In October/November of 1777 my ancestor Rev. John Corbley joined the House of Delegates for Virginia.
THE DISQUALIFICATION OF MINISTERS IN STATE
CONSTITUTIONS
By E. G. Swem
As a step toward the separation of the church and state in
Virginia, the convention which met in Richmond, on July 17,
1775, adopted, in the "Ordinance for regulating the election of
delegates," a clause disqualifying all clergymen of the Church
of England, and all dissenting ministers or teachers from election
as delegates, or sitting and voting in convention. 1 In the con-
vention of May, 1776, which adopted a permanent constitution,
the substance of this clause was embodied in the constitution.
All those holding lucrative offices, and all ministers of the gospel
of every denomination were declared incapable of being elected
members of either house of assembly, or the privy council. 2 Un-
fortunately, we have no report of the debates on this or any other
subject in the convention, except as briefly mentioned in the
journal. It will be observed that this disqualification applied not
only to clergymen of the Church of England, but to members of
every denomination. It is not fair to assume that this was in-
serted from fear of the ministers of the established church only.
There was as much danger from religious interference in the new
government by over-zealous Baptist and Presbyterian ministers,
who might get in the assembly, as from the others. The clause,
because of its including ministers of all churches, must have re-
ceived the support of all factions in the convention.
*9 Hening, 57.
2 9 Hening 117, Aritcle XIII.
My ancestor was the first to be disqualified from the House of Delegates with this law….
The first minister to whom the disqualifying clause was ap-
plied, after 1776, was John Corbley, of Monongalia, who was re-
turned to serve in the House of Delegates, when it met in October,
1777. On being objected to, on the ground that he was a minister,
he was heard in his place upon the matter, and confessed himself
to be a minister of the gospel, but alleged that he received no
stipend or gratuity for performing that function. The fact of
receiving no stipend had no effect upon the house, for it was
resolved that he could not serve.
Though I believe in separation of church and state, I personally believe that separation is best to prevent undue pressure on any person by any group. Every person has a right to their own beliefs. Laws in the government are meant to be based on a vote of the majority that follows the norms of society. In our society currently a subset of the population is chosen to vote on the laws to govern. I find it interesting that when first set up the government of VA excluded ministers. (I did find that in 1798 the constitution of Georgia was rewritten to give rights to religious persons – http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=77)
I haven’t researched it yet, but I am curious whether any state still discourages ministers from holding office?
To me this is a weekend to reflect back on the family we have lost (Especially
close family). My mother goes around to each of the graves and puts flowers on the graves… which is comforting to her – knowing that there is one day out of the year that the graves are decorated. For me this is more a long holiday where at some point I reflect on the family I have lost. My close family are in my memories every day, so it’s hard to say that one day is any more special than others.
Memories of my grandmother come to me when I sew, when something special happens in the boys lives (especially Kristopher), even certain foods I make. I miss her all the time! Big things like the fact that she never met Konnor or little things like that she will never make him a sock monkey…. this next weekend and that she will miss Kris’ graduation.
A barbie wedding outfit my grandmother made that I have displayed in a shadow box.
My grandmother was wonderful at sewing, I really wish I had taken the time to listen when she had tried to teach me…. and let on more that I was listening. She explained grainline, I don’t know how many times. I’ve since looked it up to refresh my memory, but I remember her trying to explain it – and my ‘Why does it matter?’ As for the sock monkeys, I’ll never forget her story of taking them to my cousins in Texas and her luggage getting lost. – “Is there anything unique in your luggage that will help identify it?” – “Yes, There are three monkeys in my suitcase”.
She survived two husbands and all her brothers and sisters, and was still in her right mind when we lost her. Just one day she was here, and the next she wasn’t. She did everything from own a bar to teach kindergarten and was the only one of her siblings to go to high school. Yes, I think she was pretty amazing. My grandfather drown when my mother was about 3 and my grandmother had left her job as a teacher to marry him. So she was forced to move back home with my great grandmother.
My mother tells the story of my grandmother meeting my second grandfather. He saw her waiting bar at the bar she had bought…. and he told my Uncle Ervin he was going to marry her. She told him ‘Like Hell you Will!”. She said she was married to one drunk and she wasn’t going to do it again. My grandfather Wakeland then cleaned up his act and she married him. (By cleaned up I mean not around her, there was a story about my grandmother trying to bean him with a marble ashtray when he came home drunk once). I also remember something about a footrace but that story I don’t remember clearly.
I would say that I miss my grandmother the most each day, but on days when I reflect back I miss my close aunts and uncles too. Most of my other grandparents were gone before I was born other than my grandfather Richter and he died when I was younger making my memories of him much slimmer.
Last weekend we took a trip home. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane…. We went mushroom hunting, played in the river (I got scream at for that one), and even saw my cousin Larry with the Super Banana.
Growing up on a farm as foods came in season we ate those foods EVERY meal until they weren’t in season anymore! Morel mushrooms were one of those seasons. (Sweet Corn is another that has turned me into a corn snob… forget that out of season stuff you get at the grocery store). Morels are only available a few weeks each year, can’t be grown commercially, and everyone guards their spot. My Aunt Linda used to have me drive her 
to her spot long before I got my license so that I could drop her off and pick her up later. 
You would hate to leave any evidence of where your favorite spot is! Mushrooms tend to grow in sunny spots where decaying old trees are coming up. This year I managed to catch a frog too. Konnor also tried to track a deer down, he followed the tracks through the woods. I remember my dad showing me years ago which tracks are female and which are male (I don’t remember any
more which are which), it’s amazing how you can tell from the tracks.
Out in the woods I was reminded of all the times we would try to walk across logs (on ravines) – I still am amazed that my brother and I never broke a bone in our childhood. We would head out in the woods just to walk. Across streams, through brambles, and with no particular destination in mind.
After mushroom hunting on the way home, I stopped and hopped in the river. It was really cold – but what a memory. It brought back memories of walking in the river, canoeing, and looking for shells. My mother was concerned about all the trash (broken glass, needles, and everything else) that has now ended up in the river…. The river water did feel really good after walking around in the woods while it was hot out!
Finally after getting home my cousin Larry Wayne showed up. He had his dad’s tractor the Super Banana with. My Uncle Lloyde used to take that tractor all over to tractor pulls and my dad would make us attend whenever they were at the local fair. The tractor was loud! They hook the tractor to a sled and you see who can pull the sled the farthest down the track. My Uncle had ended up in the Hall of Fame for Tractor Pulls with his tractor, and that’s where Larry picked it up. The tractor had been put away in the late 70s and yet it was still running! It has 4 Hemi engines and was surprisingly no where near
as loud as I remember from my childhood.
I also remember my dad challenging Uncle Lloyd to a tractor pull with his farm tractor. My dad still claims he would have won if my cousins hadn’t hooked the sled to the farm tractor’s axle!
On a side note, Larry has the same birthday as me! 10 years before I was born, Larry was born on the same day. Then Larry’s first daughter was born on his 30th birthday, and my 20th birthday! Same day! Our birthday is a popular day in our family.
Mom has also added a little fish pond that Konnor enjoyed feeding the fish. Growing up our fish pond was huge and my dad had dug it with a big farm tractor, but the little one is nice for Konnor. – My dad would move the pond when he felt like it, and have it stocked with bass and catfish. There may still be catfish in the last one he dug. They originally were trained to come up to the surface when he walked out to the pond – then he would feed them dog food. It’s amazing to think that you can train a catfish to come to the vibration of
footsteps!
We took a lot of pictures and everyone was exhausted by the end of the day!
Every so often you find a story as you search that is interesting. Ida M Fisher – The wife of Paul Scheffler apparently shot herself according to the newspaper article.
What’s even more interesting is that the newspaper article not only tells what the cause of her death was, they tell the whole story. They even include that she playfully kicked the boat with her foot, intending thereby to make Mrs. Lavar unsteady and spoil her aim…. Apparently Mrs. Lavar aim was thrown off (being a cripple according to the article) and Ida (Fisher) Sheffler was shot in the forehead causing “a gloom over the happy crowd”.
This was from July 26, 1906. The Plymouth Tribune and is saved in the Library of Congress. I’ve found a few articles cut from papers in photo albums my aunts had collected. They include articles such as Mrs Richter went visiting to her daughter and son in law on Wednesday.
For small country towns, even going into town was a newsworthy even before the advent of cars (and when cars were first available, having a car was a BIG event)…
The event in the article is such a sad event, but yet the way it’s written gives a little look into the way newspaper reporting was viewed at the time. Personally I almost view the newspapers of the time as ‘gossip rags’? They are a great place to get information for family history though.
Source:LOC Newspaper Copy
So my father is a farmer, his father was a farmer, and his father and so on….. At what point do you admit that the line ends at your generation? Can you call yourself a farmer if you know you will take over and just cash rent out the land? What about when you pass the farm to your kids and they have never driven a tractor?
My father raised field corn and soybeans. He has finally retired, but they are right next to the field. The farm shows are still on, the magazines still show up and they still attend the seed dinners each spring. I can tell you if a field is corn or beans as we drive down the road – Years of my dad making me go out to watch corn grow with them umpteen times every season! I am a serious corn snob when it comes to eating sweet corn. That comes from eating sweet corn every meal while it was in season for my entire childhood. My kids will never have that though. They have never run across a newly planted field, hunted for arrow heads in a newly ploughed field, or even had to sit for hours on end in a field with just a book for company. They also didn’t walk beans in 4th grade or even walk beans ever.
My kids haven’t even had a dog (yes they had hamsters, and my husband once agreed to chinchillas) – but a dog was too much for him. Growing up I remember the time we had 32 dogs. People would just drop them off and my parents would let them stay. We had favorites and then there were just the ones that just were. They always had unusual names like Scuder, Dipstick, Waldo, Sandy, and even Peanut and Butter. To top it off, we would come home to find my dad’s latest odd addition to the collection…. We had everything from Fallow Deer to a Buffalo at one time or another.
I’m afraid things like this just can’t skip a generation. Of course my kids also aren’t facing things I grew up with like sharing their bedroom with a lamb that needed bottle fed every few hours, power going out for a week at a time, and coming home from school to find the kitchen table had been converted to butcher the latest hunt…. So even though I miss my kids not having the same childhood I had growing up; I’m fairly certain my kids would say that you don’t miss what you never had.
It’s funny (funny strange) thinking back now on how funny and well liked my dad was. Right now he mostly sits in his chair and watches tv. When people come over he doesn’t really talk much to them, and that includes me. It’s hard to reconcile the person he is today with the person he was.
My mom called to tell me that my Uncle Tom was in the hospital. He will be ok from the sounds of it – though it also sounded like the family grapevine had worked pretty well, but it reminded me of the story of each time he would drop by on patrol as a state trooper in Illinois while we lived in a trailer in my Aunt Margaret’s yard. My dad had taught me (2 or 3 year old me) to run out screaming here comes that dirty cop every time Uncle Tom showed up.
I remember my dad telling a story about getting pulled over and getting something like 40 warning tickets on an old grain truck… Hmmm wonder why. He said the officer was a friend of my uncles and told my dad he would have given him more, but his hand cramped up.
Dad even has stories about talking a police officer in Georgia out of a ticket on their honeymoon. He made friends with the officer and invited him up to Illinois to go fishing. I think mom even said he gave him directions.
I remember my dad playing outside with us, especially during the winter. He did everything from make go-carts with drills for motors, to use the tractor to let us sit in the scoop and make it an amusement ride going up and down and around in circles. As we got older he would make us our own race tracks for larger go carts, and finally we moved on to him giving us old beat up cars to drive around in the fields.
– I also remember the day he told me to go drive around in the disced part of the field with this old cadillac they have aquired… Not the ploughed! After being towed out by a tractor, I’ll never get those two confused again! I think I was only old enough to see over the steering wheel.
Despite dad doing all sorts of pranks – yes he once threw a snake onto my foot and then shot the snake. Gave us flares to light fireworks, and I think I’ve already mentioned the canon contest previously…. My dad was pretty serious when he was worried about us too.
I also remember walking beans and passing out one year (6th grade I think). My dad picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and carried me out of the field. He then drove me to my Aunt Margaret’s where he left me. Then despite my (for some crazy reason, and I think it involved that I was the only girl out there) wanting to walk beans that year, my dad banned me from the field for the year. I was probably the only farmer’s kid around that wasn’t forced to work in the field that year.
Uncle Tom and I
I’m pretty sure hooking a sled up to a lawn mower and pulling it would be frowned on now —- especially with a 2 year old on it, but back then it was what we did without ipads, and TV and electronics. You can even see the tracks where my dad had been pulling me around and around the yard. I recognize Aunt Margaret’s yard from the picture. I keep saying that I’m fairly amazed that myself (and most of my friends) survived childhood on the farm. But I also know that our parents were usually with us. I remember lots of times, trying to convince mom and dad to let me stay home while they drove around to ‘watch corn grow’ and even one where dad kicked my door in and broke the lock because I didn’t want to go. But we survived to adulthood.
