Warner Hall and St. Peters Church were the #1 destinations on my ancestry bucket list. My friend Laura also wanted to visit Gloucester and discover the places where her ancestors lived and were buried. So we decided to combine our visits and take a day trip together. It was a great day! The weather was beautiful, and though we only had time to hit the highlights of such a broad tour in one day, we accomplished a lot toward our research.
Laura's ancestors go deep into Virginia history. Her father's family, the Seawells, are a well-known name in
Gloucester. We found
Seawell's Ordinary (or Seawell's Publick House), Seawell Ave, and the town of Ordinary. Her ancestors certainly mingled socially with my ancestors, the Warners, of nearby Warner Hall. George Washington stopped by Seawell's Ordinary when he visited his grandparents at Warner Hall.
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Seawells Ordinary - it is said that
Geo. Washington and Lafayette planned
their attack on Cornwall here in the tavern room. |
Next stop was
Abingdon Church Cemetery, where we met a delightful lady who helped us with tips and directions. This lady was talking with a tall, skinny fellow named Jimmy (who looked just like my friend Jimmy Harris) who told us proudly that he was a two-time pancreas cancer survivor. Such characters added so much color to our travels!
Laura's direct ancestors were buried in the beautiful and very old Abingdon Church Cemetery.
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| Abingdon Church |
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A singe butterfly appeared to guide us
everywhere we went. |
I had also read that some of Laura's ancestors were buried at
Ware Church Cemetery just down the road. The church was beautiful and old, just like Abingdon Church, but the Cemetery was much larger. We split up and walked around the cemetery looking at names until we lost sight of each other. I finally got in the car and drove around looking at names on gravestones from the car window. After about 45 minutes or so, we were about to give up. We decided to go into the rectory to ask for assistance. The young assistant rector was at work at his desk, but he stopped what he was doing to help us. He copy/pasted a list of the Seawells, and then add a map of the churchyard showing where they were buried. Then he joined us in our search!
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| At Ware Church Cemetery |
Off to
Warner Hall... miles of country road into the middle of nowhere. We finally came upon the white rail fence and entrance gate. It was just breathtaking and so grand! No one else in sight.
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| Entering the drive up to Warner Hall. |
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| The Inn at Warner Hall. |
A girl at the desk said that we could look around wherever we wanted. We explored some of the rooms inside the house, and then went out through the sunroom to the graveyard. There in this quiet, peaceful place were the graves of George Washington's grandparents and my ancestors - Augustine and Mildred Reade Warner, and John and Elizabeth Warner Lewis.
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Standing at the foot of Augustine Warner's grave. He is George Washington's grandfather,
and also the ancestor of Queen Elizabeth of England. She calls Warner Hall her American home. |
Next stop
St. Peter's Church in New Kent County. I was hoping to find graves of my Allen and Lewis ancestors, but had made no appointment for an official tour. At the very least, I wanted to see the church in a new light, since finding out that my ancestors are on the church registry there. We did not find Allen or Lewis graves, but did find a memorial to the Bacon and Lydal families who were later connected with the Allens.
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| I am standing in front of St. Peters Church, New Kent County |
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| "This stone witnesseth to the lives of good upright people identified with St. Peter's Parish for more than 125 years from its foundation in 1684. Col. George Lydal died 1705, Capt. Edmund Bacon and his wife Ann Lydal, John Bacon and his wife Susanna Parke, Samuel Bugg and his wife Sarah Bacon, Sherwood Bugg born July 8, 1720." |
St. Peters Church is still an active place of worship; however, the feeling of history is rich. It is said that George and Martha Washington were married here.
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| St Peters was used as a camp during the Civil War. |
We ended our journey by visiting with actual LIVING relatives! My
Old Church cousins were mostly all home, along with dogs and horse and goat.
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| Cousin Barry and Bully |
