Augusta Parish Chapter

Augusta Parish, the oldest church in Staunton, Virginia, was founded in 1746, one year after Augusta County had set up its government, and one year before the city of Staunton was established. At the founding, the parish and county boundaries stretched westward from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from the northern border of North Carolina and Tennessee to the Great Lakes.(1)

Land for the church was purchased by the parish in 1750 from William Beverley. Three church structures have been built on this site. The first brick building was completed in 1763, probably where the present-day church tower is situated, and is the church used prior to the Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, the church was scarcely used. The cornerstone was laid for the second building in 1830, when "Augusta Parish" became known as "Trinity Church." The present building, the third, was constructed in 1855 and is the earliest date of any known image or drawing of the church.(2) The lot upon which Augusta Parish was built had been a burial ground which preceded Augusta Parish’s construction in 1760. It remained the town cemetery for another hundred years until the 1860s when Thornrose Cemetery was built by the city. Trinity Church now stands in the midst of a cemetery wherein several known Revolutionary War soldiers were buried in its churchyard.(3)

Augusta Parish holds upon this land further reverberations of the Revolutionary War. In 1775, the free holders met at Augusta Parish to consider their relations with England.(4)(Freeholders were persons the British Royal Court considered responsible in character, or in favor with the King, thus worthy as an owner or 'holder' of land grants in the colony.5)

In 1781, Augusta Parish safe-harbored the General Assembly for 16 days, thus making Augusta Parish the Capitol, and Staunton, the Capital of the Commonwealth for a period. By 1781, the Capitol, formerly located in Williamsburg, had been moved to Richmond, where Thomas Jefferson was serving as Governor. Richmond was not safe from the enemy, however, as it was invaded by Arnold in January of that year. Alas, the General Assembly was forced to meet infrequently in 1781-- just for a few days in March, then again on the 7th of May, only to adjourn on the 10th when news of nearby British forces was received.(6)

The legislature, which had hastily adjourned from Richmond to Charlottesville, met on May 24th, but on June 4th, news came again that the dreaded British Dragoons called the “White Coats” led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton, were on their way to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, and where he had been housing some assembly members. It is said they escaped capture by Tarleton’s men by a mere 10 minutes. Once again the Assembly adjourned hastily and agreed to meet on June 7th, on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Staunton.(7)

Thomas Jefferson, whose term was within days of expiration, didn’t ride to Staunton, however, but rather, to his home in Bedford. With the absence of Governor Jefferson at Augusta Parish, an Augusta vestryman, Colonel William Fleming, a member of the Virginia Senate, served as acting governor for several days during Staunton’s time as temporary Capital of the Commonwealth from June 7th to June 23rd.(8) A Windsor spindle chair, called the Harouf Chair, now some 225 years old, was used during the meeting of the General Assembly, and is on display in the corner of St. Columba’s Chapel, within Trinity Church.(9) Two patriots of note in attendance at Augusta Parish were Patrick Henry and General Thomas Nelson. During the two weeks when the colonial legislators were meeting at Augusta Parish, a false alarm caused the lawmakers to flee once again further west to Warm Springs. Legend has it that Patrick Henry was in such haste to leave town that he left one boot behind.(10) When the threat subsided, the men returned to Staunton. During the interim, some of the men of the General Assembly who had become distraught from being hunted and chased from county to county, began to resuscitate the idea of a dictator. Patrick Henry, who had won distinction in the revolution, was already designated for the office.(11) The idea was soon rejected, however, and the very popular General Thomas Nelson was elected Governor of the Commonwealth. Other topics considered by the General Assembly legislators while at Augusta Parish concerned issues of the military draft and military appointments, reimbursement for impressment of horses for the military,(12)and currency inflation.(13)

Endnotes: 1.Trinity Episcopal Church website, Parish History, http://www.trinitystaunton.org/history.htm 2.Ibid. 3 Nancy Sorrells, Katharine Brown and Susanne Simmons, Conformable to the Doctrine and Discipline — The History of Trinity Church-Augusta Parish, Staunton, Virginia, 1746-1996, (Staunton, VA: Lot's Wife Pub., 1996) p.79.4.Ob.Cit. Trinity Church website.5.Website: Definition of A Freeholder, http://www.co.burlington.nj.us/gov/freeholders/definition.htm 6.Eyler Robert Coates, Sr., “British Invasion of Virginia,”The Life of Thomas Jefferson, (1997), chapter 15. 7. Ibid; 8.Op Cit. Conformable, p. 29; 9.Op.Cit. Trinity Church website; 10.Op.Cit. Trinity Church website; 11.Op.Cit. Life of Thomas Jefferson; 12.Op.Cit. Life of Thomas Jefferson; 13.Op Cit. Conformable, p. 30.PHOTO OF TRINITY CHURCH / AUGUSTA PARISH BELL TOWER---taken from this webpage: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/VAmainstreet/tri.htm