The Scots-Irish Struggle for Civil and Religious Freedom
by Nelson Alexander

Originally published in the Harrisonburg Rockingham Historical Society Newsletter
Winter 1993, Volume 15, Number 1

While few records of the earliest churches in the Valley churches are extant, those which survived tell of struggles amid a desolate and often hostile wilderness. One of the earliest settlers, Adam Miller, was accompanied by Lutherans and Mennonites when he settled near Elkton in 1727 (?). The Scots-Irish Presbyterians migrated primarily to the upper valley. The English and Germans came later and settled in the middle and lower valley.

The Established Church made it difficult for dissenters (those of other faiths) to live in Eastern Virginia, where established church support and attendance was required. Persecution of the dissenting groups was the usual practice in colonial Virginia. However, through the efforts of the Scots-Irish Presbyterians, dissenting groups found a less restrictive atmosphere in the back country of Virginia than their counterparts east of the Blue Ridge. The Crown and Virginia's Royal Governor, Sir William Gooch, encouraged Scots-Irish migration to western Virginia to form a buffer between the Virginia Colony, which now reached the mountains, and the French and their Indian allies. The dissenters were granted religious toleration and exemption from the policy of licensing their ministers and registering their meeting houses (dissenters could not legally use the term "church"). Church attendance was not required and they were exempt from colony taxes for ten years. Most of those who came during the first three decades were of Presbyterian faith and victims of religious persecution in their native land.

With only the Indian and buffalo trails, it was impossible to bring wagons, so the pioneers transported their belonging on horseback. Many of these immigrants settled on the Beverley Manor Grant in what is now Augusta County. The freedom loving Scots-Irish requested and secured freedom of worship for a price, the colony's security on the frontier. That security ultimately included attempts to settle the Northwest Territory, and the inevitable and often bloody conflict with the French and their Indian allies. Many of these early settlers came as indentured servants, who served a stipulated time to pay the cost of their transportation. Thus, the Royal Governor succeeded in his desire to move the frontier of civilization further from Williamsburg, and place a hardy and enterprising race of people between the capitol and the French.

In 1738, Frederick and Augusta Counties were formed from a part of Orange County, where land titles were recorded and court sessions were held. In each new county a parish was established where Anglican services were held -- in many instances, conducted by Presbyterian ministers. The Augusta Parish was organized in 1747, which was the beginning of Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton. Twelve men were elected to the parish vestry by the parishioners. Any white male over twenty-one could vote, provided his tax obligations were met. Taxes were required of all white males sixteen and up, and on females if they worked in the fields. Slaves and indentured servants were considered tithable and taxed accordingly.

Vestrymen were charged with management of church land and property, care of the poor, orphans, and widows. They also enforced the moral codes, such as drunkenness, blasphemy, fornication, gambling, and breaking the Sabbath, monitored attendance, buried paupers, and "bound out" orphans and bastards. They were granted power to tax to meet parish obligations and were answerable to no one regarding the use of funds. By enforcing the moral codes, the vestry served somewhat as a grand jury, deciding whether or not to send a case to the county court for trial. Most of the vestrymen were Presbyterians, members of Augusta Stone or Tinkling Spring meeting hoses. John Madison, an Anglican from Port Republic, served a clerk of the vestry, perhaps because of his ability to read and write. Eight vestrymen were also members of the Augusta Court, which placed all governing power in the hands of a few.

After learning of the Presbyterian majority in the vestry, Governor Gooch dissolved the vestry and ordered new elections. The parishioners reelected the same vestry and the dissenting Presbyterians took control of the Established Church. The governor in far away Williamsburg, unable to enforce his edict and no doubt realizing that he needed them more than they needed him, did not pursue the matter. The Presbyterian vestrymen were dissenters as far as religion was concerned, politically Anglican and doctrinally Presbyterian. Separation of church and state did not exist in colonial Virginia, and these hardy Scotch-Irish used this to their own advantage whenever expedient.

In 1747, Governor Gooch recommended the Reverend John Hindman to the vestry as a possible rector for Augusta Parish. He had previously, under the direction of Reverend John Craig, organized Cook Creek and Peaked Mountain (Cross Keys) Presbyterian meeting houses. He returned to England in 1746, where he was ordained in the Anglican Church. Thus, the first minister at Cooks Creek became the first rector of what is now Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton. By the 1760s, immigrants from other European countries vastly outnumbered the Scotch-Irish and established their churches unmolested by the Presbyterians or the colonial government.

The oppressive measures imposed upon the colonists by England resulted in the American Revolution, and created a dilemma for the ministers of the Established Church and other Tory sympathizers. Some took up secular pursuits, some went to Canada, and others returned to England. Some made no secret of their support for the Crown in spite of the tremendous outpouring of manpower and support for the Revolution. The Reverend Alexander Miller, a former minister at Cooks Creek, was one of these and served time in the Augusta County jail for his Tory support. Gabriel Jones, the first attorney in the Valley (the King's Attorney), who lived near Port Republic, remained silent throughout the Revolution.

It was here in the Valley of Virginia that civil and religious liberty was exercised so freely and appreciated so ardently as to insure wholehearted support of the struggle with the French and Indians and the Revolutionary cause of independence. Let us never forget the great legacy we have inherited from the brave, hardy Scots-Irish who endured the perils of the Atlantic in search of a better way of life; the achievements of few, if any, groups surpass their steadfast support of and sacrifice for civil and religious freedom.

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