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VOL. T,XXXVII. RICHMO
The First CT
Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord 1
thy God hath led thee. Deut. 8:2. 1
Of the actual beginnings of Presbyterianism in ]
this section of Virginia we know almost nothing. 1
Eastern Virginia was settled by the English and J
it was long before the Presbyterians gained a foothold
here. We do know however, that some time <
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The Old Bell Church,
Dedicated 1802.
tury a church of our faith and order was established
on the Elizabeth river at the spot where
Norfolk now stands and known in the annals of
the time as "The Church of the Elizabeth River."
When Francis Makemie arrived here from Ireland
in 1684 he found according to one of his existing
letters a church which was just at that time
mourning the loss of their minister who had been
taken from them by death the year before. Prior
to this time we know nothing certainly of the
church and we have come therefore to date its (
organization from the year before Makemie'a \
visit in 1684, though it is reasonably sure that (
the organization was in existence for many years \
before that time. t
From 1683 to 1692 Makemie ministered to the 1
needs of the congregation. Born in Ireland and a
reared according to the straitest sect of the faith (
a Presbyterian, Makemie brought to the land of c
his adoption a splendid physique, a massive in- t
tellect and a simple faith that straightway made t
him one of the religious leaders of the Western t
Hemisphere. L/ike Jonathan Edwards he preached 1<
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" Mi great evangelical power anu was me means
in God's hands of stirring to new life the worldly p
communities of Eastern Virginia. o
Makemie died in 1692 and was succeeded by Bev. C
Tosias Mackie. He too was of Scotch-Irish descent C
and also from County Donegal in Ireland. Fr?m t;
tkesoim
ND. NEW OBLE/ "? ATLANTA, DECEMBI
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lurch, i >??rfol
* % ihe
records in the Norfolk county courthouse
>ve learn that Mackie was licensed in 161)2" to
preach at three points, "at the house of Mr. Thos.
tvey on the Eastern Branch: at a house he
onging to Richard Phillpot oil Tanner's creek,
md a house belonging to Mr. John Roberts on
Western Branch." Four years later he was licensed
to preach at a fourth point, "the home of
Mr. John Dickson on the Southern Branch."
This was over ten years before Norfolk was es;ablished
as a town and forty years before the
Royal Charter was granted^ thus defirAtfeiy qsablishing
the fact that this church ie the oldest
tnown organization in the city. These four
reaching places of Mackie's cover the territory
low occupied by the city of Norfolk. l^Iackie died
n 1716.
I . - .
First Presbyterian Church,
Dedicated 1912.
Now for three quarters of a century the refcords
>f the church are missing. This is explained by
he circumstances of the time. It was the period
>f religious persecution in the colony. The Eg:
ablished Church attempted to utterly cruRh the
lissenting congregations. During these troubous
times it was made a crime to keep a record of
iny religious service other than that ef the State
Church. Thus it came about that no Presbyterian
hurch, as far as we know in the State, either in
he Yalley, or the Hanover section, or in Norfolk
ias sessional records extending farther back than
he time when religious toleration was granted folDwing
the War of the Revolution.
From the year 1800 the church records are compete.
It was in that year that work was begun
n the church building known as the "Bell
Jhurch," which is still standing at the corner of
Jatherine and Charlotte streets. There were eighy-seven
subscribers to the erection of that struc
ii Presbytzr/an a
urn Presbyterian
1R 3, 1913. , No. 48^4-9
Historical address by Rev. Stuart Nye
I Hutchinson, in the First Presbytetian
Church, Norfolk, Va., Nov. 9, 1913
ture, most of them Scotch and Irish names. Some
of them are names prominent in the life of the city
today. Two of the men who formed the building
committee of seven were great-grandfathers of the
architect of the hiiilfl in or in wliinK
b .u nuiwi nc ate UU V* ?W
shipping. In this churffh in 1802 was installed
the first bell in any church in the city. It came to
be known by all irrespective of denominational affiliation
as "the Bell Church," and by that name it
has gone to this day.
In 1801 Benjamin Porter Grigsby was called to
the pastorate. Mr. Grigsby had been an intimate
friend of Archibald Alexander. They had been
together engaged in home mission work on the
Virginia frontier and just a little while before
had separated, one soon after to enter upon his
matchless career in the oldest Presbyterian seminary
in the North and the other to become pastor
of the oldest Presbyterian church in the South.
Ti A: ?v -
it nine wnen a strong man was sorely needed
at the helm in Norfolk. The church, weak and
disheartened after a century of religious intolerance,
for a while had to feel its way. Benjamin
Grigsby brought to the task just the qualities most
necessary for the work. According to a description
of the time he was a man of magnificent personal
appearance, of scholarly attainments, of
deep piety and pulpit power, and with his instal
First Presbyterian Church,
Dedicated 1836.
lation the church began to take an important place
in the life of the city.
Mr. Grigsby died in 1810 of the yellow fever,
contracted while ministering to a dying sailor.
The next minister was John Holt Rice, one of
the greatest of the distinguished men who have
served the church. His pastorate was a brief one.