Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

Photograph - Wren Chapel Basement

Photograph - Basement

Photograph #169

Photograph #63

Photograph #89?

Old Photograph

Old Photograph Man in Tomb

Old Photograph - Cofin

Old Photograph - Coffin being placed

Old Photograph - Coffin in Tomb

Old Photograph - Service

Photograph - Stone Cherub

Plate 39 Drawings

Page of Photos

Inscription of Sir John Randolph's Tablet

Photographs of Randolph's Tablet

Plot of Tombs

BURIAL VAULTS UNDER THE CHAPEL AT THE WREN BUILDING

THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY (Block 16, Building 3)

Constructed: 1695-1869

Restored: June 1928 - June 1931
Interior Restoration: June 1967 - June 1968

CHAPEL - Constructed: 1728-1732

Incised Brick (west doorway) - "1729"

MCS
July 1970

^{[Buchanan, Paul and Catherine Schlesinger]}

CONTENTS

Author unknown. "Data on Vaults in the College Chapel" (Colonial Williamsburg: Research Report, February 11, 1931).

and

Letter: Harold R. Shurtleff, Department of Research, Colonial Williamsburg to Perry, Shaw & Hepburn, Boston; Re: Data Report; February 13, 1931.

Copies of Data Report and Covering Letter Filed: Colonial Williamsburg, Central Files; Folder: "Block 16, Buildings #1, #2, #3; College - General; January - March 1931".

Copy of Letter also Filed: Colonial Williamsburg, Central Files; Folder: "Block 16, Buildings #1, #2, #3; College - Tablets; 1931".

"Data on Vaults in the College Chapel"

Unsigned Research Report

February 11, 1931
(Retyped: July 1, 1970)

With footnote comments by Harold R. Shurtleff
Department of Research and Record
Williamsburg Holding Corporation (Colonial Williamsburg)

DATA ON VAULTS IN THE COLLEGE CHAPEL
February 11, 1931.

Prentice Duell. Literary References to Wren Building (Colonial Williamsburg: Research Report, 1931)
EXCERPTED REFERENCES: Chapter 5, pages 188-189, 202-210..

THE WREN BUILDING

(5) THE VAULTS IN THE CHAPEL.

October 16, 1770 - In 1889 the popular statement that Lord Botetourt was buried beneath the College chapel was curiously confirmed from two different sources. A workman was engaged in knocking down the plaster on the walls of a room of the old Paradise residence in Williamsburg (now owned by Mr. J. C. Slater), when it was discovered that on the original surface of the wall some papers had been pasted and subsequently concealed by successive coats of white wash. The discovery came too late to save the papers intact. A small fragment of one of these proved to be part of a play-bill of the "Virginia Company of Comedians", which under Lewis Hallam, opened its first engagement in Williamsburg in 1752. Only enough of this remained to show, from the dramatis personae, that the play was Otway's "Venice Preserved". Other fragments were of the "Association", or non-importation agreement entered into by the late members of the House of Burgesses on the 27th day of May, 1774, printed on a broadside, and the proclamation of the Hon. William Nelson given above, also printed on a broadside. With the latter were two small sheets about four by six inches in size with a 189 heavy black line an inch within the margin. One of these was recovered entire, and contains a funeral announcement as follows:

Williamsburg, October 16, 1770

The Gentlemen appointed to conduct the Funeral of his Excellency Lord BOTETOURT, present their Compliments to all Gentlemen and Ladies, and beg the Favour of their Attendance at the Palace at Two o'Clock on Friday next.

The Procession to begin precisely at Three and move to the Church, where the usual Service will be performed; after which the Corps will be conducted to the College Chapel, and there interred. Note: Lord Botetourt died October 15, 1770.

June 25, 1903 - The Chapel of William and Mary College constitutes the south wing of the College. It was opened and dedicated in 1732, when Dr. James Blair, the President, delivered a sermon. Previous to this time, the College building consisted of the front and north wing, which were begun in 1694. The gold patten and cup presented to the College Chapel before the Revolution by Lady Rebecca (Stanton) Gooch, widow of Sir William Gooch, Governor in 1727-1740, are now in the custody of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Underneath the floor of this old Chapel are the vaults of various old Virginians, such as Sir John Randolph, Lord Botetourt, Peyton Randolph, Bishop James Madison, Chancellor Robert Nelson and other worthies. To the memory of several of these there were once handsome tablets on the walls. The tablet erected to the memory of Sir John Randolph was particularly imposing, being highly ornamented and very large. In the will proved February 17, 1783, of Mrs. Betty Randolph, widow of Hon. Peyton Randolph, there is this paragraph:

"I have lent the estate money, as Mr. Cocke's receipt will show, to the amount of 130 pounds which I designed should be laid out in a monument to the memory of my dear and blessed husband. My will and desire is that the above sum of one hundred and thirty pounds due from the estate be paid to Edmund Randolph, Esq., he giving bond to my executor to put up a monument in the chapel of William and Mary, opposite to that of his grandfather, Sir John Randolph, which I have been informed cost about that sum, as soon as possible. He is to pay no interest on the money, only to lay out the sum of 130 pounds. My body, which I had almost forgot, I desire may be put in the vault in the College Chapel, in which the remains of my blessed husband are deposited with as little ceremony and expense as possible, as being there is the summit of all my wishes with regard to this world."

In the fire of 1859, which destroyed all of the College except the brick walls, the handsome tablet to Sir John Randolph fell a victim to the flames.

At the closing exercises of the College, June 25, 1903, an imposing scene witnessed the unveiling of a new tablet, designed to supply the place of the old. Judge Beverly T. Crump, of Richmond, being introduced to the audience by President Tyler, made an elegant presentation speech in the name of the donors - "The great-great-granddaughter of Sir John Randolph, her children and children's children." The veil was drawn aside by Miss Charlotte Randolph Bemiss, one of the last named, daughter of Mr. E. L. Bemiss, and granddaughter of Mr. John L. Williams, of Richmond. Dr. John W. Lawson, President of the Board of Visitors, in a neat and eloquent address, accepted the gift in behalf of the College.

As the veil was drawn aside by Miss Bemiss, the effect was fine, and the audience seemed much impressed by the beauty of the monument. The tablet is a white marble block, seven and a half feet long, bearing in black letters the inscription, and exact copy of the original one on the marble, which was destroyed when the College burned. According to the Latin inscription, Sir John Randolph was the sixth son of William Randolph of Warwickshire, and Mary Isham, of Northamptonshire, in England. He was born in 1693, and attended William and Mary College, where he displayed great capacity as a student. He then attended Gray's Inn, in London, and graduated with high honors as barrister. Returning to Virginia, he was successively elected Clerk of the 205 Council, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Treasurer of the Colony. His reputation as a lawyer was great, and for a long time he represented the College of William and Mary in the General Assembly. He was the first Recorder of the borough of Norfolk. -

Sacred
To the memory of
The Hon. Peyton Randolph, Esq'r,
Whose distinguished virtues in every station of life
Gained him
The affection and confidence of his Country.
Descended from an ancient and respectable family,
He received a liberal and polite education
In William and Mary College.
Removing (from) thence to the Inner Temple,
He was advanced to the Degree of Barrister at Law,
And appointed Attorney General of Virginia.
In this Office
His regard to the peace and security of Society,
His humanity and benevolence
To the criminal his duty obliged him to prosecute,
Were not more conspicuous
Than his Learning and Integrity in his Profession.
After an extensive practice in the General Court,
He resigned his Law employments;
And being elected Speaker of the House of Burgesses,
Discharged the duties of that high office
With such Ease, Dignity and Impartiality,
That he was frequently called to the Chair, by the
Unanimous voice
Of the Representatives of the People.
207 When the measures of the British Ministry,
Compelled the American Congress to unite their Councils
In General Congress,
He was chosen first Delegate for this Colony
To that illustrious Assembly;
And was by them unanimously elected their PRESIDENT.
While he was a third time attending to that great Great Council,
A sudden stroke of the Palsy deprived
America of a firm Patriot,
His Country of a wise and faithful Senator,
His acquaintance of an invaluable Friend,
His family of the most affectionate Husband
And Kindest Master.
Upon the 22d Day of October, 1775,
In the 54th Year of his Age.

INSCRIPTION FROM THE MURAL TABLET, IN MEMORY OF SIR JOHN RANDOLPH, WHICH WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN THE COLLEGE CHAPEL OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN 1859.

Hoc juxta marmor S. E.
Jonannes Randolph, Eques.;
Hujus Collegii dulce ornamentum, alumnus;
Insigne praesidium gubernator,
Grande columen Senator
Gulielmum patrem generosum,
Mariam ex Ishamorum stirpe.
In agro Northamptoniensi Matrem
Praeclaris dotibus honestavit,
Filius natu Sextus
Literis humanioribus
Artibusque ingenuis fideliter instructus;
(Illi quippe fuerat tum eruditionis,
Tum doctrinae sitis nunquam explenda.)
Hospitium Graiense concessit,
Quo in domicilio
Studiis unice deditus,
Statim inter legum peritos excelluit,
Togamque induit;
Causis validissimus agendis.
In Patriam
Quam semper habuit charissimam reversus,
Causidici
Senatus primum clerici deinde prolocutoris
209 Thesaurarii
Legati ad Anglos semel atque iterum missi,
Glocestriae demum curiae judicis primarii,
Vices arduas honestasque sustinuit
Perite, graviter, integre;
Quibus in muniis,
Vix parem habuit
Superiorem certe neminem.
Hos omnes quos optime meruit honores,
Cum ingenua totius corporis pulchritudo,
Et quidam senatorius decor,
Tum eximium ingenii acumen
Egregie illustrarunt.
At AEquitas summi juris expers,
Clientum fidele omnium
Pauperiorum sine mercede patrocinium,
Hospitium sine luxu splendidum,
Veritas sine fuco,
Sine fastu Charitas.
Ceteris animi virtutibus
Facile praeluxerunt.
Tandem Laboribus vigilisque fractus,
Morboque lentissimo confectus
Cum sibi satis, sed amicis, sed Reip: parum vixisset,
Susannam
Petri Beverley Armigeri
210 Filiam natu minimam,
Conjugem delectissimam,
(Ex qua tres filios filiamque -unicam susceperat,)
Sui magno languentem desiderio
Reliquit
Sexto Non: Mar: Anno Dom: 1736 - 7
AEtat : 44.

During the summer July 1864 thorough exploration and close scouting of neighboring ravines, made by the Provost guards, resulted in the capture of half a dozen or more Confederate mail bags filled with letters, two or more coming in, the rest going out. The bags used were old salt or seedbags enclosed in dingy rapping paper to aid their concealment in the dried grass or among the stones and bushes. After the first one was found, it was easier to find the others.

One incoming mail was found in the chapel vaults of the college through an accident to an inquisitive Yankee youth who while exploring the ruins in disregard of orders, fell through a thin crust of brick and mortar and landed in the midst of a number of colonial coffins. He was not so much hurt as considerably astonished and not a little scared. That he was not fond of spooks, was betrayed by his loud cries for help. As his comrades at the reserve who were some distance away had not noticed his disappearance, he remained in limbo a fair while before the source of the unearthly cries could be traced. When finally they ran to release him by removing bricks from the outer mass of debris, they discovered near the angle of the remaining wall a good size hole or cavity never before noticed. Dangling outside was a piece of cord attached to a mail bag concealed in the cavity, evidently deposited there at night by a Confederate scout. The chief puzzle about the contrivance was to answer the query "what citizen of the place would have temerity to go so near the reserve and picket line at night, to secure the deposit?" At first, suspicion rested on some of the ladies who attended the line markets to purchase supplies and who, to make a short cut from one market to the other, sometimes in groups passed around the College campus. The partly standing walls kept them from plain view of the reserves. While it is possible that one of such a group, whose movements were screened by the others may deftly have abstracted a mail hidden in the ruins, concealing the bag in a basket, a more satisfactory explanation is given elsewhere. To prevent further disturbing of the vaults, and the gathering of relics in the shape of silver coffin plates of anti-Revolutionary date, which it was learned some of the pickets were engaged in doing, an order was issued that all the plates should be replaced and both holes be securely closed with warped tin roofing and bricks. But it appears before this was done, an irreverent relic hunter had purloin- a coffin plate somewhat massive and embossed, inscribed with the name of an eminent statesman of the colonial period, and had secretly sent it to an uncle in New York State, either to treasure as a mantel ornament or for purpose of trade: probably the latter, for it was picked up by a sensible Northern merchant who after the war, returned it to the authorities of the college. It is now exhibited in the college library-an object of curious historic interest.

EXCERPTED REFERENCES:
Volume I - pages viii, ix, x, xiii, 160.
Volume II - pages 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 226-a, 295, 296, 297.
Volume III- pages 427, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 509, 512, 513, 514.
Volume IV - pages 527, 538, 549, 550, 558, 564, 573, 583, 584, 591, 592, 593, 620, 682.

INDEXED REFERENCES

Cemetery, College,

509, 562-563, 577.

Chapel

burials in;

viii, ix, x, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 226-a, 295, 296, 297, 503, 504-507, 512-513, 527, 273.

student buried in;

295.

trap door in;

507

tombs in;

427.

vaults under;

viii, ix., x, xiii, 199, 200, 201, 503, 504-507, 512-513, 527, 538, 549, 558, 564, 573, 584, 591, 620.

robbed (1864);

xiii, 584, 591, 620.

see also:

tablets in;

x, xii, 160, 201, 296, 297, 302, 341, 505, 511, 512, 514, 517, 548, 649, 682.

Botetourt, Lord:

buried in chapel ;

ix, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 503, 505, 506, 507, 512-513, 549.

funeral of ;

198-199 & n., 200.

monument to ;

201, 202, 203.

Madison, Rev. James:

buried in chapel ;

x, 302-a, 296, 427, 506, 513.

death of ;

x, xi, 296.

monument to ;

297, 302-a.

tablet to ;

296, 297, 302-a, 511, 512, 550.

Madison, Mrs. James:

buried in chapel ;

506, 507, 549.

Nelson, Judge William:

189-a, 196-a, 200, 201-a, 228.

Nelson, Chancellor Robert:

201-a, 209, 296, 506, 507, 513.

buried in chapel ;

296, 506, 507, 513

Randolph, Lady:

505, 513.

buried in chapel ;

427.

Randolph, Sir John:

buried in chapel ;

viii, 226-a, 427, 503, 505, 506, 513, 538, 549, 620.

tablet to ;

viii, 160, 511, 512, 514, 550, 682 (new).

Randolph, John (attorney general):

buried in chapel ;

506, 513, 538, 549.

Randolph, John "of Roanoke":

572-573.

Randolph, Peyton:

buried in chapel ;

225, 226-a, 503, 506, 513, 538, 548, 549.

tablet to ;

548.

Randolph, Mrs. Peyton:

506, 549.

Wilmer, William H.:

monument to ;

341.

Goodwin, Historical Notes (Colonial Williamsburg: Research Report, 1954).

viii.

1724-1754 (continued):

In 1739 a "beautiful Monument, of curious Workmanship, in Marble" was erected in the Chapel to Sir John Randolph (died 1737), who had represented the College in the House of Burgesses, and was buried in the Chapel.¹

ix.

1756-1779 (continued):

In 1770 Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, died at the Palace in Williamsburg, and was buried in the College Chapel.² He had been a warm friend of the College, and established two gold medals for scholarship, to be given annually.³

1780-1812:

The Rev James Madison, President and Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, died on March 6, 1812, and was buried in the College Chapel, where a tablet was erected to his memory.9 Madison had become first Bishop of Virginia in 1790.

xiii.

1860-1888 (continued):

In May, 1861, Civil War being imminent and the majority of students having already left the College to join the Confederate Army, college exercises were suspended.¹ They were not resumed until the fall of 1865.²

The main College building was used first by the Confederate Army as barracks, and then as a military hospital.³ In May, 1862, after the Battle of Williamsburg and the evacuation of the Confederate forces, Williamsburg was taken over by the Federal Army and remained a military garrison until the close of the war. As soon as possible the Federals evacuated the hospital in the main College building;⁴ and after that the building was used as a depot for Federal commissary stores.⁵

On September 9, 1862, in retaliation for an attack on the town by a force of Confederate Cavalry, the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry burned the main College building.⁶ Most of the philosophical apparatus, college records, and some of the books had been moved to the Eastern State Hospital for safe keeping. Some of the books in the Library were saved at the time of the fire. The remainder were burned, with the furniture, chemical apparatus, etc. The exterior walls were again left standing - somewhat less warped and cracked than by the fire of 1859.⁷

The Brafferton was stripped of most of its woodwork, windows, doors, and floors. All the fences and enclosures around the College were removed and used for fuel. The vaults in the College Chapel were broken open and robbed. The President's House, which was occupied by the Southall family of Williamsburg from 1862 until 1864, suffered only slight damage.⁸

160.

William Parks, ed. VIRGINIA GAZETTE, April 13-20, 1739

WILLIAMSBURG, April 20.
A beautiful Monument, of curious Workmanship, in Marble, was lately erected, in the Chapel of the College of William and Mary , to the Memory of Sir John Randolph , Knight, who was interred there; which has the following Inscription upon it...

Williamsburg, October 16, 1770.
THE Gentlemen appointed to conduct the Funeral of his Excellency Lord BOTETOURT, present their Compliments to all Gentlemen and Ladies, and beg the Favour of their Attendance at the Palace at Two o'Clock on Friday next.
The Procession to begin precisely at Three, and move to the Church, where the usual Service will be performed; after which the Corps will be conducted to the College Chapel, and there interred.

LONDON CHRONICLE, December 18-20, 1770.
[Copy. Wm. & Mary College Papers, Folder 226]

America. Williamsburgh, Virginia, October 19.

This day the remains of his Excellency Lord Botetourt, our late Governor, were carried in grand funeral procession, attended by many of his Majesty's Council, and of the House of Burgesses &c. to the Chapel of the College for interment:...

Ms. Note Book - R. A. Brock Collection, Huntington Library. Photostat Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.

Papers concerning "His Excellency Lord Botetourt's Estate"^*

200

201

George Wythe, and John Blair Junr Esquires.
Gentlemen
I did not till last night receive your letter of October 30th ... with the very melancholy Account of Lord Botetourt's Death...
I understand by a Letter from Marshman to Ld Botetourt's agent Mr Conway that his Lordship expressed a desire sometime before he died to be bury'd in Virginia, so that I do not intend removing the Body to England, but hope the President &c of the College will permit me to erect a Monument near the place where he was buried, as the only means I have to show the sincere affection and regard I bore him when alive ... At the same time I flatter myself it will not be disagreeable to the Virginians to have this remembrance of a person whom they held in such high estimation and whose loss they so greatly lament.

I am Gentlemen
Your most Obedient
most Obligld humble Sert
Beaufort

Badminton
Jan. 2d 1771.

April 11th. 1771.

At a Meeting of the President & Masters of William & Mary College.

This Day was receiv'd from the Hon:ble the President and the other Gentlemen appointed to take Care of Lord Botetourt's Effects the following Extract of a Letter from his Grace the Duke of Beaufort, Vizt

"I understand that his Lordship express'd a Desire sometime before he died to be buried in Virginia; so that I do not intend to remove the Body to England, but hope the President &c of the College will permit me to erect a Monument near the Place where he was buried, as the only Means I have of expressing in some Degree the sincere Regard and Affection I bore towards him; And I flatter myself it may not be disagreeable to the Virginians to have this Remembrance of a Person whom they held in so high Estimation, and whose Loss they so greatly lament;"

Which being read, the Application therein contain'd receiv'd the unanimous Assent of the Society, who are glad of every Opportunity of shewing their sincere Regard to the Memory of Lord Botetourt.

TYLERS QUARTERLY HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. III, p. 115
(Photostat from Botetourt Papers, Va. State Library at Col. Williamsburg, Inc.)

[Letter to the Duke of Beaufort, nephew of Lord Botetourt, from Botetourt's executors in Virginia - ]

Virginia 27th May 1771.

My Lord Duke.
We have been honoured with your Grace's favour of the 2d of January... The President & Professors of our College upon being informed of yr. Grace's

203.

purpose to erect a monument to Lord Botetourt's memory near the place of his Interment, have signified to us their unanimous & warmest approbation of it... That your Grace may not be at a loss as to the size & Dimensions of a monument which will best suit the Chapel we take the liberty of furnishing you with the enclosed memo. & for yr. farther Information beg leave to refer you to the President of the College himself, Mr. Commissary Horrocks, who will shortly embark for England for the Recovery of his Health... We have the Honor to be Yr; Grace's

Very respectful & most obt. hble, servts.

(Robert Carter Nicholas' writing)

The Monument cannot be conveniently erected over the Grave, as it would spoil two principal Pews & incommode the Chapel considerably in other respects.

If it is proposed to have it in the form of a Pyramid, it can be placed conveniently in no part, except at the Bottom of the Isle fronting the Pulpit, where it would appear to advantage, if the Dimensions should not be thought too much confined; the Isle itself is about ten feet wide; there must be a Passage left on each side of the monument at least two feet & an half, so that the width of the monument, which will form the Front can be no more than five feet.

A flat monument may be fixt still more commodiously in the side of the wall nearly opposite to the Grave. Between two large windows, there is a strong brick Pier six feet and an half wide; the length of this pier from the ceiling down to the wainscot is twelve feet and an half, & from the Top of the wainscot to the floor eleven feet and an half more; if the Height from the Wainscot to the ceiling should not be thought sufficient, we suppose there would no Inconvenience in leting the monument down into the wainscot as low as the Floor, but then the bottom Part of it would be hid by the Front of the Pew.

[Robt. Carter Nicholas' Writing]

226-a

EBENEZER HAZARD'S JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH* Ms. Journal, 1777 in Pennsylvania Historical Society (Photostat of portion- Research Dept. CWI)

[May 1777]

31st Breakfasted at Williamsburgh... The Principal Buildings are the College, the Mad-House, the Palace & the Capitol, all of Brick. The first is badly contrived & the Inside of it is shabby; it is 2½ stories high, has Wings & dormer Windows. At each End of the East Front is a two Story brick House, one for the President, the other is for an Indian School; this was built by voluntary Contributions in England, and is supported by the Produce of some Lands there which have been set apart for that Purpose. At this Front of the College is a large Court Yard, ornamented with Gravel Walks, Trees cut into different Forms, & Grass. The Wings are on the West Front, between them is a covered Parade, which reaches from the one to the other; the Portico is supported by Stone Pillars: opposite to this Parade is a Court Yard & a large Kitchen Garden: - there is also the Foundation of a new Building which was intended for an Addition to the College, but has been discontinued on Account of the present Troubles; at the South End of the Parade is a small Chapel for the Use of the Students; Sir John Randolph, Lord Bottetourt, & Peyton Randolph Esqr late President of the Congress are buried here: at the North End is a Room allotted for a Divinity School, but there have been no Students in it for several Years; there are but 18 Students belonging to the College, & about 30 Grammar Scholars: the College has been on the Decline for some Years. The Top of this Building affords a beautiful Prospect of the City & the adjacent Country; James River may be seen from it, as may York River in a clear day. ...

295.

VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY, Vol. XXXIV, p. 123
[Letter of Elizabeth B. Kennon to Samuel Mordecai.]

Williamsburg June 4th 1812

I suppose you have seen the death of Gregory Page in the papers ... [drowned while at William and Mary College]... they had the pavement taken up under the place where the students deliver their orations, and receive their degrees, and deposited his body there; it is said he was extremely clever, he was striving to get a degree the next time they were distributed; and there is no doubt but it would have been conferred on him at the age of sixteen; and it would have been, I have been informed, the first instance in William and Mary of one so young, being thus honoured; ...

296.

TUCKER MSS. On deposit Colonial Williamsburg Archives
[Letter of St. George Tucker to Robert Wash, Attorney at Law, St. Louis.]

Warminster, Octo: 2d 1812.
...you may perhaps not even yet have heard of the death (of our excellent friend the Bishop Madison, early in March; followed by Chancellor Tyler a fortnight after, and by Mr Russel in about a month. Mr Bracken was chosen successor to the Bishop, as president of the College (without any professorship annext) within an hour after the good Bishops remains had been committed to a vault in the Northwest corner of the Chappel. Mr Bracken had, not long before, resign'd his place as Master of the grammar school, & Mr Campbell (Brother of Frederic Campbell whom you knew) a very respectable young Gentleman was chosen in his room; ... To return to the College... It is proposed by the Society to place a monumental tablet in the Chappel to the memory of the good Bishop... The grammar school has been discontinued and Mr Campbell is now professor of Mathematics, vice , Mr Blackburn who has removed to the College in South Carolina. ...

THE ENQUIRER
Richmond, Virginia, Friday, March 19, 1813

We the Students of William & Mary College deeply impressed with a sense of our loss in the death of the late Hon. Judge Nelson, professor of Law in this college... Resolved ... that the students in procession attend his remains from his late residence to the chapel the place of interment ...

VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY, Vol. XXVI, (1928), pp. 170-5
[Letter of Mrs. E. B. Kennon to Rachel Mordecai]

Richmond. Jany. 10th 1814

I expect to leave this city in a few days; and bend my course to that town, which was once the seat of Royal rule; but now that of Republican hospitality; where learning of old reigned supreme over all other Seminaries in the old Dominion; but where now scarcely a student can be seen gliding by that building, which heretofore rung with the voices of the scholars; also, how fallen is that once proud edifice. ... when Botetourt was our Governor the prosperity of the College was his chief care; then it flourished; and turned out the greatest men our country ever produced... his body lies under the Chapel, and his Statue graces the yard; but they want the spark which animated him . ...

CAMPBELL PAPERS* William and Mary College Archives (Box 2)
[Diary (ms) of Charles Campbell- 1846.]

Wednesday June 3d 1846...
...Reached Wmsburg about 2 O'clock P.M. Stopped at Capt. Henley's Hotel. After dinner visited the College - saw Botetourt's statue, the Brafferton, the elms the chapel & the tombs of Sir John Randolph & wife & of Bishop Madison. The Chemical hall is very small . ...

502.

RECORD BOOK OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, l846-1879, Not paged.

May 11th l858 Regular Meeting of the Faculty.
... An account of Hardy & Bros. for lumber, having been presented amounting to Sixty dollars, it was allowed & ordered to be paid.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE Bursar's Book 1850-1875 [p.99]

1858
" May 12	" by do pd Hardy & Bros ccount for Lumber (flooring)	60.00

503.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE PAPERS, Folder 99, typed. (Addressee unknown)

Williamsburg, June 16th, 1858.
My Dear Sir

If in the description of the vaults in the College Chapel sent you, it was stated there were two bodies in the middle vault, or that marked E. in the Diagram (if I recollect aright) a mistake was made. There was but one, that of John Randolph. In that marked D. where Sir John Randolph was buried are there the remains of two bodies, as there are also in the vault F. where Peyton Randolph-or all that is mortal of him--is. In D. was found the coffin with the double rows of brass tacks, very probably that of Lord Botetourt. I do not know how I could have made so stupid a mistake. A careful exploration of this vault might determine, positively, whether or not the bones are those of Botetourt. It is not impracticable to make that exploration at [omitted] to do it during your stay...

Benj. S. Ewell

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE Bursar's Book 1850-1875 p. 100

WILLIAMBURG WEEKLY GAZETTE Vol. 5 No. 37. p. 2., c. 1
Ewing & Lively eds. July 28, 1858

William & Mary College, having "turned over a new leaf," doubtless anticipates a great deal of prosperity. Her Faculty is an able one...

Speaking of the College reminds us of the Statue of Lord Bottetourt in the College yard, about which we would like to say a word. It should either removed or re-modeled. Minus one hand- one nose- face battered so as to present the appearance of a shilallahed Irishman-cloak, filled with rents, unable to afford any further protection from the rain- body filled with sores and scabs, produced by sundry hard licks of mischievous student- it is indeed a pitiable object and a heavy tax upon the sensibilities of the spectator. The entire contour of "My Lord", strikingly resembles a man of dough, which after being duly daubed by dirty fingers, is placed upon a pole for the admiration of the crowd. Whatever the statue was once, it is now an eye-sore, and should be taken down. Should it? Let us reflect. Works of art are admired for their antiquity, frequently as much as for anything else, though they be in a battered condition. Since we come to think about it, Messrs. College authorities, you can let the thing stand in statu quo for a few centuries longer. So, You needn't take it down.

THE SOUTHERN ARGUS, Norfolk, Saturday Morning, July 31, 1858. Photostat on file in Research Dept.

The Dead of the Chapel of William and Mary.^*

It has long been known that several eminent persons had been buried for more than a century past beneath the floor of the Chapel of William and Mary 505 College; but so long a time had elapsed since there had been an inspection of the premises, that all was doubt and uncertainty on the subject. Some weeks ago, however, the old floor, which had become rotten, was removed, and a new one some feet higher than the old has taken its place. An opportunity was thus presented of inspecting the entire area of the Chapel; and although we were not present ourselves, we have taken some pains to ascertain the result of the examination. This we have done not only for the gratification of our readers, but for the sake of future reference.

All who have visited the venerable Chapel will remember that two doors open into it from the College building. That on the right enables the visitor to pass into the body of the Chapel, while the left door is at present only used for admission to the stage on which the Board of Visitors and the Faculty are seated on public occasions, and from which the students address the assembly. As you enter the right hand door, almost immediately beneath your feet, is the vault of Sir John Randolph.--It is five feet broad inside, just large enough to hold two coffins; it is eight feet long, and the height from the bottom to the crown of the arch four and a half feet. The bottom of the vault is alone three feet below the surface of the ground on the outside of the building. This is in common with the other vaults of which we shall speak presently, is made of common bricks and mortar put together roughly, as it could not be seen only when the floor was taken up. This vault was first opened; for from the length of time which had elapsed since the vaults were seen, if indeed they have ever been seen by any living person, nobody could Identify them. From its position in respect to the elegant mural tablet just above it in the Chapel, it was evident that it contained the remains of Sir John Randolph. Nothing could be seen but the base of the scull, and a heap of dust. Of the coffin there were three iron handles left; and were probably the means by which "six honest freeholders" of Bruton Parish bore his corpse to the grave. By the way, as these handles had not suffered very materially from rust, it may be that the remaining handles had been removed at some 505 (cont'd.) previous time, probably when the remains of Lady Randolph were laid by the side of those of her husband. Close to Sir John's remains were found the relics of a coffin, several large pieces of the plank, especially of the lid, around the edge of which were strips of cloth with double rows of brass tacks. The body was not as entirely decomposed as that of Sir John. Many of the bones are entire.-- This second body was apparently shorter than the first.

The question arises, whose body rested in the coffin by the side of Sir John? Was it Lady Randolph's? Is it known among her relatives that she was buried in the Chapel? ... If she was buried in the Chapel these remains, of course, are hers; and it should not be overlooked that she survived her husband, and had the vault constructed not for a single body, but ample enough for two. If she was not buried here, and we sincerely trust some of her relatives may be able to settle the fact, than it hardly admits of a question that this was the body of Lord Botetourt. The cloth and the double rows of brass tacks were probably the highest marks by which the undertakers of Williamsburg could express their ideas of nobility.- Let it be observed that Sir John was the first person buried in the Chapel ... At all events, if Lady Randolph was buried in the Chapel, she was the first of her sex to whom that honor was tendered. A skilful anatomist might probably decide from the remaining bones whether they belonged to a male or female. And we may farther add that, if this body is not Lord Botetourt's, then his body never rested under the Chapel; and if his body was placed there, then this double vault was the place for it, as it was the only vault there, and as the body was merely kept in reserve until it could be sent for from England. Now the tradition is clear and continuous that his body was buried in the Chapel.

506.

Adjoining the vault of Sir John, and immediately under the platform or stage extending between the right hand and left hand doors, was another vault of the same dimensions, in which there was a leaden coffin of large size, elegantly fashioned. It contained a wooden coffin apparently in tolerable preservation. The top of the leaden coffin was flat., the sides convex; and it was uninjured except at one point where there was a hold made probably by gases generated by the decomposing body. The elegance of the coffin and the completeness of its fixtures proclaimed it at once the coffin of John Randolph, the Attorney General, even if the tin plate upon it had not contained these words: "John Randolph, Attorney General of Virginia; died January thirty first, 1784, aged fifty six years." There were several smaller plates used, perhaps for ornament. On one of them were the words: "Gloria Deum."...

Immediately on entering the left hand door described above, there appeared another vault in a line with the two just mentioned and about the same size. On opening it two bodies were discovered. The first, on the north side of the vault, was contained in a leaden coffin which enclosed a wooden one not much decayed. -- The leaden coffin was not as neatly finished as the one which held the remains of John Randolph, the surface of the lead being without polish, and the edges of the lid tacked instead of being soldered together. This defect in the closing of the coffin may have contributed to its good preservation, 506 (cont'd) as it allowed the gases to escape, which in the case of John Randolph found a vent in the side. On the breast of the coffin was a plate silver-gilt on the upper surface, the lower surface filled in with lead, leaving the simple but eloquent inscription, "Peyton Randolph, Esq."...A year after his death his widow obtained the services of his nephew Edmund Randolph in removing his body from Philadelphia to Williamsburg; and his remains were committed to this vault with the most august ceremonies which had then been seen in Virginia. A public funeral was decreed him by the General Assembly, then holding its first session under the constitution in Williamsburg. Six members of the Assembly received his body at the threshold of the College and bore it to the vault where it has remained unseen, until recently, by any person now living.

By the side of the Speaker, in the same vault, was another body, the skeleton of which is of large size. It is doubtless the body of Mrs. Peyton Randolph, which we might expect to find in the tomb which she had constructed for her husband. There is, however, no mark upon the fragments which would enable us to affirm the fact. That the body is not Lord Botetourt's is plain from the circumstance that the vault was not constructed until seven or eight years after his decease.

We may as well say here, what we ought to have said before, that the vaults of the three Randolphs, the father and the two sons,... embrace the entire width of the Chapel. We should also say that, after the inspection of the vaults was made, and their inmates were identified, the opening was securely bricked up; and it is probable that a century may pass when they may again be opened for examination...

About ten feet from the western end of the Chapel, on the north side, are two single vaults in close juxtaposition; the one next to the wall being the vault of Bishop Madison, and the other that of Mrs. Madison his wife, who is believed to have been buried there, or of Chancellor Nelson, who is believed to have been buried in the Chapel. It is not improbable that Mrs. Madison was buried in the same vault with her husband, though it is single, as is frequently done in England, the coffin being placed an [sic] a platform above the other. If this be the case, then the second vault is Chancellor Nelson's; but, as the vaults were not opened, we can only surmise who are their occupants: the fact alone being certain that one of them is the vault of the Bishop.

507.

About five or six feet from the two single vaults just described was a grave without a mark of any kind. It was either Chancellor Nelson's grave, if he was not interred in either of the single vaults, or of a student who was drowned in the College mill-pond about the year 1822, and is said to have been buried in the Chapel. It was opened, and bones were found with small pieces of a coffin in which were cut nails. The cut nails show that it could not have been the grave of Lord Botetourt, as they are of recent invention. After a minute examination of the ground no other grave or vault was found. In a few days the wooden floor was re-laid; but we had the pleasure of seeing that a trap door of ample dimensions has been made, which is secured firmly by screws, and which, when raised, will admit the curious who may move about in a stooping posture, and see the outside of the vaults for themselves. We ought to say that the examination was conducted with all possible delicacy, and that nothing was disturbed or moved from its place.

507 (cont'd.)

We may as well state here that under the old floor of the Chapel was found a couple of tin plates formerly used by the students in colonial times at their meals, and bearing the initials of the College stamped upon them where they were made...

509.

RECORD BOOK OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, 1846-1879, Not paged.

Jany 18th 1859 Regular Meeting of the Faculty ...
Resolved- That the portion of the College land in the rear of the Presidents garden beginning on the west line at a corner stone on the west line of College land and running along that line in a southerly course 1.46ch. thence due East .90ch. thence in a line parallel to the lst course 1.46 ch: thence due West to the corner stone, be set apart as a burying ground for the Professors of the College, their families & the Students, and be called the College Cemetery.

Resolved- That Mr Ewell be allowed to transfer the remains of his father and of such other members of his family as he may think proper to College Cemetery.

512.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY ... Vol. VIII, pp. 269-270.

The Vaults in the East End of the Chapel of the College of William and Mary.
[Robert J. Morrison. Ms. vol. in Virginia State Library.]

By reference to the 14th page of the College Catalogue contained in this volume, it will be seen from the letter of the Duke of Beaufort to the Faculty of the College that the remains of Lord Botetourt were interred somewhere within the College grounds. To determine exactly the resting place of the body of this benefactor of the College and of the colony of Virginia, this evening, 513 we had the vault opened that contained the only male body which had not been identified. I say the only male body, because in order to identify the body in this vault, as the sequel will show, it was necessary that it should be proved to be that of a male. This vault according to the mural tablet erected to his memory, was that of Sir John Randolph, and it was the only vault in the college chapel up to the Revolution. The vault in the South East corner of the chapel contains the remains of Peyton Randolph, President of the first American Congress, who died of apoplexy in Philadelphia on the 22nd day of October in the 54th year of his age. His remains were brought to Williamsburg by his nephew, Edmund Randolph, and were buried in the college chapel in November, 1776. In this vault, large enough for two bodies only is another body besides that of Peyton Randolph which from its size must be that of a woman. The vault between these two vaults contains only the body of John Randolph, the Attorney General who died in 1784. Peyton Randolph, and John Randolph were both sons of Sir John Randolph. Thus the bodies of the men contained in the old vaults of the chapel are all identified save that of one man, and this rests in Sir John Randolph's vault, and was most probably buried before the Revolution, else one of Sir John Randolph's sons would most probably have been buried in his father's vault unless indeed the second body in Sir John Randolph's vault be that of a woman, of Sir John's wife. But it is certain that this supposition is false, for this evening the bones of both bodies in Sir John Randolph's vault were examined by a physician of undoubted skill in his profession, and were pronounced to be the bones of men. Besides the coffin lid of the more recently interred body was six feet three or four inches long. The decayed pieces of this coffin indicated that it must have been as splendid as this country could have produced at the time of the death of Lord Botetourt. These facts in connection with those in the prefatory history of the college to be found in this book show conclusively that Lord Botetourt's remains repose in the North East vault in the college chapel, to the right of those of Sir John Randolph. The remains of the three Randolphs repose in the northern side of their respective vaults. Elsewhere in the chapel Bishop Madison and Chancellor Nelson are buried.- Robert J. Morrison.

WILLIAM & MARY COLLEGE PAPERS, Folder 17 ms.
[Letter from Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington to her father-in-law, Lawrence Washington describing the burning of the College.]

Williamsburg, Feb. 9th 1859
Wednesday night.

We are all in great distress about our old College. Late on the night of the 7th I directed the enclosed invitation to you, & before the morning light the College was in ashes. The fire broke out in the wing in which were both Laboratory & Library, when it was discovered both were in flames, & the students who had rooms above narrowly escaped with their lives, & several of them losing a great deal. Only a few books not in the Library were saved, that room could never be entered. In it were books of great value on account of their antiquity a fine classical & Theological collection all lost. Books presented by one of the Kings of France, Louis the 16th I think. The chemical apparatus, everything in short, except the portraits the College records & Charter, which were fortunately in the Blue room. The Library of one of the Literary society was also partly saved. The Chapel is a perfect wreck. There was little of value there that could be moved, but its walls were adorned with beautiful marble tablets in memory of the old worthies. All were broken & destroyed, except the handsomest of all to Sir John Randolph, which is partly standing & the Professors hope to be able to collect the fragments, & perhaps, be able to put, at least, this one together. It is not known how the fire originated, but it is supposed to have begun either in the cellar or Laboratory. The loss to Williamsburg is great ... & it is a melancholy sight to gaze upon the now blackened wall of our venerable Institution ... They and the Faculty are united in desiring to rebuild immediately...Lectures have not been suspended, but are conducted in a building near by the ruin secured for the purpose...

Note: An invitation to the "Celebration by the Alumni of the 166th Anniversary Feb. l9th 1859", is in Folder 17. MG

WEEKLY GAZETTE AND EASTERN VIRGINIA ADVERTISER E. H. Lively, ed., Williamsburg: April 6, 1859 p. 2., c. 1.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE.
We have had the pleasure of examining the plan of the College building, which has been selected by the Building Committee. The old walls will be retained, but the exterior and interior of the new structure will differ from those of the old. The new Edifice or rather the renewed Edifice, will present a front of One Hundred and Thirty-six Feet, which will be relieved by two Towers of the Italian style of Architecture. One of these Towers will contain the College bell, the other will be used as an Observatory. The two side-views will present each a front of One Hundred Feet. The altitude of the new Building will be much greater than that of the old building. There will be no dormitories in the College, the Faculty having recently purchased a house which affords ample accommodations for Students. The interior of the College edifice will be convenient. There will be six large Lecture Rooms, each opening into an Office for a Professor, and a Laboratory which will present all the modern improvements There will be a spacious room for the Library, and two splendid Society Halls. The old Chapel will be but little altered. Fortunate indeed is it, that there will be no necessity for disturbing the remains of the illustrious dead that repose within those venerated walls, and fortunate indeed is it, that the flames did not so far impair the strength of any of the out-side walls as to render them unfit for use, hence, the identity of the old building will be preserved, and thus not a single hallowed association of the past lost to old William and Mary. The effect of the fire will be only to make the appliances of the College adequate to the demands of the day.

It is with no little satisfaction that we contemplate the speedy erection of this beautiful Building in this ancient city. It will undoubtedly be in readiness for the fall session of the College.

538.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY ... 1st series, vol. XVIII, p. 213
Hugh Blair Grigsby to Henry S. Randally, July 25, 1859 [sic]

By the way, the floor of the Chapel of William and Mary was taken up some Weeks ago and the vaults examined. Three attorney generals of Virginia were seen resting side by side- Sir John Randolph, his eldest son Peyton, the president of the First Congress, and his brother, John, who went over with Dunmore. I gave the article to my young friend William Lamb of the Argus who will publish it in a day or two. It is called "The Dead of the Chapel of William & Mary."^*...

549.

RECORD BOOK OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, [1846-1879], Not paged.
Paper written by Professor Robert Morrison
Regular Meeting of the Faculty. Nov. 22d 1859.

The only one of the Chapel-vaults injured by the fire was that which contains the body of Peyton Randolph the President of the first American Congress, and this was only sufficiently broken to show the coffin of this distinguished Patriot in an excellent state of preservation. It may not be out of place here, to designate the vaults of the Chapel & the resting places of the dead who slumber within them. Under the rostrum there are three vaults. That in the North east corner of the Chapel contains the bodies of Sir John Randolph and as we have every reason to believe, of Lord Botetourt. That in the South-east corner the remains of Peyton Randolph & his wife and that between these two the body of John son of Sir John Randolph & the father of Edmund Randolph a member of Genl Washington's Cabinet. He was Attorney General of the crown for the Colony of Virginia. He died in London.

Near the North-west corner of the Chapel is the vault in which repose the ashes of James Madison the first Bishop of Virginia and his wife and on the same side, a few feet farther east is the grave of Chancellor Nelson.^*

550.

Near the vault of Sir Jno Randolph on the north side was a magnificent mural monument erected to his memory. The inscription upon it was in latin and the only copy of it known to be in existence was preserved by Hugh Blair Grigsby L. L. D. a noble benefactor of the College, a distinguished Scholar and a Liberal patron of Letters and of Art. Near the vault of Bishop Madison there was a mural tablet erected to his memory by the College. A heap of calcined marble is all that remains of these monuments.

RECORD BOOK OF WILLIAM AND MARY [1846-1879] Not paged. Also printed in Cataloge of College for Session 1859-60. Wm. & Mary College Papers - Folder 63 and printed in Weekly Gazette and Eastern Virginia Advertiser Williamsburg; June 20, 1860

February 8th 1860. At a Called Meeting of the Faculty held on Wednesday Feb 8th 1860. being the first Anniversary of the destruction of the College by fire on the Morning of the 8th Feb. 1859. A committee was appointed to enquire into the general condition of the College, who render the following Report.

…

The Chapel has been restored and the remains of its illustrious dead still lie undisturbed within its vaults. This room, which is designed also for the public Exercises of the College has been comfortably furnished with Seats for about four hundred persons, and has been regularly used for the religious exercises of each day since the beginning of the Session.

564.

WEEKLY GAZETTE AND EASTERN VIRGINIA ADVERTISER, E. H. Lively, ed. Williamsburg, June 20, 1870.
(COMMUNICATED) PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE.

At a called meeting of the Faculty of the College of Wm. & Mary, held on Wednesday the 8th Feb. 1860, being the first anniversary of the distruction [sic] of the College by fire on the morning of the 8th of Feb., 1859, the Committee appointed, at a former meeting, to inquire into the general condition of the College made the following report:

The Chapel has been restored, and the remains of its illustrious dead still lie undisturbed within its vaults. This room, which is designed also for the public exercises of the College has been comfortably furnished with seats for about four hundred persons, and has been regularly used for the religious exercises of each day since the beginning of the session.

573.

RECORD BOOK OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, [1846-1879], Not paged. Regular Meeting of the Faculty. Novr 6th 1860.

The following Preamble and Resolutions were submitted and adopted:

Whereas it has been represented to the Faculty of Wm & Mary College that the remains of Jno: Randolph of Roanoke are deposited in The yard of one of the estates on Staunton River, which he owned at the time of his decease, but which has since been alienated by his heirs; and whereas, however confiding we may be in the courtesy and honourable demeanor of the present owner of the Est: aforesaid, we know the uncertainty of human life, and the frequent changes in the ownership of property, and cannot but remember the fate of graves in private yards so signally presented in our Virginia experience on such subjects: and deem it both expedient and becoming that the remains of so distinguished a citizen of Va should repose near those of his ancestors in the chapel of this College in which those ancestors as well as himself were educated: Therefore be it - Resolved ,

That Hugh Blair Grigsby L. L. D. be requested to prepare a memorial setting forth the reasons of the proposition, and to present it to the heirs at law of Mr Randolph, offering to them a vault in the College Chapel as a suitable depository of the remains of their distinguished relative

Resolved That, when the assent of the heirs at law of Mr Randolph shall have been obtained, Mr Grigsby be requested to prepare and present to Wood Bouldin Esq; the proprietor of Roanoke, a memorial requesting in the name of the College and of the heirs aforesaid, the privilege of disinterring the remains and of conveying them to the Chapel of Wm & Mary College.

583.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE PAPERS, Folder 64. CATALOGUE OF THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY ... Sessions 1860-61 & 1865-66 Richmond: 1866

[1861-1862]
pp.18-19

Early in May, 1861, the actual existence of war at its very threshold rendered it necessary to suspend the College exercises and close its doors. The building was soon after seized by the military, and used first as a barrack and next as a hospital, until the evacuation of Williamsburg in May, 1862.

583.

... It [Williamsburg] was, therefore, held by the United States army in the Peninsula from the time of Gen'l McClellan's advance on Richmond till the close of the war, almost without intermission, as an important post . ... A conflict occurred on the 9th September, 1862, between a detachment of Confederate cavalry and the United States garrison, then consisting of the 5th regiment Pennsylvania cavalry, in which the latter was worsted. The Confederate took possession of the town early in the day, but withdrew in a few hours. After they had retired, (by 11 A. M. of the same day all had gone.) returning stragglers of the garrison, provoked by their defeat, under the influence of drink and before organization...was restored, fired and destroyed the principal building, with furniture and apparatus. At later periods of the war all the remaining houses on the College premises and the enclosures were burned, or pulled entirely to pieces, or greatly injured. The vaults in the College chapel were broken open and robbed of the silver plates attached to the coffins, and of whatever else of value they were found to contain. This desecration was checked ... when it became known to the military commander. These facts are fully substantiated by the affidavits of eye witnesses.

It will require at least $80,000 to repair the losses and restore the College to what it was in 1860.

THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY FROM ITS FOUNDATION, 1693, to 1870, PP. 52-3.

Extracts from the depositions of Mrs. Maria T. Peyton and Miss Mary T. Southall, both of Williamsburg, in relation to the destruction of the College in September, 1862, taken before Dr. R. M. Garrett, Magistrate of the Town:

Miss Southall deposes: "That she resided at the time on the College grounds in the President's house, and that she was alarmed, on the evening of the 8th of September, by the cry of fire. She went out and found that the College Building was on fire; that soon a crowd gathered and extinguished the flames; and that while carrying a bucket of water, she met three United States soldiers; one of them told her if the College was not burned that day, it would be the next, or words to that effect; that early the next day, a detachment of the Southern cavalry entered and, after a short contest, retired, the last one of them leaving by ten minutes after ten o'clock, A. M.; that shortly afterwards, the College yard was crowded with United States soldiers, many of them drunk and boisterous; that she and her sisters were advised, so unruly were they, to leave the premises, which they did; that about five o'clock, P. M., she was told of the College being on fire, and advised to return, as the house in which she lived was in great danger. This she did, and soon after the College was a smoking ruin; and that there is no doubt of the destruction having been designedly effected by drunken United States soldiers.

Mrs. Maria T. Peyton deposes essentially to the same facts respecting the fire on the 9th of September, resulting in the burning down of the Building; and further deposes that she went to Lieut. Col. Smith, who, by the capture of Col. Campbell, became the Commandant of the Post and the Regiment which was its garrison, the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and told him there was a rumor the town was to be fired. He replied: "No such orders had been or would be given." A short time after, the affiant saw the College on fire, and immediately said to Col. Smith" "See, sir, the destruction has begun." He replied, that it had, but that it would be now impossible to save the Building for want of buckets. He said further, he had a set of drunken soldiers, and that it would take two sober men to control one drunken one. The affiant turned again to Col. Smith and said: "Do, sir, try and save William and Mary College, for it will be a stigma on the page of history if you suffer it to be lost." He replied, "I have no means of putting out the fire; it cannot now be saved." The affiant distinctly understood from Col. Smith, that no order had been given to burn the College, but that it was done by drunken soldiers whom he could not control.^*

At later periods of the war all the remaining houses on the College premises and the enclosures were burned, or pulled entirely to pieces, or greatly injured.

The vaults in the College chapel were broken open and robbed of the silver plates attached to the coffins, and of whatever else of value they were found to contain. This desecration was checked, as is stated, when it became known by the military commander.

These facts are fully substantiated by the affidavits of eye-witnesses.

It will require at least eighty thousand dollars to repair these losses and restore the College to what it was in 1860.

The College grounds and buildings not destroyed were held by the United States Army from May, 1862, to September, 1865, for depots and for other purposes ...

593.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY ... 1st series, Vol. XI, p. 178.
Henley T. Jones to Lyon G. Tyler, President of the College, Williamsburg, Va., July 29, 1901.

April 1865

My Dear Sir:
In reply to your inquiry in regard to the present walls of the College, I can only say that prior to the destruction of the building in February, 1859, I had always heard and believed them to be those of the original structure. I was present at the burning of the College in the year above mentioned, and know the fact that the walls then resisted the ravages of the fire, they being two and a half or three feet thick. The College was rebuilt upon those walls during that year. I left Williamsburg with General Magruder's army in May, 1862. When I returned in April, 1865, nothing of this building remained save these same walls, the College having been again destroyed by fire applied by soldiers of the Federal army... The present College building was ... erected upon the walls left by the fires of 1859 and 1862. Please do not infer that I mean to convey the impression that no part of the walls was destroyed; such would not be true; where they were damaged the apertures were small, and the main walls were not materially effected. …

620.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE PAPERS, Folder 128-B
Photostat. Letter from L. W. Turner to his father, George W. Turner written from Williamsburg, Oct. 1, 1869. Orig. At Duke Univ.

The body of Sir John Randolph was buried beneath the college chappel. It may have been his remains the Yankees took the Silver plate from...

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY ... First Series, Vol. XII, pp. 66-67

In the fire of 1859, which destroyed all of the College except the brick walls, the handsome tablet to Sir John Randolph fell a victim to the flames.

At the closing exercises of the College, June 25, 1903, an imposing scene witnessed the unveiling of a new tablet ...¹

Notes

Mary R. M. Goodwin. The College of William and Mary: A Brief Sketch of the Main Building of the College, and of The Rooms to be Restored to Their Eighteenth-Century Appearance (Colonial Williamsburg: Research Report, June 1967). (Xerox Copy).

EXCERPTED REFERENCES: pages 28, 72-85, 346, 363, 367-375.

INDEXED REFERENCES:

Vaults, under Chapel,

28, 73, 75, (76), 79-82, 83, 84, 363, 369, 370, 373.

bricks for,

73, 79.

burials in,

73, 75, 79-82, 369, 370.

coffins in,

73, 79, 81, 82, 84.

opened,

79-82, 84, (369), 373.

robbed,

28, 82, 84.

trap door to,

81.

The College of William and Mary

celebration of laying its "cap-stone," being held on October 11, 1859. It was quite different in its exterior appearance from the building of ca. 1716-1859.¹⁰²

The College had about 60 students before the fire of 1859, it had 63 in 1860.¹⁰³ In May, 1861, at the outbreak of the War Between the States, the College exercises were suspended; and the building was again used by the military, first as a barrack and then as a military hospital. The Confederate forces evacuated Williamsburg in May, 1862, and Federal troops then occupied Williamsburg. After a brief skirmish with some Confederate troops who entered the town on September 9, 1862, the College building again burned, being set on fire by soldiers of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry. In this fire more was saved from the building: the charter, the seal of the College, some of the College records, and a number of the books. Most of the Philosophical apparatus, purchased after the fire of 1859 had been removed for safe-keeping, and was also saved. The exterior walls of the College were left in about "as good condition as they were after the fire of 1859: in fact ... less warped and cracked." But the ruins of the building stood until the end of the war; and Federal soldiers, breaking into the vaults under the College Chapel, robbed them "of the silver plates attached to the coffins, and of whatever else of value they were found to contain." This vandalism was checked when it came to the attention of the military commander.¹⁰⁴

A journalist who visited the College of William and Mary in January, 1868, noted that "although the halls of the college yet remain a painful monument to the violence of civil war, the Professors were conducting the exercises of the College in the spacious Brafferton hall," but had very few students.¹⁰⁵ The third building to be erected on the remains of the original walls of the College was begun in 1868 and completed in the fall of 1869. Again, its exterior differed considerably from that of the ca,. 1716-1859 building.¹⁰⁶

The continuity of the College of William and Mary from the building designed by Sir Christopher Wren was preserved by the use of the original walls after each of the three disastrous fires of 1705, 1859, and 1862. An examination of the bare walls of the building during the extensive repairs of 1856 showed "traces of a general conflagration,"

The Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of the Virginia Colony often attended services in the Chapel. It has been said that Lord Botetourt usually "attended Morning and Evening Prayers in the College Chapel."²⁰⁷

In March, 1770, Lord Botetourt offered two gold medals to the College "for the Honour and Encouragement of literary Merit," and it was ordered by the President and Professors that:

"...the Students in the Philosophy School shall speak Latin Declarations of their own Compositions, and that by two of them this Exercise shall be performed in the Chapel , immediately after Evening Service, on the second Thursday in the Term, and so continue in Rotation every other Thursday during Term Time; that Copies of these shall be lodged in the Hands of the President... the President and Professors some Time before the 15th of August... [to review the compositions and consider "the Merits of the Declaimers," and adjudge] to whom one Medal shall be given."

The other medal was to be given for "Philosophical Learning," for "Disputations on physical and metaphysical" subjects, to be awarded in the same manner. The medals were to be "publickly presented to the sucessful Candidates, who must deliver each of them a Speech upon the Occasion," on Transfer Day, or "Commemoration Day," August 15th in the Chapel. The above plan was "a temporary one"; when there were enough students receiving degrees of A.B., the medals would then be awarded "to those who take the best Degrees in the Arts and the learned Languages."^2O8 On Saturday, August 15, 1772, these gold medals were presented to Mr. Nathaniel Burwell of "Martin's Hundred," and Mr. James Madison "from Augusta" (later President of the College), who also "had the Degree of Bachellor of Arts conferred on them." A "Number of Gentlemen in the City and Neighbourhood attended, by Invitation at the academical Exhibitions of the Students," and after the ceremonies in the Chapel "the whole Company sat down to an Entertainment [doubtless in the Hall] provided for the Occasion, and spent the Day in decent Festivity."²⁰⁹

In the eighteenth century the college exercises and conferring of degrees took place in the Chapel, as noted above, usually on Transfer or "Commemoration" Day, August 15th. In the 73 nineteenth century they also took place in the chapel, but the ceremonies were held on the 4th of July.²¹⁰

Lord Botetourt , who arrived as Governor of Virginia in October, 1768, died at the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg on Monday, October 15, 1770. His funeral service was held at Bruton Parish Church the following Friday, October 19th, the procession forming at the Palace, and proceeding to the Church at three o'clock, "where the usual Service" was performed, after this "the Corps" was "conducted to the College Chapel, and there interred."²¹¹ His funeral was as nearly a "State funeral" as could be provided in Virginia; he was buried in an "inside coffin" of lead, lined with "Persian fully ornamented," with a "Lutestring Shroud, Mattrass, Pillow and Cap." The "outside Coffin," of black walnut, was covered "with Crimson Velvet" and neatly ornamented in "the best manner." It had 8 silver handles and 16 escutcheons on it, and a "Large Silver plate Engrav'd." The "Weeps" in the procession carried blackened staffs, the mourners wore black hat bands, scarfs, etc.; there were 32 "Escutcheons to ornament the Hearse, Church &c.," and "28 Streemers for the Horses." There were charges for "hanging his Seat, Pulpit, and Covering the Communion Table, Altar, Reading Desk &c with Superfine (black) cloth," in Bruton Parish Church.²¹² The charges at the College Chapel, for "Taking up the Pew in Colledge & Floor and making good D[itt]o with a Cover of Planks & Centers for Arch to Vault for D[itt]o," amounting to £3:10:0, and for "1450 Bricks at 2/9 & 25 Bushels of lime at 9d," £3:3:11/2, and for "building a Vault. 30/- & 7 days labor at 2/" £2:4:0, were also recorded.²¹³ Under a "Williamsburgh, Virginia, October 19" date line, The London Chronicle for December 18-20, 1770, noted that on October 19th "the remains of his Excellency Lord Botetourt, our late Governor, were carried in grand funeral procession, attended by many of his Majesty's Council, and of the House of Burgesses &c. to the Chapel of the College for interment .... "²¹⁴ The Duke of Beaufort, Lord Botetourt's nephew and heir, was notified of his death and interment in the Chapel, and wrote that as his uncle had expressed a desire sometime before he died "to be bury'd in Virginia," he did not intend removing the body to England, but would like to "erect a Monument near the place where he was buried." Lord Botetourt's executors wrote sending the following information concerning the Chapel, so that the Duke Of Beaufort would not be "at a loss as to the size & Dimension of a monument which" would best "suit the Chapel": 74

"The Monument cannot be conveniently erected over the Grave, as it would spoil two principal Pews & incommode the Chapel considerably in other Respects.

If it is proposed to have it in the Form of a Pyramid it can be placed conveniently in no part, except at the Bottom of the Isle fronting the Pulpit, where it would appear to Advantage, if the Dimensions should not be thought too much confin'd; the Isle itself is about ten feet wide; there must be a Passage left on each Side of the Monument at least two feet & an half, so that the Width of the Monument, which will form the Fronts, can be no more than five feet.

A flat monument may be fixt still more comnodiously in the side of the wall nearly opposite to the Grave. Between two large windows, there is a strong brick Pier six feet & an half wide; the Length of this Pier from the Ceiling down to the Wainscot is twelve feet & an half, & from the Top of the Wainscot to the Floor eleven feet & an half more; if the Height from the Wainscot to the Ceiling should not be thought sufficient, we suppose there would be no inconvenience in leting the Monument down into the Wainscot as low as the Floor, but then the bottom Part if it would be hid by the Front of the Pew."²¹⁵

This memorandum is here copied in full, because it gives more detail than any other written source we have come across on the Chapel: mentioning the width of the aisle, the location of "two principal Pews," and of the Pulpit, the height of the wainscot, and of the wall from the ceiling to the wainscot, etc. The monument was apparently never erected; but a statue of Lord Botetourt, ordered from London by the General Assembly of Virginia was erected in the Capitol in Williamsburg, where it remained until 1801. It had been somewhat damaged when it was purchased by the President and Professors of the College for $100, and placed in front of the Main building in the College yard.²¹⁶

There were other burials under the College Chapel, both before and after Lord Botetourt was interred there. Sir 75 John Randolph (who represented the College of William and Mary in the House of Burgess; and was Speaker of the House) died in Williamsburg on March 6 2nd, 1737. He was buried in the Chapel of the College, carried from his House [probably the house now known as "Peyton Randolph House" on Nicholson street) to the Place of the Interment, by Six honest, industrious, poor Housekeepers of Bruton Parish" who were given "Twenty Pounds divided among them" The "Rev. Mr. Dawson , one of the Professors of that College, pronounced a Funeral Oration , in Latin . His Corps was attended by a very numerous Assembly of Gentlemen and others, who paid the last Honours to him, with great Solemnity, Decency, and Respect." In 1739, his wife and family erected a "beautiful Monument, of curious Workmanship in Marble, ... in the Chapel of the College of William and Mary to the Memory of Sir John Randolph , Knight, who was interred there," The Virginia Gazette of April 13-20, 1739, printing its long Latin inscription.²¹⁷ His widow, Lady Susanna Beverley Randolph, may have been buried in his vault, but we have found no record of this. Peyton Randolph , son of Sir John Randolph, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and first President of the Continental Congress died in Philadelphia on October 22, 1775, and was buried temporarily in the vault of Mr. Francis at Christ Church, until his remains could "be conveyed to Virginia." In November, 1776, the remains of Peyton Randolph "were conveyed in a hearse to the College chapel attended by the worshipful brotherhood of Freemasons, both Houses of the Assembly, a number of other gentlemen, and the inhabitants of this city. The body was received from the hearse by six gentlemen of the House of Delegates, who conveyed it to the family vault in the chapel, after which an excellent oration was pronounced from the pulpit [of the Chapel] by the reverend Thomas Davis ... The oration being ended, the body was deposited in the vault, when every spectator payed their last tribute of tears to the Memory of their departed and much honoured friend." The remains were brought from Philadelphia "by Edmund Randolph., esq; at the earnest request of his uncle's afflicted and inconsolable widow."²¹⁸, In her will, written in 1780, probated in 1783, Peyton Randolph's widow, Mrs. Betty Harrison Randolph, requested that her "Body put in the Vault in the College Chapel in which the remains of my blessed Husband are deposited, with as little ceremony & expense as possible." She left £130 to her husband's nephew, Edmund Randolph, for a "monument to the memory" of her husband to be erected in "the Chapel ... opposite to that of his [Edmund Randolph's] grandfather Sr John Randolph."²¹⁹ It 76 is probable that she was buried with her husband; but we have found no record of this, nor of a monument erected to Peyton Randolph.²²⁰ John Randolph (younger son of Sir John Randolph), Attorney-General of the Virginia Colony, went to England at the outbreak of the Revolution, and died there in 1784. His dying request to be buried in Virginia, was carried out by his daughter, Ariana Randolph Wormeley, who had his body sent to Virginia. His son, Edmund Randolph, Attorney General for the State of Virginia, had it interred in the College Chapel.²²¹ The Rev. James Madison , President of the College, 1777 until his death, and elected First Bishop of Virginia in 1790, died on March 6, 1812, and was buried under the Chapel of the College.²²² In 1813 the College erected a marble tablet to his memory.²²³ In 1813, Judge William Nelson , Professor of Law at the College, and Judge of the General Court of Virginia, was buried in a vault under the Chapel , the students at the College attending in procession "his remains from his late-residence to the chapel the place of interment." In 1818, the Hon. Robert Nelson , Chancellor of the Williamsburg District of Virginia, and Professor of Law at the College, was also buried under the College chapel.²²⁴

Until the reorganization of the College in 1779-1780, Chapel services were held twice daily as noted before;²²⁵ and in 1774 Mr. Edward Digges was appointed "keeper of the Chapel."²²⁶ In May, 1777, when Ebenezer Hazard visited Williamsburg, he wrote of the "small Chapel for the Use of the Students" at the "South End of the Parade [piazza]," noting that "Sir John Randolph, Lord Bottetourt, & Peyton Randolph Esqr late President of the Congress are buried here." He added, "at the North End is a Room allotted for a Divinity School, but there have been no Students in it for several Years."²²⁷ Apparently, after the reorganization, when the College was made a University, services in Chapel were discontinued. After a visit to Williamsburg, Jedediah Morse wrote Ezra Stiles of Yale in 1786: "There are about 30 Students belonging to William and Mary College, most of them Law Students. They have six Professorships. The Professors, successively lecture once a day - the Students attend or not as they please. When this Lecture is delivered the business of the day is done both for Professor and Student. They have no public Prayers Morning nor Evening no recitations, no public speaking... Such, however incredible, is the State of William & Mary College."²²⁸

The Chapel was doubtless repaired when necessary before the Revolution, although there are few details as to any work done there. In December, 1740, a Mr. Bowler was paid "for new covering the Chappel Forms" £5: 0: 0.²²⁹ We have already noted the references to work on the "pew in Colledge & Floor" and to bricks and lime and "building a Vault" in the Chapel in connection with Lord Botetourt's burial there in 1770; and to the Pulpit, the width of the aisle, the brick Pier 6 ½ feet wide, between two large windows, and the distance from the ceiling to the wainscot and the wainscot to the floor, in connection with a proposed monument to Lord Botetourt.²³⁰

It would seem that the Chapel was in such a bad state repair that Commencement exercises were being held at Bruton Parish Church by or before 1812.²³¹ President J. Augustine Smith noted that the Chapel was badly in need of repairs in his annual reports to the Visitors and Governors in 1817, 1818, and 1819.²³² It had evidently not been repaired by 1824, when a visitor from New England described its seats as "broken down, and the panels of the doors broken through."²³³ It probably remained in this state until circa 1830, when services were again ordered to be held - the visitors and Governors passing a resolution that "the Chapel be opened for religious exercises at such hour each day of the week as the Faculty may designate"; and the Faculty ordering that "Morning prayers will take place in the Chapel every day, immediately before- the first Lecture in the Morning."²³⁴ In the July, 1831, report of the Faculty, it was noted that the College carpenter had been "faithfully engaged at his duty," and that the Chapel had "been repaired painted & furnished with Benches." In this same report it was noted - "The opening of the Chapel ... has been attended with Much effect as might reasonably have been anticipated."²³⁵

In a tornado in June, 1834, damage to the "south end" Of the College building was noted as "1 sash broke & 47 panes Of glass," and to "ends of wings - 4 small sashes and one and a half large ones broken - also 43 panes of glass besides."²³⁶ The damages, except to the north wing, had been for the most part repaired by July, 1835; although the commencement exercises Of July 4th were held in Bruton Parish Church in 1835.²³⁷ Additional 78 minor repairs were doubtless required at times. Repairs made by a local carpenter at the College in 1848-1849 noted a "40 ft strip in chapel" 75¢, and in August, 1849, "to plastering in Chappell 50 Yds @ 25¢."²³⁸

The printed Laws and Regulations of the College for 1851, contained the order that "There shall be daily prayers in the Chapel... when the presence of Academic students shall be required."²³⁹ In the Daily Republican (Richmond, Virginia) for February 27, 1852, it was stated that the College was not in "any degree sectarian. The students are required to attend prayers at College, morning and night, and to attend church on Sunday, but the choice of churches, (of which there are three in Williamsburg - Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist,) is left to themselves."²⁴⁰

In 1852 a new Debating Society at the College was allowed to "choose a room from those over the Chapel."²⁴¹ it in not clear to what use the other rooms over the Chapel had been put. At one time the Library may have been over the Chapel. In 1854, when it was decided to raise funds by subscription for "the entire renovation of the whole interior of the building," the Chapel was evidently in fair condition, as The Virginia Gazette described the "commoncement of Old William and Mary … in the College Chapel on the morning of the 4th of July."²⁴² In May, 1855, the Faculty resolved that part of a $250 subscription for repairing the College, which had just been received, "be expended in painting the Chapel."²⁴³ The commencement in the Chapel on July 4, 1855, was described as having the most "immense concourse of people" ever seen "assembled in the College Building. The seats, aisles and gallery, even the windows of the chapel, were crowded with eager and attentive faces while many went away, and many more amused themselves lounging about the lecture rooms and piazza, At 10 o'clock, the exercises of the day were opened... In the afternoon the visitors, citizens and students assembled in the piazza to partake of a repast furnished by the Faculty."²⁴⁴ The painting of the Chapel noted above must have been done by May 30, 1856, when the Southern Argus described the extensive changes being made in the interior of the College building, stating that the lecture rooms, then all on the first floor, were "to be painted and refitted after the style of the chapel."²⁴⁵ It is evident from information which follows that the Chapel had been altered considerably from its original appearance.

In 1858, a description of the vaults in the College Chapel was supplied to The Southern Argus, which published an article entitled "The Dead of the Chapel of William and Mary" in the issue for Saturday Morning, July 31, 1858. The information concerning the vaults was gathered, according to the writer, when "Some weeks ago ... the old floor, which had become rotten, was removed, a new one some feet higher than the old" replacing it. The article, which contains some information on the Chapel at that time, continued:

"two doors open into it [the Chapel] from the College building. That on the right enables the visitor to pass into the body of the Chapel, while the left door is at present only used for admission to the stage on which the Board of Visitors and the Faculty are seated on public occasions, and from which the students address the assembly. As you enter the right door, almost immediately beneath your feet, is the vault of Sir John Randolph. It is five feet broad inside, just large enough to hold two coffins, it is eight feet long, and the height from the bottom to the crown of the arch four and a half feet. The bottom of the vault is alone three feet below the surface of the ground on the outside of the building. This in common with the other vaults of which we shall speak presently, is made of common bricks and mortar put together roughly, as it could not be seen only when the floor was taken up. This vault was first opened; ... From, its position in respect to the elegant mural tablet just above it in the Chapel, it was evident that it contained the remains of Sir John Randolph. Nothing could be seen but the base of the scull, and a heap of dust. Of the coffin there were three iron handles left; ... it may be that the remaining handles had been removed at some previous time, probably when the remains of Lady Randolph were laid by the side of those of her husband. Close to Sir John's remains were found the relics of a coffin, several large pieces of plank, especially of the lid, around the edge of which were strips of cloth with double rows of brass tacks.. The body was not as entirely decomposed as that of Sir John. Many of the bones are entire. This second body was apparently shorter than 80 the first . ... Was it Lady Randolph's? Is it known among her relatives that she was buried in the Chapel? ... If she was buried in the Chapel these remains, of course, are hers; and it should not be overlooked that she survived her husband, and had the vault constructed, not for a single body, but ample enough for two. If she was not buried here, and we sincerely trust some of her relatives may be able to settle the fact, then it hardly admits of a question that this was the body of Lord Botetourt. …

Adjoining the vault of Sir John, and immediately under the platform or stage extending between the right hand and left hand doors, was another vault of the same dimensions, in which there was a leaden coffin of large size, elegantly fashioned. It contained a wooden coffin apparently in tolerable preservation. The top of the leaden coffin was flat, the sides convex; and it was uninjured except at one point... The elegance of the coffin and the completeness of its fixtures, proclaimed it at once the coffin of John Randolph, the Attorney General ... even if the tin [?] plate upon it had not contained these words: 'John Randolph, Attorney General of Virginia; died January thirty first, 1784, aged fifty six years.' There were several smaller plates used, perhaps for ornament. On one of them were the words: 'Gloria Deum.' …

Immediately on entering the left hand door-described above, there appeared another vault in a line with the two just mentioned and about the same size. On opening it two bodies were discovered. The first, on the north side of the vault, was contained in a leaden coffin which enclosed a wooden one not much decayed. The leaden coffin was not as neatly finished as the one which held the remains of John Randolph, the surface of the lead being without polish, and the edges of the lid tacked instead of being soldered together. ... On the breast of the coffin was a plate silver gilt on the upper surface, the lower surface filled with lead, leaving the simple but eloquent inscription 'Peyton Randolph, Esq.' ... By the side of the Speaker, in the same vault, was another body, the skeleton of 81 which is of large size. It is doubtless the body of Mrs. Peyton Randolph, which we might expect to find in the tomb which she had constructed for her husband. There is, however, no mark upon the fragments which would enable us to affirm the fact...

We may as well say here, what we ought to have said before, that the vaults of the three Randolphs, the father and the two sons,...embrace the entire width of the Chapel. We should also say that, after the inspection of the vaults was made, and their inmates were identified, the opening was securely bricked up; and it is probable that a century may pass when they may again be opened for examination...

About ten feet from the western end of the Chapel, on the north side, are two single vaults in close juxtaposition; the one next to the wall being the vault of Bishop Madison, and the other that of Mrs. Madison, his wife, who is believed to have been buried there, or of Chancellor Nelson, who is believed to have been buried in the Chapel. It is not improbable that Mrs. Madison was buried in the same vault with her husband, though it is single, as is frequently done in England, the coffin being placed on a platform above the other. If this be the case, then the second vault is Chancellor Nelson's; but as the vaults were not opened, we can only surmise who are their occupants: …

About five, or six feet from the two single vaults just described was a grave without a mark of any kind. It was either Chancellor Nelson's grave, if he was not interred in either of the single vaults, or of a student who was drowned in the college mill-pond... [Gregory Page, 1812] ... It was opened, and bones were found with small pieces of a coffin in which were cut nails ... After a minute examination of the ground no other grave or Vault was found. In a few days the wooden floor was relaid; but we had the pleasure of seeing that a trap door of ample dimensions has been made, which is secured firmly by screws, and which, when raised, will admit the curious who may move about in a stooping posture and see the 82 outside of the vaults for themselves. We ought to say that the examination was conducted with all possible delicacy, and that nothing was disturbed or moved from its place ."²⁴⁶

Only about a year later, after the fire of 1859, some of the graves under the Chapel were examined again. The body buried in Sir John Randolph's vault was, after examination by "a physician of undoubted skill in his profession," pronounced to be that of a man, and therefore could not be Lady Randolph's; and it was concluded that "Lord Botetourt's remains repose[d] in the North East Vault in the college chapel, to the right of those of Sir John Randolph. The remains of the three Randolphs repose[d] in the northern side of their respective vaults."²⁴⁷

This conclusion was incorrect: if the bones were male and not female, and Lady Randolph was not buried in her husband's vault, we cannot suggest who was buried there. The vaults at the northwest side of the Chapel were not opened on either occasion, but information not in hand at the time of the examinations, as to the vault built for Lord Botetourt in 1770, and the silver coffin-plate which would have indicated the place of his burial (and was later taken from his vault by Federal soldiers after the fire of 1862), proves that he was not buried in Sir John Randolph's vault, and that his vault was not opened in 1858 or 1859.²⁴⁸ The three Randolphs were buried, as stated, at the east end of the Chapel, their vaults taking up the "entire width of the Chapel"; it is reasonable to assume that Mrs. Betty Harrison Randolph was buried, as she requested in her will, beside her husband, Peyton Randolph;²⁴⁹ and it is possible that the physician who examined the bones of the second body buried in Sir John Randolph's vault was mistaken in his decision that they were of a man rather than a woman. Bishop James Madison was undoubtedly buried in "a Vault in the Northwest corner of the Chapel," as described by St. George Tucker at the time. Judge Nelson, who died in 1813, was also buried under the Chapel.²⁵⁰ It is now believed, after an examination of the vaults during the 1928-1931 restoration of the College building, when some of the bodies were moved, that Lord Botetourt's vault was under the west end of the Chapel.²⁵¹

The College building was destroyed by fire on February 8, 1859, the fire starting in the northwest wing of the building, where everything was lost. A few articles were saved 83 from the "Blue Room"; but, as one witness of the ruins wrote, the Chapel was "a perfect wreck. There was little of value that could be moved, but its walls were adorned with beautiful marble tablets in memory of the old worthies. All were broken destroyed, except the handsomest of all to Sir John Randolph, which is partly standing..."²⁵²

The College was rebuilt on its old walls within the year, which "though warped & cracked by the intense heat, all Chimnies and a portion of the interior walls" having fallen in the fire, were strong enough to be used. The new building differed considerably from the old, both as to its exterior and its interior. One report stated that the "ground plans" of the Chapel were not altered, although interior changes were made: the "ceiling was formerly vaulted. The window-sills were much higher from the floor and there was a gallery opposite the present rostrum." The report continued: ... Near the north-west corner of the Chapel is the vault...of James Madison the first Bishop of Virginia and his wife and on the same side, a few feet farther east is the grave of Chancellor Nelson. "… Near the vault of Sir Jno Randolph on the north side was a magnificent mural monument erected to his memory... Near the vault of Bishop Madison there was a mural tablet erected to his memory by the College. A heap of calcined marble is all that remains of these monuments."²⁵³

While the Chapel was being rebuilt, the Baptist Church of Williamsburg offered its building for the Commencement exercises, and the offer was accepted. On July 4, 1860, "the commencement exercises, for the first time since the burning Of the College, were held in the Chapel, which, restored and improved, now rests upon the same consecrated walls, and still perpetuates unbroken, the associations so inspiring to young men..."²⁵⁴ In October, 1860, it was noted that the College exercises had been "recently resumed under the most auspicious circumstances. Seventy-odd matriculated students now grace the College Chapel every morning..."²⁵⁵ In November, 1860, the question of removing the remains of John Randolph "of Roanoke" from "the yard of one of the estates on Staunton River" to the College Chapel, to "repose near those of his ancestors" was brought up, but it was never done.²⁵⁶ The War Between the States probably put a stop to this plan.

The College building again burned while Williamsburg was in the hands of Federal troops, set on fire by soldiers of 84 the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry on September 9, 1862. More was saved from the building at this time;²⁵⁷ but the "vaults in the College chapel were broken open and robbed of the silver plates attached to the coffins, and of whatever else of value they were found to contain."²⁵⁸ At this time Lord Botetourt's vault was evidently located. In 1888 a jeweler of Albany, New York, sent back to Virginia the "silver coffin-plate stolen from the coffin of Lord Botetourt when the vaults were broken into by the Federal soldiers," stating that he had purchased it from "the widow of a Private Brown,' a Federal soldier."²⁵⁹ This plate, which was engraved by the Williamsburg silversmith and engraver, William Waddill, as noted in Lord Botetourt's funeral expenses,²⁶⁰ is now in possession of the College.

In 1868-1869 the College was again rebuilt on its original walls, and again it differed both inside and outside, from the building of ca. 1716-1859.²⁶¹

When the College building was restored by the Williamsburg Restoration in 1928-1931, the Chapel was returned to its eighteenth-century appearance as far as could be done at the time. Much depended on the location of Lord Botetourt's vault, in connection with the eighteenth-century references to the aisle, the pulpit, and the principal pew. The use of the word "Forms" at one time (the "new covering" of the "Chapel Forms" in 1740) and the word "Pew" at a later time (concerning Lord Botetourt's monument in 1770-71) was, in all probability, merely the choice of a word by the writer and did not indicate different types of seating in the Chapel.²⁶²

The pulpit, which was not placed in the Chapel in the 1928-1931 restoration of the building, will be erected where it stood in the eighteenth century, in front of the communion table; and the "ornaments" required for worship in an Anglican church of the eighteenth century,²⁶³ will be replaced in the Chapel.

The only memorial tablets in the Chapel prior to the fire of 1859, of which we have found record, were those to Sir John Randolph, erected by his wife and family in 1739, and to the Rev. James Madison, erected by the College in 1813.²⁶⁴ Today there are six memorial tablets on the walls of the Chapel, all copies of tablets presented as follows: to the Hon. George Wythe, presented in 1893 by the Virginia State Bar Association; to the Rev. James Blair, first President of the College, presented by 85 the colonial Dames in 1901; to Sir John Randolph (probably a replica, at least as far as the Latin inscription is concerned, of the 1739 tablet) presented by his descendants in 1902; to the Rev. William Dawson, President of the College, 1743-1752; to the Rev. James Madison, presented by a descendant in 1927; and to Benjamin S. Ewell, President of the College, 1854-1888, presented by the Alumni.

Notes

[Footnotes on this page are not referenced in this report]

from William G. Brown for $100 in 1847, and paid J. L. Lambdin $150 for Bishop Johns' portrait in 1856. (See "College...Historical Notes," pages 439, 498.)

178. Rev. Hugh Jones, M. A., The Present State of Virginia. (London: 1724 - Sabin reprint, 1865, page 90; R. L. Morton, ed., Chapel Hill, 1956, page 113.)

179. See "College ... Historical Notes," pages 97-a, 129. ["Several faults in the Building " MS in Nicholson Papers, Colonial Williamsburg Archives; also Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia (London: 1722 - new edition) pages 231-232.]

180. See "College ... Historical Notes," pages 123-124. [From "Proceedings of the Visitors & Governors," June 13 and 20, 1716; In Virginia Magazine of History , Vol. IV (1897) pages 170, 171, 173.]

181. See "College ... Historical Notes," page 125. (From same source as above note, for October 24, 1716.]

182. See "College...Historical Notes," pages 183, 189, 191-192. [Invoices of goods shipped by C. & 0. Hanbury, in 1765, 1767, 1768. Surviving manuscripts in William and Mary College Papers, Folder 260.]

When the Chapel floor was relaid in 1858, an examination of the vaults under the floor was made. At that time "a couple of tin plates formerly used by the students in colonial times at their meals, and bearing the initials of "the College stamped upon them" were found. [See "College of ... Historical Notes," page 507. From account of vaults in The Southern Argus, Norfolk, July 31, 1858.]

183. See page 39 of this report, and notes 129 and 130, pages 353-354.

184. See "College...Historical Notes," page 340. (From printed Laws of William and Mary College (Richmond: T. W. White, n. d. ca. 1828) page 5.]

185. See "College...Historical Notes," pages 182, 192-b, 194, 204,

206. See "College … Historical Notes," pages 210, 220. [In her will dated August 12, 1773, Lady Rebecca Gooch, in memory of her son, left the College, "as a small token of my Remembrance to the place of his education … my Gilt Sacrament Cup and put in a Red Leather Case and a large Foll: Bible of Fields bound in four volumes…" On July 19, 1775, Samuel Athawes of London wrote the Bursar of the College of the "gilt Sacrament Cup & Patten together with the Bible which was left by Lady Gooch to the College," saying he would send it to the Bursar "when the Times will safely permit." These legacies did arrive, and the Sacrament Cup and paten are now in the custody of Bruton Parish Church. [See William and Mary College Quarterly…, 1st series, Vol. XXIII (1915), page 174, and Ibid., 1st series, Vol. VI (1898) page 40. Ibid., 1st series, Vol. XX, p. 210>. See also Goodwin, The Record of Bruton Parish Church (Richmond: 1941) facing page 81, for picture of >"The Gooch Memorial Silver."]

[The following footnotes are not referenced in this report]

265. Hunter D. Farish, editor, The Present State of Virginia, and the College by Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton (Williamsburg: 1940) pages 85-86; also pages 81-84 - from the Charter for the College, signed and sealed at Westminster, February 8, 1692/3.

266. See the Statutes of the College of William and Mary, as printed by William Hunter, Williamsburg, 1758, in the William and Mary College Quarterly..., 1st series, Vol. XVI (1908) pages 250-251.

267. See "College ... Historical Notes," page 320. [From MS Faculty Minutes, February 14, 1825.]

268. MS Proceedings of the Visitors and Governors of the College ... March and June, 1716, in Ludwell Papers at the Virginia Historical Society. (Evidently preserved by Philip Ludwell, who was elected rector at the first meeting.) Printed in the Virginia Magazine of History..., Vol. IV (1897) pages 161-175.

269. See "College ... Historical Notes," pages 122, 124 for references to "Convocation Room", page 275 for reference to "Council Chamber"; and pages 280, 281, 289, etc., for references to the "Blue Room." The journals of the Visitors and Governors referred to it as the "Convocation Room" in 1716; statutes of the College printed in 1792 referred to it as "the Council Chamber"; and letters from a student at the College in 1797, etc., mentioned the "Blue-Room."]

270. See note 267 above. See also pictures of furniture in English rooms, pages 256-260.

271. see picture of chest at University of Glasgow page 259 of this report. Nineteenth-century records mention "presses" in the "Blue Room."

Yesterday afternoon during the demolition of the arch between the Chapel and the Main Building, a segment of the brick work fell out, damaging to some extent on of the tombs directly beneath.

A watchman was put on during the night in order that there would be no possibility of the contents of the tomb being tampered with. This tomb will be bricked up again to-day.

The account of your moving of the bodies in the College Chapel was very interesting.

The only thing about it that I don't understand is that one or two members of the town were not invited. How did this happen?

The next time you had better notify all, as leaving out so few would tend to create bad feeling.

We enclose herewith a blueprint of our notes pertaining to the burials in the College Chapel. As I told you in the course of our conversation, our Research Department does not choose to prepare a definite report concerning these burials, since they feel that the subject is one which must always be open to some doubt and dispute.

The same situation exists in connection with "Chancellor" Nelson. Dr. Tyler speaks of the gentleman as "Chancellor Robert Nelson" but leaves him completely out of his Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. We have no record of Chancellor Robert Nelson in our files here, and therefore his identification seems to be a responsibility which must devolve upon the college.

The historical sketch of the college which I mentioned to you was a pamphlet of the Federal Bureau of Education published in 1887. The title is "The College of William and Mary-A Contribution to the history of Higher Education with Suggestions for its National Promotion". It was written by Herbert B. Adams (Ph.D. Heidelberg) Associate Professor of History in Johns Hopkins University. If there is no copy of this in the college library, I am sure that Mrs. Bullock would be delighted to let you see a copy that is now in the possession of the Department of Research & Records.

You will remember our conversation on the subject of the identity of Chancellor Nelson, who was believed to have been buried beneath the College Chapel. I believe I wrote you sometime ago that we had nothing in our files concerning the gentleman. We have, however, secured the following from the College Library, and pass it on for what it is worth:

From: Genealogy of the page Family of Virginia. 1883-

Robert Nelson, born October 14, 1778. Son of Governor Nelson and Lucy Grymes, married 1803 Judith Carter, youngest daughter and ninth surviving child of Governor John Page. He was called Chancellor from having bee Chancellor of William and Mary College. Died 1819 at Williamsburg, age 40 (records of college destroyed or lost from 1784 to 1812). Possibly professor of law at William & Mary. Also Equity Judge. Had one child, Lucy Nelson, who married Hugh N. Pendleton of Caroline County.

While in Williamsburg about a month ago, I saw a photograph in the archeological exhibit of the uncovered graves or sepulchers under the chancel of the chapel of William and Mary. It interested me particularly because I have dug up the original correspondence between Hugh Blair Grigsby and my grandfather, Robert Carter Randolph of Millwood, Clark County, Va., which was started by an article of Grigsby's in the Norfolk Argus of July 31, 1858 entitled, "The Dead of the Chapel of William and Mary". I have Photostat copies of the several articles in the Norfolk Argus, the originals of Grigsby's letters to grandfather and Photostats of grandfather's letters to Grigsby completing the epistolary debate. I very much want to get a copy of that photograph of those graves. If copies of the newspaper article and letters would be of any value or interest to you, I will be glad to send them to you and I hope that you have the negative of the picture of the graves and can send me a print. I called at your office while I was in Williamsburg, but you were busy entertaining official guests so I did not have the pleasure of meeting you.

On Friday, June 5th, Mr. E.L. Phillips, Miss M.C. Savedge and I investigated the tombs under the Wren Chapel.

The southern tomb under the north pews (marked "D" on the attached plan) has been broken into and robbed. A large section of the east end of this brick vault has been pried off, after June 1968, and laid back on the remaining arched vault. Inside there is an open lead coffin and small pieces of wood belonging to a wood coffin(s ?). On top of the vault is one piece of decayed bone.

This vandalism appears to be a boys' fraternity prank, as there is evidence of the extensive use of candles and the Anheuser-Busch product. The candles were used for illumination and to burn graffitti on the ceiling.

From a cursory examination of the graffitti, it appears this vandalism was done by four boys, with the first names of Bob, Tom, Steve and John, on January 9, 1969. The fraternity insignias, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Phi Epsilon, are also among the graffitti.

This tomb, from all available research, is the tomb of Lord Botetourt.

I recommend that Mr. Noel Hume investigate the remains in this tomb, that the bones left in the Wren yard last week be placed back in this tomb, and the brick arch of the vault be repaired.

Note: Date of John Randolph's burial in the Chapel - ?

Also, Tyler may have been in the vaults at some time: See: Goodwin, Historical Notes, IV, 550. He noted the location of Botetourt's vault at the northwest end saying there was a "copper" coffin and a large skeleton in addition to Madison's vault.