Rev. Friend’s Memo Book, Part 1

Rev. Friend’s Memo book from our first rector is a brown, leather covered notebook and is the only object of its kind in our records from the 19^th century. For years it was in the care of the Pratt family before coming back to the Church.

It is basically a records of subscriptions, deposits in banks and related accounting. Most entries are in pen but there are many in pencil. (Were the pencil markings made at the same time, earlier or later?) There are 132 pages, while mostly numbered, are not all filled out.  The book provides many possibilities for researching the people that supported this church and supplements the sparse Vestry record.  It is clear that Rev. Friends’ appeals and influence were felt not just in Port Royal and Caroline County but extended up to Fredericksburg.

The book can be divided into up to 7 or more sections based on topics and/or years. We will look at part one in this article which covers pages 1-7.

Not all pages have dates, particularly in the beginning which is frustrating.  Rev. Ralph Fall in Hidden Village contends Friend used this book following the 1849 fire to keep up with names and contributions. However these 7 pages in the earliest section may reflect an earlier time, 1837, at the beginning of the Church.  There are two pieces of evidence for an earlier dating: 

1. The definite 1850’s section starting on page 40 comes after 30 plus pages that are blank. Page 40 starts with Bank records which may be the reason. This appears to be a separate section.
   
   
2. The key phrases in this earliest 7 pages are “building the Episcopal Church”, “pay the debt   R.G.R Catlett, Charles Urquhart, William Catlett”, “when a sale of the pews shall take place”. Keep the 1837 date in mind. Note the last phrase “when a sale of the pews”. Vestry decided in 1839 that there would be a sale of the pews. In 1850 this presumably had been long done. An appeal after the fire would probably be a general appeal and not one directed to only the pews.

While the pews at St. Peter’s were initially free pews with no ownership in 1836, financial demands on the fledgling Church led to a change that policy. In April, 1837, at the congregational meeting, a resolution was passed to appoint a committee was to raise funds for monies due "for the stairs" leading to the Church gallery. (Note that the build out and use of the Gallery may not have been finished with the Church in 1835.  The organ did not appear until 1839.)  The memo book mentions the word “annex” at the same time as “building the Episcopal Church in Port Royal.” An annex is an addition to a building built earlier.  Were the Church stairs considered that annex?

It can be inferred that financial demands increased over 1837. By December’s 1837 Vestry meeting, the subscription was generalized to raise “a subscription to pay the outstanding debts of the Church” and a committee of three appointed to raise it. Another resolution charged Rev. Friend to take up a quarterly collection to pay the expenses of the church. Finally, a resolution was made to rent up to 16 pews at public auction for two years with rents due annually. The auction would be in Fredericksburg. The rest of the pews would remain free.  

The renting of the pews was planned to last only for 2 years. By 1839, another claimant Thomas Roach was owed $320.   In the April, 1839, the 1837 resolution was revoked to rent the pews and a committee of 3 would be appointed to sell the pews at public auction (except for 1,2,3,4,36, and 37). While the pews were presumably sold, the church would also be in a position to charge rent on the pews which it did in April, 1857 to defray “the contingent & current expenses”. The tax in 1857 was $3 on the pews in the middle section (about $520 as valued today) and $2 on the side pews (about $346 in today’s dollars). 

Back to the Memo book.  Besides Roach, three individuals as listed in the Memo book who lent the money to the Church at this time though the amounts are not listed: 

1. R G. R Catlett – Owned the Port Royal Tavern property on Main Street and was on the vestry at St. Peter’s for 43 years 1836-1879.

2. Dr. Charles Urquhart.  Practiced medicine on Lot 7 from 1830-1866 and served 30 years on the Vestry. He tended to the fatal wound of John Wilkes Booth.

3. William F Catlett – Owned Lot 16 which had no structure and later in 1866 owned, Lot 33 the Farish home. 

From either the renting resolution in 1837 and/or sale in 1839, and/or a general appeal by the church about $2,085 was raised ($43,600 as valued today). 32 people subscribed and are listed on 3 pages. We don’t know the time period this covered or how easily these funds were collected. 

Pews were likely to be priced at least $100 in a sale based on similar sales at other churches though we don’t have a price list. There were at least five people who gave that amount on pages 1 and  2  and then four from Page 5.  Page 2 has a damaged area at the top where names are listed but not amounts. The bottom of page 2 is subtotaled. The missing dollar amount on page 2 is $1,020 which divided by 9 names listed could have translated into nine pews.  All this would mean possibly at least 18 pews sold to familiar names in the area. The lesser amounts other than these may have been part of the general subscription plan. 

The largest subscriptions of those we have in the records are the following: 

1. Philip Lightfoot (1784-1865) $300. Owned Lot 8 “Townfield”, owner of Ship Tavern, Lot 21 in 1823 as well as Lot 28, a trustee of Port Royal, owned the original plat of Port Royal.

2. John Pratt (1761-1843) and Son (1789-1855) $150. Purchased Camden circa 1786.

3. Edmund P. White (1803-1856) $100. Doctor, purchased Portobago in 1835 (bought 600 acres and added 500). Served on the building committee of Port Royal at time Town Hall and Lyceum built. 

Following this list, there is a blank page followed with a new heading on page 5,  “Subscriptions to the Church by Rev. William Friend”. No debt or other descriptions are here. The total of this list is $1,134 and Friend does notate who had paid. This figure is penciled in the previous section of  $2,085 for a grand total $3,219 ($67,400 as valued today).  By the 1840, Annual Episcopal Convention in Virginia, Rev. Friend reported $500 had been raised. If that is the case, many of these names contributed after that event. 

This second list with 50 names, however, contains names of people who lived in Fredericksburg (such as Murray Forbes, James Cooke, John Hart, John F. Scott, William Pollock, Alexander Phillips, and Douglas Gordon). Note it was mentioned that the auction would occur in Fredericksburg. Most of those people were active at St. George’s during the period. Based on the years of their lives, they could have subscribed to the pews in 1837 since the auction would have been in Fredericksburg or purchased pews in 1839. (Douglas Gordon would have been only 19 years old in 1837 or 21 in 1839). Since there is a break between the earlier list and this one with a different heading, it could have originated at a later time. 

In a future article, we will delve further into this fascinating book.

Here is the first section of the memo book: