Cameron Parish, Virginia

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Cameron Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction over the western part of Fairfax County and, once it was created in 1757, over Loudoun County. The parish was named for the minor title of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. The parish was created in 1748 from Truro Parish. It was divided in 1770 and Shelburne Parish was formed from the western half of Loudoun County. After 1770, Cameron Parish covered eastern Loudoun County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

Fairfax County, Virginia County in Virginia

Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Part of Northern Virginia, Fairfax County borders both the City of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is thus predominantly suburban in character, with some urban and rural pockets.

Loudoun County, Virginia County in Virginia

Loudoun County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2018, the population was estimated at 406,850, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron American planter

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper.

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The parish in colonial Virginia

The Anglican church was the established religion of the Colony of Virginia from 1619 - 1776. [1] Each parish in the colony was ministered to by a single minister and governed by a vestry usually composed of 12 local men of wealth and standing in the community. [1] Parishes were created by acts of the House of Burgesses and the upper house of the legislature, the Governor's Council. [2]

Colony of Virginia English/British possession in North America (1607–1776)

The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed proprietary attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, and the subsequent further south Roanoke Island by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 1580s.

A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England and Wales, which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially as the "vestry".

House of Burgesses The Representative Body of the Colony of Virginia

The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established in 1619, became a bicameral institution.

Formation of the parish

Cameron Parish was created by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1748 when Truro Parish was divided along Difficult Run. It included what is, at present, Loudoun County and the western part of Fairfax County. The parish was named for Thomas, Lord Fairfax, who was also 6th Baron Cameron. He was the lord proprietor of much of Northern Virginia during the colonial period, which he inherited through his mother's line, the Culpepers.

Difficult Run stream in Virginia, United States of America

Difficult Run is a 15.9-mile-long (25.6 km) tributary stream of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia in the United States. The area has had many historical uses dating back to the early 1800s. Today, the area is used recreationally by visitors interested in the watershed's variety of options including hiking, biking, fishing, boating, climbing, and bird watching. The wildlife at Difficult Run is vast as 163 different species can be seen depending on the season. There are 41 different soil types found on the trail and alongside the stream. The stream is part of the greater 57.7- square-mile Drainage basin, or watershed, located in the north-central portion of Fairfax County and drains directly to the Potomac River.

In 1763, the parish boundaries were adjusted to include all of Loudoun County, as it was then configured. In 1770, Shelburne Parish was created out of the western part of Cameron Parish. Thus, Cameron Parish's boundaries included the Potomac River on the north, Bull Run on the south, Goose Creek to the west, and the Fairfax County line in the east. [3]

Glebe of Shelburne Parish United States historic place

The Glebe of Shelburne Parish is a house built as a glebe in rural Loudoun County, Virginia around 1775 to attract a cleric to preach in the Shelburne Parish of the Anglican Church. Shelburne Parish, named for the Earls of Shelburne, desired in 1771 that a minister preach at Leesburg, Virginia every three months. The absence of a glebe and glebe lands detracted from efforts to recruit a parson, so in 1773 the parish purchased 473 acres (191 ha) and built a house on the property.

Potomac River river in the mid-Atlantic United States

The Potomac River is found within the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands into the Chesapeake Bay. The river is approximately 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2). In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the Atlantic coast of the United States and the 21st largest in the United States. Over 5 million people live within the Potomac watershed.

Places of worship

The oldest chapel built in what would become Cameron Parish was originally a "Chapel of Ease for the comfort of the people above the Goose Creek," built in 1733 by the vestry of Truro Parish. [4] It was a log structure near the Big Spring about two miles north of present-day Leesburg.

Leesburg, Virginia Town in Virginia

Leesburg is the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia. It was built circa 1740 and occupied by some of Virginia’s most famous families, being named for Thomas Lee, ancestor of Robert E. Lee. In the War of 1812, it became the temporary seat of the United States government, and in the Civil War, it changed hands several times.

Other churches built were all also wooden structures and included Rocky Run Chapel, Broad Run Church, and Mountain Chapel. In 1773, the Sugarland Run Church, a brick structure, was built on a site in present-day Sterling. [5]

Sterling, Virginia Census-designated place in Virginia

Sterling, Virginia is a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population as of the 2010 United States Census was 27,822. It is located northwest of Herndon, east of Ashburn, and west of Great Falls, and includes part of Washington Dulles International Airport and the former AOL corporate headquarters. Sterling is also home to the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office LWX, as well as the Sterling Field Support Center, the National Weather Service test, research, and evaluation center for weather instruments.

Clergy

See also

Episcopal Diocese of Virginia:History

Related Research Articles

Cameron may refer to:

Truro Church (Fairfax, Virginia) Church in Virginia USA, United States

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Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

The Diocese of Virginia is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episcopal Church's nine original dioceses. However, the diocese has origins in colonial Virginia. The diocese had 73,108 members and 182 congregations.

Christ Church (Alexandria, Virginia) United States historic place

Christ Church is an Episcopal church located at 118 North Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia. Constructed as the main church in the Church of England's Fairfax Parish, the building was designed by Col. James Wren, a descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. To finance construction of the church, the Fairfax Vestry raised 31,186 pounds of Oronoco tobacco from parishioners. Construction began in 1765, under the direction of James Parsons. After four years, the church was still unfinished. The vestry relieved Mr. Parsons of his duties as overseer of the construction. John Carlyle accepted the position and handed the keys of the completed building over to the vestry in February 1773.

Pohick Church United States historic place

Pohick Church is an Episcopal church in the community of Lorton in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Often called the "Mother Church of Northern Virginia," the church is notable for its association with important figures in early Virginian history such as George Washington and George Mason, both of whom served on its vestry. As Pohick Episcopal Church, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

The Falls Church United States historic place

The Falls Church is an historic Episcopal church, from which the city of Falls Church, Virginia, near Washington, D. C., takes its name. The parish was established in 1732 and the brick meeting house preserved on site dates to 1769.

Thomas John Claggett First Episcopal bishop consecrated on American soil

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Martyn Minns Missionary Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America

Martyn Minns is an English-born American bishop, serving in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. He was the founding missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the patronage of the Anglica Church of Nigeria, until his retirement in January 2014. Prior to becoming a bishop, he served as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, in the United States.

Broad Run is a tributary of the Potomac River in Loudoun County, Virginia. The creek, located between Goose Creek and Sugarland Run, principally drains portions of eastern Loudoun County, as well as a small portion of western Fairfax County.

Northern Neck Proprietary

The Northern Neck Proprietary — also called the Northern Neck land grant, Fairfax Proprietary, or Fairfax Grant — was a land grant first contrived by the exiled English King Charles II in 1649 and encompassing all the lands bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers in colonial Virginia. This constituted up to 5,000,000 acres (20,000 km2) of Virginia's Northern Neck and a vast area northwest of it.

Little Fork Church United States historic place

Little Fork Church stands on a low knoll to the east of State Route 229 nine miles north of Culpeper, Virginia in a small grove of trees that enhances its naturally pastoral setting. The name Little Fork is taken from the junction of the Hazel and Rappahannock Rivers relatively close to the edifice. It is a large room church being 83 ½ feet east-west and 33 ½ feet north-south. Unlike most rectangular churches in Virginia, the pulpit stands directly north of the southern entrance door that is placed in the middle of the southern wall rather than in the far southeast of the building. Thus it shows some of the architectural characteristics of middle colony meeting houses such as those in Delaware as well as the Virginia Vernacular Church and the deep church.

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Fairfax Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction over part of Fairfax County with its central church located at The Falls Church. The parish was created in 1764 from Truro Parish.

Truro Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction originally over all of Fairfax County. The parish had its central church at the Truro Church and the parish was named for the parish in Truro in Cornwall. The parish was created on November 1, 1732 from Hamilton Parish. It was divided twice: in 1748, Cameron Parish was formed and in 1764 Fairfax Parish was created. After 1765, Truro Parish covered southern Fairfax County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

Old Chapel (Millwood, Virginia) United States historic place

Old Chapel is a historic Episcopal church building located near Millwood, Clarke County, Virginia. Old Chapel is now the oldest Episcopal church building still in use west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2014, the Chapel Rural Historic District was recognized, and which encompasses both Cunningham parish churches, discussed below, as well as approximately 700 other structures and an area of nearly 10,500 acres.

The Church of the Epiphany is an Anglican church located in Chantilly, Virginia. It emphasizes "Encountering God through beautiful worship and believing prayer, building a multigenerational congregation that loves children and families and equipping every member to share the good news of Jesus Christ." Notable ministries and activities include a yearly free "Sports Camp" in Herndon for elementary-age students, bi-weekly worship and other ministry activities at the Arbor Terrace memory care home in Chantilly, and monthly donations of food that go home with students in need at Coates Elementary School in Herndon. Each year, Epiphany designates the congregation's Christmas Eve offering to a special project, alternating between supporting mission outside of the United States and meeting local needs in Fairfax County.

All Saints Church (Frederick, Maryland) Church in Maryland, United States

All Saints Church, or All Saints Episcopal Church, founded in 1742, is a historic Episcopal church now located at 106 West Church Street in the Historic District of Frederick, Maryland. It is the seat of All Saints Parish, Diocese of Maryland, which covers most of Frederick County, Maryland and once covered most of Western Maryland.

Tory K. Baucum is an American Anglican priest. He is married to Elizabeth Tyndall Baucum and they have three daughters.

Christ Episcopal Church (Winchester, Virginia) Church in Virginia, USA

Christ Church , or Christ Episcopal Church, founded in 1738, is the seat of Frederick Parish, Diocese of Virginia, which once covered half of the Shenandoah valley and western Virginia, including what became West Virginia. The current church building, the historic parish's third, was designed by Robert Mills, completed in 1828, and is the oldest church building in continuous use for religious purposes in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. It is a contributing building in the local Historic District which predates the National Register of Historic Places, and which has been expanded three times since 1980.

References

  1. 1 2 Parish in Colonial Virginia Encyclopedia Virginia. Accessed on July 8, 2012
  2. Seiler, William H. (1959). "The Anglican Parish in Virginia". Seventeenth-Century America: Essays in Colonial History: 119–142.
  3. "History of Cameron Parish". Cameron Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Archived from the original on 2013-09-03. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  4. "Early Loudoun Churches" . Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  5. "History of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Sterling, VA" . Retrieved July 10, 2012.