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1. SUBJECT:

"Chapel of Ease".

2. LOCATION:

In bottom of Silver Lake.

3. DATE:

Prior to Revolutionary War, exact date unknown.

4. OWNERS:

The town of Dayton, Virginia now owns the original site of this Episcopal Parish, to which "Chapel of Ease" belonged, which is in the lakebed of an artificial lake that has been made by the town of Dayton.

5. DESCRIPTION:

This is now a modern brick building, in good repair, with no trace of early architecture, as it has been rebuilt and remodeled several times.

6. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:

The Episcopal Parish (Early Churches)

"This Parish was organized some years before the revolutionary War, the exact date not known, organized under Rev. Mr. Belmaine with two places of worship, viz.*, one at Dayton, Va., called the "Chapel of Ease", and one near Cross Keys. During the Struggle for Independence the parishes were neglected and went to ruin. No record of religious worship for sixty years in either parish. In 1850 an effort to revive the work was made by rev. Jas. B. Goodwin, as minister, and later by Rev. John C. Wheat, vice-principal of the Virginia Female Institute of Staunton, Va. This man, Wheat, is from one of the very early and prominent Wheat families in ‘’Eastern Rockingham County.

After the War Between the States, in 1865, parishes were re-organized in different parts of the county and Valley records of which will be found in more recent history. Four chapels are now being located in the Eastern part of Rockingham County, viz.*, "Sandy Bottom", St. Stephens, Rocky Bar, and Grace Memorial.

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