Peter Daniel. To Peter and Sarah Daniel was born an only son,-Travers Daniel, my father, who married Frances Moncure, my mother, the daughter of the Rev. John Moncure and Frances Brown, daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown, of Maryland. The nearest and the coterminous neighbour of my father was John Mercer, of Marlborough, a native of Ireland, a distinguished lawyer; the compiler of Mercer's Abridgment of the Virginia Laws;' the father of Colonel George Mercer, an officer in the British service, and who died in England about the commencement of the Revolution; the father also of Judge James Mercer, father of Charles F. Mercer, of John Francis Mercer, who in my boyhood resided at Marlborough, in Stafford, and was afterward Governor of Maryland; of Robert Mercer, who lived and died in Fredericksburg; of Ann Mercer, who married Samuel Selden, of Selvington, Stafford; of Maria Mercer, who married Richard Brooke, of King William, father of General George M. Brooke; and of another daughter, whose name is not recollected,-the wife of Muscoe Garnett and mother of the late James M. Garnett.

Proceeding according to contiguity were Elijah Threlheld, John Hedgeman, who married a daughter of Parson Spencer Grayson, of Prince William; Thomas Mountjoy, William Mountjoy, and John Mountjoy, the last-mentioned of whom emigrated to Kentucky, having sold his farm to Mr. John T. Brooke, the brother of the late Judge Francis T. Brooke, and who married Ann Cary Selden, daughter of Ann Mercer and grand-daughter of John Mercer. Next in the progression was the residence of John Brown, who married Hannah Cooke, daughter of Elizabeth Travers and grand-daughter of Hannah Ball, wife of Rowleigh Travers. Next was the glebe, the residence of the Rev. Robert Buchan. Adjoining this was the residence, (in the immediate vicinity of the church,) called Berry Hill, of Colonel Thomas Ludwell Lec, who possessed another plantation, on the opposite side of Potomac Creek, called Bellevue. The son of the gentleman last named, and bearing the same name, removed to London. Of his daughters, one married Daniel Carroll Brent, of Richland, Stafford, and the other Dr. John Dalrymple Orr, of Prince William. Next to Berry Hill was the plantation of John Withers, on the stream forming the head of Potomac Creek. Crossing this stream were those of John James, Thomas Fitzhugh, of Boscobel, Major Henry Fitzhugh, of Belle Air, Samuel Selden, of Selvington, the husband of Ann Mercer, and lastly, Belle Plaine, the estate of Gaury Waugh, and, after his death, of his sons, George Lee Waugh and Robert Waugh. I have thus, sir, without much attention to system or style, attempted a compliance with your request, and shall be gratified if the attempt should prove either serviceable or gratifying. I would remark that the enumeration given you, limited to a space of some eight or ten miles square, comprises none but substantial people, some of them deemed wealthy in their day, several of them persons of education, polish, and refinement.

"With great respect, yours,

P. V. DANIEL."

The present clerk of Stafford county (Mr. Conway) has also been kind enough to search through the old records, going back to the year 1664, for such things as may answer my purpose. Among the items furnished is the presentment, in the year 1693, by Richard Gipson, of George and Robert Brent as being Popish recusants.

He calls upon the court to insist upon their taking the test-oath in order to the practice of law. That oath is abjuration of transubstantiation. The court sustains the presentment and requires them to take the oath; but they refuse, and appeal to the General Court in Williamsburg. What was the issue we know not,,but believe that they were leading men at the bar after that. One of them was associated in the practice with the first William Fitzhugh, and one of them joint sponsor with the first George Mason at the baptism of an Indian boy whom they had taken prisoner.

We find also presentments for swearing, for pitching and playing on the Sabbath, for not attending church. The fines were five to ten shillings, to be paid to the churchwardens for the poor of the parish. To the great kindness and diligence of Mr. Conway I am indebted for a list of the justices from the year 1664 to 1857. Of course it is a long list. I shall only select the surnames of those most familiar to our ears:

Williams, Alexander, Mason in great numbers, Osburn, Fitzhugh in great numbers, Buckner, Thompson, Withers, Maddocks, Massey, Anderson, Waugh, West, Hoe, Washington in great numbers, Sumner, Jameson, Dade, Harrison, Storkey, Broadwater, Linton, Berryman, Farrow, Thornton, McCarty, Triplett, Grigsby, French, Aubrey, Hedgeman, Markam, Lee, Carter, Brent, Fowke, Bernard, Foote, Doniphan, Peyton in numbers, Grant, Daniel in numbers, Scott, Walker, Waller, Chapman, Mercer, Strother, Stewart, Stith, Seldon, Moncure, Bronaugh, Edrington, James, Adie, Brown, Banks, Mountjoy, Hewett, Vowles, Morson, Hood, Nicholas, Eustace, Ficklin, Richards, Botts, Wallace, Fox, Brooke, Bristoe, Lewis, Lane, Seddon, Tolson, Voss, Crutcher, Forbes, Skinker, Rose, Beale, Grayson, Hill, Cooke, Norman, Briggs, Morton, Bowen, Kendall, Conway, Green, Benson, Chinn, Browne, Stone, Irvine, Slaughter, O'Bannon, Harding, Hickerson, Clift.

We must not in our minds confine all these to Stafford as it now is, but think of its original dimensions.

ARTICLE LXV.

Dettingen Parish, Prince William County.

THIS was taken out of Hamilton parish, which, in 1745, covered all of what is now Prince William and Fauquier. It is supposed to have been named after a town in Germany, called Dettingen, near which the English gained a victory in the year 1743,—two years before. The parish register having been destroyed in the Clerk's office in Fauquier, as we shall hereafter see, we have no record of the parish of Dettingen previous to the year 1745. All that I can learn is that the Rev. Mr. Keith, the grandfather of Chief-Justice Marshall, was the minister of Hamilton parish previous to the division, and continued to be the minister of that part called Hamilton after the division. My information concerning Dettingen parish is derived from a vestry-book in the Clerk's office of Prince William, commenced in the year 1745 and continued to the year 1785. It commences with the following test, signed by the vestry-"We do declare that we do believe there is not any transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the elements of bread and wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever." It would seem that the above was the only test subscribed in this parish, showing that there was at this time some peculiar fear and detestation of Popery, it being about the time of the last efforts in England in behalf of the Pretender. Although a form of the subscription of vestrymen was prescribed by Act of the Assembly, which was generally used, the vestries did not always conform to it, but adopted several different ones, as we shall show hereafter. The first minister of this parish after its separation from Hamilton was the Rev. James Scett, of whom we have already spoken as coming over to this country by the invitation of his elder brother, Mr. Alexander Scott, minister of the adjoining parish of Overwharton, in Stafford. How long Mr. James Scott had been in America is not known. The following resolution of the vestry shows that he was living in Stafrd at the time of his election, and also the probability that he

was merried at that time.*"Ordered, that the Rev. James Scott be received into this parish on condition of his moving into it as soon as a glebe and house is prepared." The following letters from Governor Gooch and Commissary Dawson speak well in his behalf.

"WILLIAMSBURG, April 26, 1745. "GENTLEMEN :— -As your parish is at present unfurnished with a minister, I recommend to your approbation and choice the Rev. Mr. Scott, who, in my opinion, is a man of discretion, understanding, and integrity, and in every way qualified to discharge the sacred office to your satisfaction. I am your affectionate friend and humble servant,

"WILLIAM GOOCH."

FROM THE COMMISSARY.

"GENTLEMEN :-I hope and believe that your parish will be worthily supplied by the Rev. Mr. James Scott. His merit having been long known to you, I need not dwell upon it. That you may be greatly benefited by his good life and doctrine, and mutually happy with each other, and all the souls committed to his charge may be saved, is the daily prayer of, "Gentlemen, your most affectionate, humble servant,

"WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, April 26, 1745.”

"WILLIAM DAWSON.

In the above letter, Mr. Scott is said to have been long known to the vestry of Dettingen parish. It is supposed that he was for some years assistant or curate to his brother Alexander Scott in

The Rev. James Scott, who married Sarah Brown, had several sons and daugh ters,-viz.: James Scott, (the father of Alexander Scott, Mrs. Dr. Horner, and Mrs. Brown, of Fauquier,) the Rev. John Scott, (father of the late Judge Scott, of Fauquier, and Mrs. Peyton, of Gordonsdale; of a daughter, who first married Mr. Y. Peyton, then Mr. Charles Lee, and lastly, Mr. Glassell,)-Gustavus, (the father of Robert and John Scott, and Mrs. Rankin.) One of the daughters of Rev. James Scott married Judge Bullett, father of Judge Bullett, of Maryland, and of Mr. Alexander Bullett, an eminent lawyer of Louisville, Kentucky, who has left a number of descendants. Another married Colonel Blackburn, of Rippon Lodge, not very far from Dumfries, father of Mr. Thomas Blackburn, who married Miss Sinclair; and of Richard Blackburn, father of Mrs. Jane and Polly Washington, of Jefferson county, Miss Christian Blackburn, and Miss Judy Blackburn, now Mrs. Alexander, of King George. Colonel Blackburn, of Rippon Lodge, was also the father of Mrs. Washington, of Mount Vernon, wife of Judge Washington, and of Mrs. Henry Turner, of Jefferson county, Virginia. Mrs. Blackburn, mentioned above, was long known, loved, and revered, as one of the most exemplary members of our Church in the parish of Wickliff, in old Frederick county. From my first entrance on the ministry, the house of Mrs. Blackburn was my frequent resort. I have never known a family of children and servants more faithfully regulated by Christian principles than was hers, and by herself, for she was a widow at an early age. She left three children, who are members of the Episcopal Church, and who seek to follow her example in the regulation of their household. One of the daughters of the Rev. James Scott married Dr. Brown, of Alexandria, who was at one time General Washington's family physician.