Glebe Episcopal Church

A Decisive American Revolution Incident at Glebe Church

on Whitsunday, 4 June 1775

 

Introduction

The American Revolution is considered to have officially begun on 19 April 1775 with the Battles at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and is known to have been preceded by several hostile events such as the 1770 Boston Massacre and the 1773 Boston Tea Party.  While outright challenges to the Crown had been located more in the northern colonies, concerns by patriots in the Virginia Colony became more evident with the Gunpowder Incident on 21 April 1775 in Williamsburg.  Many throughout the colonies maintained their dedication to the Crown, while many other colonists were taking on the role of "Patriot" by expressing desire for freedoms and by participating in rebellious actions. 

 

The parishioners of the Lower Parish of Nansemond County were known to be less appreciative of monarchal control, especially when compared to the residents on the west side of the Nansemond River.  The Lower Parish (aka Suffolk Parish after 1725) was located east of the Nansemond River in Virginia where Glebe Church, then known as Bennetts Creek Church, was constructed in 1738.  The Lower Parish had been heavily settled in the 1630s by Puritans who had traditionally rejected the monarchy and the Church of England for generations in England. In the late 1640s, the Lower Parish Puritans were forced by the royal governor to leave Virginia or conform to the Anglican religion, the official religion of England and the Virginia Colony.  Hundreds of faithful Puritans left the Lower Parish and the Virginia colony, and those who remained accepted the Church of England as their form of worship.  Generational memory may well have been a driving force in the rebellion directed at The Reverend John Agnew on Whitsunday 1775.

 

The Prelude - The Reverend John Agnew becomes the Lower Parish minister

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Born in 1727 in Scotland, John Agnew immigrated to Virginia in 1751 and settled in Nansemond County where it is believed he taught school for two years.  During a return trip back to England, he was ordained by the Bishop of London as a deacon on 11 June 1753 and as a minister, six days later on 17 June 1753.   On Agnew’s ordination as an Anglican minster,  the bishop granted him a license to officiate in Virginia and he soon returned to the Old Dominion.  Ordination required meeting the Anglican standards of character, orthodoxy and knowledge, and the taking of oaths of allegiance and canonical obedience to the king and to the Church of England.  (Lohrenz, p. 31 and cited from The Fulham Papers, 34:144-45). 

 

The Rev. Agnew was then appointed rector of the Suffolk Parish on 30 April 1754, as reflected in the parish vestry minutes….Order’d that the Rev’d Mr. John Agnew be rec’d (received) minister of our parish in room of the Rev’d Mr. Mackenzie Dec’d (deceased). (Suffolk Parish Vestry Book- 1749-1856)  The West or Chuckatuck Church Parish had been previously combined with the East or Bennetts Creek Church Parish to form the Suffolk Parish in 1725.  (Lohrenz, p. 31).   A third church in the county was in the Upper Parish and located at Reid’s ferry on west side the Nansemond River.  Suffolk Parish at the time of Rev. Agnew’s appointment was managed by a joint vestry from the Chuckatuck and Lower Parish churches and the glebe land proceeds were shared by the two churches and managed by the shared minister.

 

In 1755, Agnew married Teresa Osheal, who is believed to have brought a great deal of wealth and land ownership into the marriage, which by tradition readily transferred to the male partner.  They had one son, Stair Agnew, born in 1757.

 

Rev. Agnew was known in the parish for showing loyalty to the crown, as was required by his ordination vows.  Despite the adoption of compacts by the patriots of Nansemond County in 1770 and 1774, Agnew did all he could in his public and private capacities to persuade parishioners to continue firm in their loyalty to the king and mother country.  (Lohrenz, p. 37)

 

The Relationship Between Agnew and His Parishioners becomes increasingly  Strained

As tension was growing between loyalists and patriots in Virginia and Nansemond County, the county's Committee of Safety ordered Agnew to attend a session on 6 March 1775 to respond to allegations that he abused the Continental Association from the pulpit and that he was involved in illegal business dealings.  Agnew failed to honor the summons and the committee agreed to exhibit him for public censure because those who aimed to frustrate and counteract the aims of the patriots were “enemies of America.” (Note: The Nansemond committee of safety was a local committee of patriots whose purpose was to serve as a shadow government.  The Nansemond committee was typical of similar committees that operated throughout the thirteen colonies and were also known as committees of observation, correspondence, or inspection)

 

Otto Lohrenz observed in his writing that, “asking the public to censure an individual was a call to shun the victim, to break off all social and economic intercourse with him, and thus to isolate and ostracize him completely.  In the case of a minister, parishioners were expected to refrain from attending all worship services and to refrain from calling on him for baptisms, weddings, and funerals.”  Agnew reported that neighbors and parishioners denied him the “rights of society;” millers refused to grind his corn, and physicians refused to attend to the needs of Mrs. Agnew.  He later claimed in his memorial to the claims commissioner of England on 24 March 1784 that while he was attempting to gain recovery of his financial losses in Nansemond County during the Revolutionary War he was branded as an outlaw, was signaled for persecution and pillage, suffered from public notices with most violent threats against his life resulting in desperadoes waylaying and chasing him.  He also claimed that mobs surrounded his house at night, shot at his slaves, broke open his doors, threatened to burn his house and insulted his wife.  (Lohrenz, p. 39)

 

DEPOSAL FROM THE MINISTRY - 4 JUNE 1775 

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As history has recorded, the Rev. Agnew was not fully appreciated in the Suffolk Parish for his continuing efforts in the early 1770s to encourage allegiance to the crown while some parishioners and vestrymen were getting more involved in efforts to free the colonies from the crown’s rule.  And then a very significant event in the history of the Suffolk Parish, as well as the Colony of Virginia and the other 12 colonies, occurred that changed the lives of John, Teresa, and Stair Agnew forever and changed the lives of the Suffolk parishioners as well.

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During the weeks leading up to Whitsunday, 4 June 1775, the Rev. Agnew was calling for the women of the parish to make a special effort to be in church that Sunday.  It appears, in retrospect, that he was planning to make a special effort to influence rebellious interests  of the men of the parish by presenting a pro-monarchy sermon.  His request for the women’s attendance was successful as the church over-filled and a large overflow crowd of men of the parish gathered outside of the church as well, estimated to be a full attendance of 500 parishioners. 

 

The content of the sermon was definitely of the expected pro-monarchy nature in which he called for the citizenry to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s…..”   Almost unimaginable drama evolved during the sermon when Major William Cowper, parish magistrate and vestryman, approached the pulpit demanding Agnew to cease and desist from proceeding with the sermon.  Agnew responded with “I am doing my master’s business.”  And Cowper retorted, “Which master? Your Master in heaven or your Master over the seas?  You must leave this church or I will use force.”  Agnew responded that he would “never be the cause of breeding riot in his Master’s house.”

 

Then, Agnew did leave the pulpit, left the church through the minister’s door, boarded his carriage and departed from the church after 21 years of service as minister for the parish.  (Note:  The date for the deposal event is often recorded as March 1775 and sometimes as being on a Wednesday.  The variation in reported dates of the Whitsunday removal from the pulpit is due to variation in the use of the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the confusion with the 6 March 1775 Committee of Safety censure.)

 

Agnew later reported to the British claims commission in 1784 that following the 4 June 1775 event, the church windows and doors were then nailed up and and armed guards guarded the church during services to prevent loyal and well disposed from assembling together in worship.  At a meeting on 8 September 1775, vestrymen complained that Agnew had “neglected to officiate” in the parish churches for three months and ordered the church wardens to find a clergyman to preach. (Lohrenz, p. 40)

 

Rev. Agnew never again entered the church he had served for over 20 years.  He joined the Canadian forces and was later taken prisoner by the French.  Major William Cowper, popular for his patriotic stand for the Revolution was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1776.

 

As the Revolution rapidly evolved in Virginia, The Battle Of Great Bridge was fought on 9 December 1775 and Norfolk was burned on 1 January 1776.  British military leaders were well aware of the Parson Agnew's deposal from his role as minister at Bennetts Creek Church and the Lower Parish's prevalent disloyalty to the Crown.  It became necessary to cease holding services and parish meetings at the church and the church facilities were known to be in a severe state of disrepair by 1812. The church didn't return to service until the 1850s.

 

Agnew had received news of Mrs. Agnew being ill while he was imprisoned in Williamsburg and by the compassionate intercession of Richard Bland he was allowed to visit her where he found his property and crops had been destroyed, his slaves gone, and the glebe rented out.   (Lohrenz, p. 42, citing Agnew’s memorial to the British claims Commission, 24 March 1784)

 

After five months of imprisonment and trials, the Virginia Committee of Safety observed that Agnew had failed to procure the necessary securities for future good conduct that was required in his sentence so he then proposed the conveyance of his lands and slaves as a security for good behavior, which the board accepted. (Lohrenz, p. 43) ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

The Epilogue - Reverend Agnew Sought and was awarded Protection by Governor Dunmore and the British Military - November 1775

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In Agnew’s testimony to the British claims commission in 1784, he expressed that he felt “obliged, for self-preservation, to seek protection with Dunmore” who as loyalist colonial governor had taken refuge on British ships buoyed in the waters between Portsmouth and Norfolk in early June as he recruited a small loyalist army.  Many of his recruits were African American slaves and freedmen who he became known as the Ethiopian Regiment.  

Agnew claimed to have given assistance to Dunmore with intelligence information.  (Lohrenz, p. 40). Stair Agnew accepted appointment  as an ensign in a loyalist unit that became the Queens Rangers on 1 December 1775.  On 8 December 1775 Dunmore was defeated by the colonists at Great Bridge which led to the confinement of Dunmore’s party, including Agnew and his son, to naval vessels. 

 

During the time since Agnew had joined with Dunmore, Teresa Agnew had remained at home with friends, but on about 1 February 1776 she delivered provisions to the British fleet.  On her departure after the delivery, Agnew joined her for a short distance when soldiers of the Second Virginia Regiment ambushed and seized him.  The Nansemond Court of Commissioners then imprisoned him and tried and convicted him on 30 March 1776 for “conduct inimical to the liberties of America.”  On 9 April 1776, Agnew appealed this sentence to the Virginia committee on safety in Williamsburg.  With evidence presented by the Nansemond Court and the parish vestry the board reversed and annulled the sentence.  The committee ordered his estate be restored to him and ordered he enter into a bond of 1000 pounds with two securities.  Agnew made a claim to the Virginia committee of safety  that the trial had been illegal because three military officers “sat” with the five Nansemond Commissioners and dominated the proceedings.  (Lohrenz, p. 42)

 

On 1 January 1778, Agnew was appointed chaplain to the Queen's Rangers.  His salary was £120 per annum which was increased by £50 on 5 January 1780 based on a plea by he and other chaplains.   On 19 February 1781, when serving a chaplain on the H.M.S. Romulus and destined for the Chesapeake, Agnew and his son, Stair, were captured when the French forces overtook the Romulus.  Agnew later reported that the French forces confined him to a ship in the Newport, Rhode Island harbor where General Washington (whom Agnew claimed he had known since 1757) refused his request for release contending that he was too dangerous for the cause of France and America.  Following imprisonment on the Hermione at Newport and temporary holding in Santo Domingo on 20 July 1781, Rev. Agnew and his son were imprisoned at St. Malo, France for 20 additional months. (Note: Stair Agnew's military career, when serving as a captain in the corps, was ended when he suffered serious hip wounds at the Battle of Brandywine Creek on 11 September 1777.)

 

In response to a 1 July 1783 British War Claims Commission, Agnew related his story of his revolution experiences and filed for compensation for his personal losses due to the war, including his loss of rector's salary and use of the glebe land, the loss of thirty-six slaves, four Nansemond County plantations (of 101, 450, 150, and 72 acres), three dwelling houses and outbuildings.  He also filed compensation for three corner lots in Portsmouth, a tavern lot, a warehouse lot, a wharf lot with a strong log wharf, four dwellings and a warehouse.  Included in hs petition was land in North Carolina, forty cows, sixty sheep, much poultry, hogs and her horses.  After extensive negotiation and determination that Agnew's claims were highly inflated, the commissioners reduced his request for compensation to £7000 sterling. (Lohrenz p. 53-56)

 

Following the war,  Agnew and his son, Stair, became significant landowners via land grants near Fredericton, New Brunswick and provided a much needed ferry service at the confluence of the Saint Johns and Nashwaak Rivers.  The Reverend died in 1812 at the age of 85.

 

 

References:

Impassioned Virginia Loyalist and New Brunswick Pioneer:  The Reverend John Agnew.  By Otto Lohrenz.  Anglican And Episcopal History, Vol. 7, No. 1Essays in American Episcopal History: Colonial, Revolutionary, and National Periods (March 2007), PP29-60.  Published by Historical Society of the Episcopal Church.

 

 

Researched and written by Larry and Helen Todd, co-chairs of the Glebe Church History Committee with the dedicated assistance of John Franklin Cross.  This information updates previous research and writing by Steve Turner, former member of the Glebe Church History Committee and Vestryman