Through the years, new vestry men had to be selected to replace others. The most common reason was death. Another common reason, for which there was no need up to 1740 or so, was the subdivision of the parish. After subdivision, some of the vestry no longer lived in the parish. The minutes of the parish seldom note that a vestryman resigned.
At the 13 Jun 1739 meeting, there was a jarring element. The church wardens were ordered to take all evidence to prove the allegations against the Rev. Mr. John Becket. A copy was to be forwarded to the Governor and to the Commissary and a copy was to be given to Mr. Becket.
At the fall meeting in 1739, the parish levy was fixed at twenty-two pounds of tobacco per levy. According to the civil records given to the vestry, there were 1,904 tithables. So, in ten years, the population of St. Mark's parish had more than doubled.
At this same meeting, the wardens were instructed to approach the Rev. Mr. MacDonald to see if he would be the supply minister. Failing a positive answer from Rev. MacDonald, the wardens were to search for another man, but in no case was Mr. Becket to be chosen.
At the spring meeting, in 1740, it was noted that the Rev. Mr. John Thompson was recommended to the vestry by the Governor and the Commissary. The vestry decided to accept the recommendation and the Rev. Thompson became the pastor for St. Mark's parish. He is the pastor who is perhaps best known to students of Germanna history, for he is the man who married the widow of Alexander Spotswood. He also built Salubria for their home. Anyone who studies much of the land history in the Great Fork (of the Rappahannock), will recognize the name as he acquired many acres in several different tracts.
At the fall meeting, the levy was twelve pounds of tobacco for each of the 2,107 tithables. The rate was down considerably from the earlier years because the major building was complete and the number of tithes had increased sharply, which reduced the load on any one person.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.