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Chapter 2
“By Favor of God”
According to
Burk's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry,
our Ware forefathers in England claimed their family creed to be “Deo Favente” –
meaning “By Favor of God.”
Throughout every generation of Wares in
Great Britain and in the New World, a deeply rooted faith in the Almighty was
paramount to their existence.
During the years 1485 through 1603, the way in which a person practiced his or
her faith was totally dictated by the political climate of the times. According to writer Mandy Barrow, “people in Tudor times were very
religious and were prepared to die for their beliefs. It must have been hard for them
during the 118 years the Tudor kings and queens ruled because they were often
forced to change their religion depending on the religion of the reigning
monarch . . .
England started as a Catholic country and ended up being
a Protestant one under the Tudors.”
(Ref. 2542)
Religious freedom was virtually an unknown concept in Great Britain prior to the
colonization of America. The
conviction that kings were anointed (i.e.,
chosen by) God gave the monarchy tremendous power. When Henry VIII was crowned, the
whole of his country was considered Roman Catholic, with the head of the church
being Pope Clement VII in Rome.
Henry “was
a devout Catholic and defended the Church against Protestants . . . he did not
agree with their views. In 1521,
Pope Leo X honored Henry VIII with the title ‘Defender of Faith', because of his
support for the Roman Church.” (Ref.
2542)
Henry’s good will and support of Catholicism did not last long, however.
The King, as is well documented in history, had marital problems. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, had
given birth to a daughter, Mary, but had failed to give Henry what he wanted
most – a male heir to the throne.
Already known to have a “wandering eye” for the ladies, the impatient king found
himself enamored with Anne Boleyn, who appeared ready and willing to produce
more children for him. The problem
was that the Catholic Church did not allow for divorce. As a way to circumvent that annoying
hindrance, Henry declared himself to be
“Supreme Head of the new Church of England.”
(Ref. 2542)
By cutting himself off from Rome and taking on this new title, the ruler of
Great Britain found a way to conveniently nullify his marriage to Catherine,
marry Anne, and gain a tremendous amount of money from the abbeys and
monasteries he ordered closed - all at the same time. The Ware family, then living in
England, soon discovered that being “Catholic” was no longer safe. Sadly, many local citizens found
that choosing allegiance to the church over the King usually led to beheading.
Things continued to go poorly for Henry as far as siring an heir to the throne,
and although Anne produced a daughter named Elizabeth, the King soon found
himself seeking another fertile replacement.
His eye fell on Jane Seymour in 1536.
Having already used annulment as a way out of one marriage, Henry had to
come up with a different means of disposing of Anne, his current wife. Using trumped up charges of adultery
and witchcraft, his court found Anne guilty of treason and, even though she
maintained her innocence until the very end, she ultimately found her head on
the chopping block. Henry and Jane
married within days of Anne’s death, and the new Queen provided the
long-hoped-for heir to the royal throne.
Their son, named Edward, was christened in October, but Jane died just
nine days later from complications of the birth.
In the next few years, Henry would have three more wives: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard,
and Catherine Parr. These spouses
wisely avoided deep theological discussions with the King, but Catherine Howard
did manage to “lose her head” by being adulterous. Henry died in 1547, leaving (what
was once) a Catholic England in decidedly Protestant hands.
When Edward VI took the throne, there was little question that “as the King
worshiped, so did the country.”
Having been raised as a strict Protestant, Edward embraced his faith with
determination. An eager student who
“at the age of seven was already expert
at conjugating Latin verbs and could compose his own verses in Latin . . . above
all, Edward’s passion was religion.”
(Ref. 2565) During his reign, a new prayer book
was introduced “and all church services
were held in English.”
(Ref. 2542)
Unfortunately, his religious zeal also meant that
“Catholics were treated very badly and
catholic bishops were locked up.”
(Ref. 2542) England continued to be a
Protestant nation under Edward’s rule, but
“by his 15th birthday in
October he was coughing blood, and by Christmas he was wracked by violent bouts
of fever.”
(Ref. 2565)
Never a truly robust young man, Edward’s health steadily declined and upon his
death in 1553, the royal crown went to Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and his
first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Ever loyal to her mother’s heritage, Mary was fiercely Catholic. In her attempt to change England
back to the Roman Catholic faith, she earned herself the nickname of "Bloody
Mary" because of the hundreds of Protestants who were burned at the stake for
refusing to practice her religion.
The Wares of England now found themselves Catholic again. During the reign of Queen Mary, “the pope became the head of the church
again and services were changed back to Latin.”
(Ref. 2542) Her time on the throne,
however, was also short - - Mary died at age 42.
Upon the death of Mary in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth (daughter of Henry
VIII & Anne Boleyn) ascended to the throne.
Elizabeth was a staunch Protestant, so consequently England now reverted
back to Protestantism. The Wares
put away their crucifixes and rosary beads yet again. Different from her predecessors,
however, Elizabeth “wanted England to
have peace and not be divided over religion. She tried to find ways which both
the Catholic and Protestant sides would accept and be happy . . . although
[she] insisted on protestant beliefs, she
still allowed many things from the Catholic religion such as bishops, ordained
priests, church decorations and priest’s vestments. She also produced a prayer book in
English, but allowed a Latin edition to be printed. Elizabeth disliked and punished
extreme Protestants and extreme Catholics who tried to convert people to their
faiths.”
(Ref. 2542)
It was truly a time of enlightenment, and it must have brought great relief to
our Ware ancestors who had bounced from being Catholic to Protestant to Catholic
and back to Protestant again in the span of approximately 20 years.
Given the constant state of flux concerning religious matters in Great Britain,
it is not surprising that America looked very appealing to the early colonists. “The great migration from
England in the 1600s was based on several factors: religious persecution, a caste
system that favored firstborn sons, and the simple dream of owning land in a
vast wilderness of opportunity. Early pioneers who
came to America had no idea of the size of the country, or
what awaited them upon arrival.”
(Ref. 2550, 2572)
The
possibility of economic growth and personal freedom, however, was like an
aphrodisiac to many. They came with
lofty dreams.
There is, however, sometimes controversy over which colony truly gave “birth” to
this new nation. New Englanders are
quick to state that the Puritans of Plymouth Colony set the foundation for our
country, while Virginians hold firm to the belief that without a “Jamestown”
there would be no settlement at all.
According to the author of Cradle of America, “As for where English North America
began, it has to be Virginia - whether the colony is understood as having
originated at Roanoke Island in the 1580s or at Jamestown a generation later.”(Ref.
2539)
The author goes on to say that “not only
did Jamestown precede Plymouth, not only did all manner of colonial phenomena
occur in Virginia ‘before the Mayflower’ . . . but Virginia also proved more of
a model than did the Plymouth colony for the America that followed, as so many
people – the servants, the maidens – volunteered to go there to reinvent
themselves in a new social and economic environment.”
(Ref. 2539)
Whether in New England or Virginia, the Wares who came and settled in this
country left their mark.
Those of our line who began their new lives in the Tidewater area showed that
“Virginia proved a place, in what
[would become] the quintessentially
American way, to start over.”
(Ref. 2539) There was opportunity for a new
beginning to be had everywhere - including how, when, and where these colonists
would choose to worship. With these
new beginnings came new struggles though, even on this virgin soil. The risk of beheading might be less,
but James and his descendants would find that discrimination and persecution for
religious beliefs would creep into denominations of faith no longer limited to
Catholicism and traditional Protestantism.
As with all new settlements in America, success depended on access to water. Tidewater Virginia offered the
perfect locale for those coming from England as well as those that would later
migrate down from the bay states.
“The waterways of Virginia dictated
building sites, provided the best means of transportation and served to link the
many settlements and home sites.
Church attendance was especially dependent upon the waterways and only in the
event of inclement weather and rough waters did the populace turn to land
travel.”
(Ref. 2505)
Once parish lines were established, churches were quickly built to meet the
needs of the growing population.
Apparently, “sometime during the 1650’s .
. . the first church of Ware Parish was built near Ware River on the land of
Richard Wyatt.”
(Ref. 2505)
It was a logical choice because “the key
to the location of the first Ware Church was its location on the navigable
waters of Ware River” in lower Virginia.
(Ref. 2505)
Although “the exact time for the
formation of Gloucester County is not known . . . as indicated in the Richeson
and Roe land grant, it was in existence in 1651.”
(Ref. 2505)
“In the settling of Gloucester County, the Petsworth and Abington Parishes
received the first thrust of migration, with Ware and Kingston Parishes
following close behind.”
(Ref. 2505)
Ware
Episcopal Church, Gloucester County
(Ref.
2421)
Interior of Ware Episcopal Church – photo by Judy C. Ware 1986
Ware Episcopal Church was erected in 1690 and is still in existence. It has been wonderfully restored and
maintained. Religious services are
held there on a regular basis, and a
seating plan in this old colonial building shows the Ware pews.
(Ref. 70)
“Within the churchyard wall there are forty-eight tombstones and fragments,
marking the oldest graves at Ware Church . . .
[however] it is important to note here
that many members of Ware Church were buried in their family plantation
graveyard.”
(Ref. 2505)
Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 1986
Church
bulletin from 1986 – courtesy of James and Judy Ware
The church historical website describes this beautiful old building this way:
“The solid brick rectangular building,
laid in Flemish bond, was built by local craftsmen and artisans from England. It is the only rectangular colonial
church in Virginia with both North and South doors. The classic pediment doors are the
earliest of their kinds. The walls
of the church are three feet thick and the foundations five feet thick. The whole structure is imposing yet
elegant in its simplicity.”(Ref.
611)
As British colonists, the Wares were automatically members of the Anglican
Church; the official church of England.
Many in the family wished to stay that way and were highly instrumental
in the activities of their parish.
The ensuing years would find quite a few switching to other denominations, but
the old vestry minutes for Ware Episcopal Church and Stratton Major Parish (as
well as other colonial churches in the area) reflect that the Ware family
members began as active leaders in their Episcopal congregations.
See following documentation below
1705 - March 13, according to the Stratton Major Parish vestry book, Nicholas Ware was a church warden.
According to "Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia" by Bishop
Meade, Page 376, Article XXXIII, the following list of vestrymen in Stratton
Major Parish, commencing in 1739, will show who were the leading men in all the
civil and ecclesiastical matters of the parish and county: Richard Roy . . . Henry Hickman,
Edward Ware, Thomas Foster, Thomas Dudley . . . Valentine Ware, Roger Gregory
. . . John Ware, Richard Shackleford, William Taliaferro, . . .
William Lindsay Hopkins abstracted the
St. James Northam
Parish Vestry Book, 1744 - 1850 Goochland
County, Virginia
in 1987. Some members
of the vestry were: Acough,
Adams, Addams, . . . Barnett, Barrat, Bates, Baughan,, Blunkall, Bolling,
. . . Denye, Dougham, Douglass,
Harrison, Hatcher, Hayden, . . .
McCormick, McGuire, . . . Mosby,
Mosley, Moss, . . . Payne,
Pemberton, . . . Pleasants,
Poindexter, Pollard . . . Randolph,
Richardson, Riddle, Ridgway, . . .
Taylor, Thompson, . . . Walton, Ward,
Ware,
Watkins, Watson, Weaver, Weisiger, West, Wharton, . . . Wishom, Witt, Womack, Wood, Woodall, Woodram, Woodrum, Woodson, Woodward. . . .
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