THE NORSWORTHY AND PARKER FAMILIES

(ca 1970s speech by Dr. Thomas Southgate at St. Luke’s Church)

I am deeply appreciative of the honor bestowed upon me in being asked to make this address and I am also conscious of the responsibility that rests upon me to represent properly these two prominent families. I feel inadequate indeed. My son when he was a small boy in grade school came home one day quite perturbed, "Man, " he said, "Mr. Compton says I have ancestors. I don’t have them do I?"

Like the mule who starved to death between two haystacks unable to decide from which to eat, I have almost had a nervous breakdown trying to select the material for this address in order to conform to the amount of time allotted.

Those who came to my rescue included: Miss Elizabeth Jordan, Mrs. Mary Hendrick, Mrs. Estelle Beale Seward, Miss Virginia Southgate and Mr. Henry Page Johnson. I ask your forgiveness if I have omitted any names or data that I should have included. Time will not permit me to recite the complete genealogies of these two families to the present day but much information is available to those who are interested.

"St. Luke’s is the only building that bears witness to the spiritual strength that sustained the early generations of our settlers." Mrs. Kendrick, writing in the Suffolk News of January 25, 1925 says in speaking of Tristram Norsworthy, "The very name, TRISTRAM, conjures up in our mind a Viking; one whose forbears trod the decks of the Norseland ships." Thus, the patriarch of the Norsworthys, like the Vikings of old ventured across the seas arriving at the Virginia Colony in 1638.

Information obtained by Mrs. Seward from, Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia, by John Bennett Boddie, states: "The first of the family in Virginia was Tristram Norsworthy , who patented 200 acres in Nansemond, June 5, 1639 "towards the head of a bay behind the Ragged Islands."" On the same date he patented 150 acres near Daniel Gookin for his own personal adventure and that of his wife, Ann, and a servant. He was one of three who were the first representatives in the House of Burgesses for Upper Norfolk County in 1639. He probably died in Nansemond and the date of his death is not known.

"His eldest son was Colonel George Norsworthy, mentioned in Bacon’s Rebellion – afterwards Sheriff of Nansemond, who made his will February 1, 1700 and the same was probated in 1705. Colonel George’s children were Juliana, John, Charles, Thomas and Martha." (It is mentioned elsewhere that Colonel George married Martha Bridger.)

"Tristram Norsworthy’s other children were: William, who died in 1707; John who married Frances _____ and left a daughter; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Bridger (Will 1713); Thomas who had a wife, Susannah (no issue known) and Tristram, who married Sarah Pitt, daughter of Colonel John Pitt and his wife Olive, daughter of John Hardy. The children of Tristram, the son of Tristram were: Tristram, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Frances, Martha and George. George married Christian, daughter of Jeremiah Exum, one of the leading Quakers. Their children were: Christian, Elizabeth, Martha and George."

The third Tristram 1754-1810 had a son, Joseph (1777-1859) who first married Lydia Chapman and after her death, Anne Channel. His son Nathaniel Wills Norsworthy, 1804-1860, married Rachel Ashby. They had eight or nine children: I will mention four. (1) Joseph Chapman 1831-1920 who married Marianna Vesey and had three children: Nannie, who married J.V. Cosby; Mattie married Thomas S. Southgate; Joseph, Jr. married Carrie Bobbitt. (2) Nathaniel Wills, Jr. married Emma Gill and they had one son, Edwin. (3) James Rufus, who married Elizabeth Greenwood and they had two children Charles and Louise. (4) Sarah Frances married Henry Riley Parker and that brings us to the Parker family.

Here in this church are two memorial windows with inscriptions as follows:

"To the memory of Joseph Norsworthy and his son, Nathaniel W. Norsworthy."

The other is:

"In memory of Fannie Norsworthy Parker, wife of H.R. Parker."

We are indebted to Miss Elizabeth Jordan for the following information:

There have been three Parker families associated with St. Luke’s through the years. There are two other Parker families from Colonial times, probably connected with St. Luke’s, but so far there is no documentary proof.

First: The descendents of Edmond Parker who, according to Dr. Squires, was the cousin of the Earl of Morley and was in Virginia in 1610 and shortly thereafter was living on his estate ‘Macclesfield’ in Isle of Wight County. It was one of his descendents, Colonel Josiah Parker, of American Revolutionary fame, who traditionally saved the original Sounding Board over this old pulpit, when, due to the war, the Church Vestry was dissolved in 1777 – many valuable Church articles were taken to private homes for safekeeping, During a previous restoration, the Sounding Board was located in the old barn at his home ‘Macclesfield ’ and returned to St. Luke’s Church. Colonel Parker’s only child, Ann Pierce Parker, married Captain William Cowper in 1802. The first window on the South honors this family. Thomas Parker of this family was one of the early Vestrymen of this Church and Nicholas Parker a vestryman 1760-1777.

Second: Descendents of another Josiah Parker, probably a cousin of Colonel Josiah, have been interested in St. Luke’s Church through the years, and some still are – John C. Parker of Franklin, Virginia was one of the organizers of Historic St. Luke’s Restoration, and is now a Vice President. Many members of this family are buried in St. Luke’s Cemetery.

Third: Circa 1850, Mr. Henry Riley Parker of Eastern Shore, Virginia, came to Isle of Wight County and married Frances Norsworthy of ‘Plainfield’ , an early grant to Tristram Norsworthy, that adjoins the Edmond Parker grant, ‘Macclesfield’. Many of their grandchildren are still active in the preservation of St. Luke’s Church. The late Frances Street Pulliam was a member of the Board of Directors at the time of her death, January 22, 1971. The second window on the south honors this family.

After the death of Frances Norsworthy Parker, Mr. Parker married Pattie Alston Jordan, widow of Walter B. Jordan. They left one son, John Riley Parker, born at Plainfield, but now lives in Charlotte, NC. He was an early sponsor of the restoration and a liberal contributor.

My grandfather, Joseph Chapman Norsworthy , put up the Plainfield Farm for public auction in August 1860 according to this original tattered handbill. It read in part: "THE VERY DESIRABLE FARMS, BELONGING TO THE LATE, Joseph Norsworthy, occupied by himself and N.W. Norsworthy, dec’d, are hereby offered for sale. One of the said Farms, called PLAINFIELD, contains about 200 acres, and the other adjoining thereto, about 300 acres, and both are on the James River about 5 miles from its mouth, 20 miles from Norfolk City and 10 miles from Smithfield, and lie in Isle of Wight County. They can be used as ONE FARM, or divided into two, at the option of the purchaser. The houses are good and neat, the soil is very productive, one adapted to the growth of Corn, Wheat, Oats, Melons, Potatoes, etc. The range for stock of all kinds is unsurpassed, and will sustain 75 head of Cattle, 100 Sheep, besides Hogs, etc. The situation is handsome, commanding a view of the River, and remarkably healthy."

Mr. Henry Riley Parker bought this Plainfield Farm in August 1860 and married Sarah Frances Norsworthy. They had seven children: Eva who married R.A. Edwards, Nora did not marry, Fanny married A. Page Johnson, Jessica married James L. Street, Nannie married Herbert Cook, Ernest did not marry, Henry Riley, Jr. married Ethel Wessels.

Joseph C. Norsworthy in a letter to Mr. Dick Thomas, dated February 26, 1891, "my grandfather Joseph Norsworthy was born on the 4th of march 1777, died the 14th of March 11859. He told me many times that the old Brick Church was built in 1632 – and that in 1666 a Miss Norsworthy was buried in the aisle close to the chancel – he showed me the spot. The Bishop of London permitted this on the payment of 5 pounds."

Early records showed the family to be planters, and the crops largely of tobacco, for several transfers were paid for in "pounds of Tobacco!". Fire and time have reduced these homes to ashes and the land passed entirely out of the hands of the family about the time of the Civil War, when all of the sons moved to Norfolk.

This, then, is a statement of a few facts about these two prominent families of our early Virginia settlers.

I have been requested by the ladies of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities to extend you a cordial invitation to visit the old Court House and see the eagle, which my grandfather, Joseph C. Norsworthy captured from the United States Gunboat SMITH BRIGGS during the Civil War.

God, who has set His glory on field and stream and mountain and sky, and His nobility upon those who love and serve Him has called us to this sacred place even as He called our Forefathers and will call those who come after us that

"Here we may prove the power of prayer

To strengthen faith and sweeten care,

To teach our faint desires to rise

And bring all heaven before our eyes.

Thomas S. Southgate (his signature)