For over 350 years, Kingston Parish has watched over the development of a great nation from its earliest roots. Yet the community of worshippers that calls Kingston Parish home has battled adversity, disease, war, and the forces of history to build what is today a vibrant, fast growing Christian Parish in Mathews County, on Virginia's Chesapeake Bay. 

BEGINNINGS

The exact date of Kingston Parish's beginning is unknown. Record-keeping in the wilderness of Virginia was so poor, and so many records have been damaged or destroyed over the years that we shall never know precisely when the Parish was founded. Most historians agree on 1652, so that is the year that we celebrate as our anniversary date. The Parish was in existence on March 15th, 1657, as there is a reference to it in the Virginia Land Office Patent Book No. 4, page 304.

The first entry in our oldest Vestry book record is November 15th, 1679. At that time the Rector was Michael Zyperus, a Dutch Reformed minister, and the small chapel he served was likely built of logs and was located with ready access to navigable water, which in this case was the North River. There being such a shortage of qualified Anglican ministers in the New World, Kingston Parish apparently took whomever it could get.

In the colonial era, water was the primary means of transport. This made Kingston Parish particularly well suited to development, as the area is riddled with fingers of water which lead, ultimately, to the Chesapeake Bay.

The Vestry of Kingston Parish in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had more responsibilities than purely religious and church matters. They were responsible for the entire social welfare of the Parish, for the upkeep of the roads and construction and repair of bridges, and together with the courts and sheriff, for the discipline of the county.

The principal Parish church, as opposed to chapel, was evidently on the same site as the present Christ Church, on a small creek known as Church Creek on the east side of the East River near the mouth of Put-in Creek (formerly Puddin Creek). The date of the first building here is unknown; it may have been as early as 1660 or even earlier.

THE REVOLUTION & THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH

The American Revolution brought with it a rejection of all things English, including the official English church of which Kingston Parish was a part. By the close of the Revolution there were only twenty-eight ministers left to serve the 164 churches and chapels in the new Commonwealth of Virginia and their number continued to decline.

During this time the official church was disestablished in America and the new Protestant Episcopal Church was formed to replace it.

It was a hard struggle for the newly established church in Virginia and for many years it was a losing one. Not only was there resentment over the colonial privileges of the Anglican Church but there was, during and following the Revolution, a widespread new attitude toward Christianity in general. A deistic school of thought including opposition to any organized religion was increasing; in addition a radical element holding sympathy with the French Revolution was spreading and gaining a strong position in the Virginia Assembly. The former "dissenting" denominations took a lead in attacking the Episcopal position, the Presbyterians first, followed more strongly and persistently by the Baptists. (The Methodists were still, and for some time to come, part of the body of the Episcopal Church). The campaign to seize church property was entered in earnest, and by 1814 the General Assembly in October enacted a regulation for "The seizure of church silver and other property," specifically for Mathews, Middlesex and Warwick counties.

The Kingston Glebe, consisting of lands originally set aside for the use of Kingston Parish's Rector in colonial times, was broken up and sold. However, the church buildings and yards were not lost. Nevertheless, Parishes across Virginia were disappearing along with the deaths of their ministers. Kingston Parish lasted longer than many, but by 1811 had almost vanished as well. After this date, there are no Parish records for almost thirty years. Many thought that the Episcopal Church in Virginia was dead.

THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH

The Episcopal Church in Virginia was revived in many respects by the strong personality and efforts of Rev. Richard Channing Moore, who built the Richmond Protestant Episcopal congregation from 1814 onwards and was Bishop of the Virginia Diocese for twenty-seven years. The first sign of rebirth in Kingston Parish was in 1842, when the Rev. W.Y. Rooker served as a missionary priest in the Parish. By this time, however, the church buildings were in ruin. Only a few broken arches and some trees marked the spot of their former location. Ultimately, the church was to be rebuilt almost entirely through the efforts of one person.

Elizabeth Tompkins, daughter of prominent local merchant Christopher Tompkins whose home was "Poplar Grove," was a shy, timid girl, almost a recluse. She was extremely devout and read many religious books, building quite a library on the subject. As a young woman in her twenties, she determined to rebuild the old church. Through persistent effort she came out of her shell and sold community members on the need to revive the old institution. By the end of 1841 a restored building, Christ Church, was complete and for the first time in over twenty years, there was a minister and divine services in the Parish. Tragically, within little more than a year, Elizabeth and two of her three sisters became ill and died. 

Only the last sister, Sally, age nine, remained. Sally was to grow to become Captain Sally Tompkins, CSA, the first woman ever commissioned as an officer in an American Army. A monument to both Capt. Sally and Elizabeth today stands in Christ Church cemetery. Moreover, Elizabeth's memorial stone lies behind the altar rail in the chancel of Christ Church.

THREE CHURCHES, ONE PARISH

Since the colonial era there had often been several churches within the Parish. That on the site of modern Christ Church on Williams Wharf Road was often called the "old church" and that on the site of modern Trinity Church at the corner of Ridge Road and Route 14 was called the "new church." By 1846, only Christ Church remained. By 1852, another "new church," now called "Trinity," was built on the site of the former, and it stands there to this day, although Episcopal services ceased there in the late 1970s and the church is now leased to an unrelated denomination.

During the late 1800s the two churches, Trinity and Christ Church, grew almost as two separate congregations. Both were relatively impoverished as a result of the devastations of the War Between the States. In 1894 a rectory was purchased in Mathews Court House village for $950 to be centrally located in the Parish. Shortly thereafter, a third church, St. Johns, was built on the village property. St. John's remained active until 1930 and was dismantled in 1954. A Parish House was built on the St. John's property in 1956 and the current Parish House which replaced the original remains on the site to this day.

The decision to build St. John's was controversial, as it was barely two miles from Christ Church, and the proximity of the two churches combined with stubborn loyalty to the old church was likely the cause of its downfall.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

On January 18th, 1904, Christ Church burned. It was almost totally destroyed except for the four walls and the large front doors which somehow managed to survive. A new church was immediately built to replace it, completed in November 1904, just in time for the church's new Rector, Rev. Giles Buckner Cooke. 

Major Cooke was a famous man for his time, widely known as the last surviving member of General Robert E. Lee's staff. Originally he was destined for the law. Very early in the War Between the States he received a commission in the Confederate States Army by virtue of his education and training at Virginia Military Institute, where he had studied under the formidable Thomas E. (Stonewall) Jackson.

His first wartime assignment was to Manassas to train enthusiastic but raw recruits. Major Cooke took part in the battles of Bull Run, Charleston, Drewry's Bluff, Petersburg and numerous other engagements and never received a scratch until, crossing Saylers Creek four days before the surrender at Appomattox, a shell burst behind him and wounded him in the back of the knee.

General Lee often spoke approvingly of Major Cooke after the War. The Major involved himself in Negro education, establishing and teaching in the first such school in Virginia. His war experiences had resulted in a profound religious awakening; he studied for the ministry and was ordained in 1870. A slight, vigorous man with a brisk, clear voice, he conducted Parish affairs from 1904 to 1915, traveling everywhere throughout the county, swimming in Put-in Creek, fathering a future Speaker of the House of Delegates, and eventually going to his reward at the distinguished age of ninety-eight. His memorial tablet, as well as one to his wife, Katherine Grosh Cooke, is on the wall of Christ Church.

The twentieth century brought two World Wars and the advent of the automobile, which, in conjunction with better roads, replaced the boat and waterway as the primary mode of transport in the Parish. These roads brought the Parish closer together, reducing the need for multiple church buildings.

The two churches, Trinity and Christ Church, finally combined permanently for joint services in the 1960s. Due in part to the condition of the Trinity Church building, services there were discontinued in 1978, and the Parish began meeting for worship at Christ Church only. Previously, both churches had been used by the joint congregation, alternating first by hour of service, then by week, and eventually on a biannual basis, with services at air-conditioned Trinity during the warmer months of the year and at Christ Church in the colder months.

Amid rumors that Trinity might be deconsecrated and dismantled, and amid other changes in the national Episcopal Church, some disaffected parishioners broke away to form a congregation independent of the Parish and of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. At this time the Vestry decided to make necessary repairs to Trinity, and it was leased in 1983 to the Roman Catholic congregation of St. Francis de Sales for a nominal sum. Since 1988, Trinity has been rented for one dollar-a-year to the earlier breakaway congregation which meets as St. James Anglican/Episcopal Church.

Also in the early 1980s, due to the distance between Christ Church and the Parish House, the congregation considered plans for expansion that included a new and larger Parish church on the site of the old St. John's Church in the Mathews Court House village. A new Parish House was constructed in 1987 at the old St. John's site, replacing a 1956 concrete building that was dismantled, but no more of this consolidation plan was implemented. Air conditioning and indoor plumbing were installed at old Christ Church in 1982.

The modern Parish House is now the center of activity for the Parish, including Sunday School, church offices, Parish-related groups activities and functions, and a myriad of community events. The Parish continues to offer a full complement of Sunday worship.

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

While Mathews County attracts large numbers of retired persons who represent a significant percentage of the congregation, Kingston Parish is making a concerted effort to reach out to and better serve its younger families.

The above material was adapted from "Old Kingston Parish 1652-1976," published in 1976 by Kingston Parish, second printing 2002. For copies, contact the Parish House at 804 725-2175.