Religious History and Churches.

That many of the early settlers of Virginia were pious "folk" and deeply imbued with the missionary spirit, there is little doubt, for the very instructions of the London Company which Captain John Smith brought with him, contained large provision for the maintenance of religion among the people and for the conversion of the savages.

     The Episcopal Church commenced with the settlement at Jamestown, and although it had many difficulties with which to contend, viz.: the untried experiment of the colonization of a new country; which demanded the greater part of the time of the colonists to gain a home and subsistence and protection from surrounding savages; the incubus of the moral degeneracy of the mother church in England; the scarcity of ministers, whose supervision and control was lodged in the hands of a Church dignitary, the Bishop of England, three thousand miles away. These, and other difficulties, greatly hampered the Church in the colony, yet its early ministers and many pious laity found time, amid the unusual and new conditions of their lives, to teach the catechism, and other religious instructions, to the children and servants; and it certainly speaks well for the religious principles of those men, early pioneers of American civilization, the readiness, nay eagerness, with which they undertook and did build that long series of old churches, ten or twelve miles apart, from the lower part of Norfolk county to and beyond the Appomattox River, a monument to their piety, and to the wisdom and forethought of the London Company and the Virginia House of Burgesses.

     Having in mind these facts, can we wonder at the progress this country has made and the many blessings that have been showered upon us, when our very foundation was laid on the Word and teachings of the Almighty?

     Of all these old churches, many built originally of logs or lumber, and a few built of brick, with a few exceptions here and there, all have gone.

     Of those early colonial churches none have remained in a better state of preservation, and presents to the beholder a grander or more antique appearance than the "Old Brick Church," in this county. Its site is just where wisdom and common sense would have placed it; five miles from the river settlements, five miles from a church in Nansemond; five miles from two wide and deep streams, which would have cut it off from a church in the Upper Parish; on the main road leading from the settlement of Lawns Creek to those in Upper Norfolk.

     The building of this church was begun in 1632 by Joseph Bridger, father of Colonel Joseph Bridger, one of the King's Council for the Colony of Virginia, who died in 1682, was buried on his farm, "White Marsh," about three miles from the church and his grave marked by a marble slab which has been removed and deposited in the church.

     This old structure is in a remarkably good site of preservation and has stood well against the "corroding tooth of time," on account of the excellency of materials and the fidelity with which it was built, and the good fortunes of having had, at all times, some sort of a roof covering it, it being re-shingled about 1737, and again about 1838, with good cypress shingles both times. Built of bricks, made of clay of the very best quality, found in its immediate vicinity, and put together with a mortar made from well burnt oyster shell lime and building sand, both of which can be found near by in great quantities, the sand being taken from the base of the hill on which it rests, the mortar becoming almost as hard as flint, preventing the displacement of a brick without tearing away a part of those to which it is attached, baffling the incursions of the would-be despoiler, has assisted greatly in its preservation.

     So far as our knowledge extends this is the oldest house of worship now standing

on American soil encased by its original walls. The cathedral at St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest church, but that has been destroyed by fire several times, but each time has been rebuilt. The "Old Brick Church" is the oldest church of the Protestant faith standing in America. Tarleton's British troopers rested beneath the shade of the venerable oaks which surround it; the Virginia militia, in the war of 1812 bivouacked around it, as also did the Confederate soldiers of 1861. Many political speeches and barbecues have transpired in the grove adjoining, whose shade has furnished the trysting place, for more than two centuries, of lovers.

     The church was used but little from the outbreak of the Revolution to some time in 1830's when it was almost completely abandoned a prey to the elements. In spite of this fact the grand old walls stood a monument to the purpose for which it was built and to the builders. In June, 1887, the Reverend David Barr, rector of the church in Smithfield, passing the old church from his attendance upon a convocation in "Old St. John's" in Nansemond, another of the structures of the colonial period, discovered that, by a recent storm, what remained of the old roof had been shaken from its holdings and had fallen in or was tottering. He immediately undertook its restoration, and though fraught with difficulties of the most serious character, chiefly the lack of funds, he begun the work, with great energy. Before he had completed his work, however, he moved to Washington, D. C., and the duty of its completion devolved upon his successor, the Rev. F. G. Scott, and the vestry of the church in Smithfield, notably among whom was Mr. R. S. Thomas, who, for his prolonged and assiduous efforts for the restoration of the "Old Church" deserves especial mention.

     The funds used in the restoration were subscribed to by all sorts and conditions of people. In some cases the workmen gave their labor, and by subscriptions from the people of nineteen States, of which a record is kept in the Vestry Book of Christ church in Smithfield.

     It stands to-day beautiful within and without, and filled with memorials to those connected with its own history and that of the colony. Its stained glass chancel window, eighteen feet by twelve, made in London, divided into twelve sections, each dedicated to some well known character, prominent in Church or State, is a most striking piece of art. All of the windows are of stained glass, memorials to those connected with its history, of beautiful design. Its carved altar and exquisite reading desk; its wine glass pulpit with its broad steps and high sounding board; its beautiful font, of the purest Carara marble, made in England, are especially attractive. The pews are of the original style, made of native heart pine. All these things impress the worshipper with a deep sense of solemnity when worshipping the "God of our Fathers," where they, themselves, some hundred years ago, worshipped; and to the transient visitor, it cannot fail to be interesting, both on account of its own intrinsic beauty and design and the historical memories of other and ancient days in the life of our country it brings to his recollection.

     It is pertinent to say here that this church is accessible from Smithfield by carriage and can be seen by visitors at all times.

     There is one other church of more than ordinary interest in this country, it being the mother of the churches of the Baptist denomination in this section, "Mill Swamp." It is a well established fact that the Baptists established a place of worship known as Burleigh church somewhere in the vicinity of Mill Swamp, perhaps on the very site on which is located the present church, sixty years before it had an existence, for, at the solicitation of Baptist brethren in Isle of Wight, made to their brethren in London, the Rev. Robt. Wooden, in 1714, did reach this county and establish the old church above referred to. In January, 1727, Caspar Mints and Richard Jones came over from England, settled near the church, and the latter was its pastor for over thirty years, then following twenty years of unrecorded history, and after a career of about forty-three years became extinct and was lost to history. In 1772, the Rev. John Meglamore, from Raccoon Swamp, now Antioch church, Sussex county, preached and baptized a number of people; these people, on July 2nd, 1774, met near the site of the present church and organized themselves into a Baptist church, with David Barrow as pastor, under his name. For seventeen years this church was called "The Church in Isle of Wight," or "David Barrow's Church." In 1791 it assumed its present name. This old church sent out colonies at a later period to Smithfield, Moore's Swamp, Tucker Swamp and Bethesda.

     The first meeting house of this church was built in 1832 and repaired and remodelled in 1895. It is now a brick structure with a seating capacity of several hundred. It has a large congregation and is in a flourishing condition. The yearly protracted meetings or revivals at this old church are of special note. While the same custom prevails in other churches in this vicinity, yet, on account of the length of time they have been held at Mill Swamp, the hospitality of its members and the magnificent spreads put upon the tables for the sustenance of the attendants upon these meetings, have made them, probably, more talked of at this church than at any other one.

     There were two other colonial churches in this county, of the Episcopal faith, being the Bay church, about five miles from Smithfield on Burwell's Bay, (originally Worrosquoyacke Bay), on the farm now owned by Dr. W. D. Turner. It was erected in 1750 and after the Revolution, like many of the old churches, it was abandoned. About 1810 the estate upon which it was located came into the hands of those who had no reverence for it as a church, and it was pulled down and a kitchen built of the bricks,   and the backs of the pews were used to make partitions in a barn. The latter was struck by lightning and destroyed, the negroes always declared, by act of God. The bell was exchanged in Richmond for a brandy still.

     The other church, called Isle of Wight chapel, was located about eighteen miles northwest of Smithfield and was erected about 1750. About 1820 it was burnt down. The site afterwards came into possession of the O'Kellyites or Christians, and is now Antioch.

     The Quakers had a strong following in Isle of Wight county at an early date. They had a large meeting house in what was then and is now known as "Leevy Neck."