Parish.” Benjamin and Susanna Monroe Grayson’s second son Spence and his wife Mary Elizabeth Wagenor Grayson raised 14 children to adulthood. They are our 5th great-grandparents.
1 Marcus, J.S. “The Surprising Religious Diversity of America’s 13 Colonies,” https://www.history.com/news/religion-13-colonies-america (accessed November 2023)
2 Bond, Edward L., “The Parish in Colonial Virginia,” https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/parish-in-colonial-virginia-the/
3 “Religion in Early Virginia,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_early_Virginia
4 Records of Dettingen Parish Prince William County Virginia 1745-1802, Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc. (1976, 2007 Heritage Books, Westminster, MD)
5 Slaughter, Phillip, The History of Truro Parish in Virginia (1907 G.W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia, PA)
1 Comment
Jim Gagnon
December 24, 2023 at 10:10 amHello Nick, in reading through your history, it appeared to me that you had connections to the Bell plantation in South Carolina. My father was in Korea with a man named Jake Bell that I only saw once when I was very young. My father had many stories he told about him and had told me how he had visited the plantation once while they were on leave. If you are related to this man I would very much like to learn more about him. He was in the marines during Korea.