Master Plan - Glebes in Virginia - Julie Basic

St. Mark’s Parish was created by an Act of Assembly in 1730 and the first vestry installed in 1731. At the same time, the vestry also purchased land for a “glebe,” or a parcel of land purchased by the parish for use by its minister. In addition to a place to live, the glebe also provided additional income for the minister in the form of timber, livestock, and/or tenant fees.

The inclusion of glebes as part of payment was required by Virginia Colonial law. By 1748, parishes were required to provide a glebe with a minimum of 200 acres and “one convenient mansion house, kitchen, barn, stable, dairy, meat house, corn house, and garden, well pailed, or inclosed with mud walls, with such other conveniences as they shall see fit.” Often, parishes offered larger tracts of land with brick homes in order to attract or retain sought-after ministers. Glebes were purchased and maintained through the annual parish levies.

As recounted in the book “The Church in the Fork” by Andrew J. Boyle, during initial organization of the St. Mark’s Parish, the parish purchased 215 acres of land from John Ashley in May of 1731 for a glebe and constructed a glebe-house, barns, stables, meat houses, and dairy. The Ashleys were paid 14,000 pounds of tobacco. John Hands was paid 25,000 pounds of tobacco to build the glebe house. Reverend John Becket was the first occupant. In 1740, the glebe house was enlarged by the addition of a study and additional chimneys.

In 1769, the Virginia General Assembly allowed the vestry of St. Mark’s Parish to sell their glebe in order to purchase a more “convenient” property. According to the text of the Act, the existing glebe was too small, the land too worn out, and the property so lacking in timber that the minister (Reverend John Thompson) could not make necessary repairs to the house or fences nor provide fuel for heating. In 1770, the current St. Mark’s Parish glebe was put up for sale. The land was sold to Samuel Henning for 199 Pounds. In the same year, the parish vestry bought 300 acres of land from Francis Slaughter, near present-day Brandy Station, as well as the adjoining lands from Reuben Slaughter and Cadwallader Slaughter. The amount paid was 199 Pounds and 10,000 pounds of tobacco.

While the location of the second glebe is well-known (Glebe Farm Road near Brandy Station, that of the first requires further research. It is possible that the original glebe was located in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River close to Germanna. The exact appearance of the St. Mark’s Parish glebe house is also a mystery, but examples of glebe houses built at a similar time still remain in St. Anne’s Parish and Hungar’s Parish.

*Above Image: St. Anne's Parish - Glebe House, built in 1730 in Essex County, Virginia

* Image: 1745 Hungar's Parish, Virginia