Rev. James Keith

Parents unknown. No known relationship to Field Marshall James Francis Edward Keith

Biography

Rev. James Keith

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 204371857

From Reverend James Keith and the Elk Run Church by Gail Raney Fleishaker, published on elkrunchurch.org:

Reverend James Keith and the Elk Run Church When the young James Keith arrived on the Virginia shore, he could not have known that he would marry a daughter of the Randolphs, one of the most extended and influential families of the Old Dominion, nor that several among his descendents would be distinguished in county, colonial, and, most famously, federal courts of law.

It is believed that Keith came from Scotland but there are scant records of his life before his arrival in Virginia. Family legend claims he was born in direct descent of the noble Earls Marischal of Scotland, but examination of genealogical records of Scots peerage shows that this is not possible. James Keith was ordained a priest in the Church of England in January 1729 and in March 1729 obtained the King’s Bounty that secured his passage to Virginia. His first ministry was at Curle’s (later St. John’s) Church, located on Richard Randolph’s plantation in Henrico Parish, where he served from 1729 until resigning in October 1733. At the time of his resignation, Rev. Keith was romancing Mary Isham Randolph, daughter of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe. Two other Randolphs were active in the administration of Henrico Parish: Richard Randolph, Mary Isham’s uncle, was a vestryman and William Randolph, her brother, was Church Warden. In his later report to the Bishop of London, Commissary Blair wrote of Keith and Mary Isham that family and “friends did so dislike his character that they would not let her marry him,” so it may well be that Keith’s resignation was forced by the Randolphs. Whatever the case, Keith left the county and Mary Isham apparently went with him.

In the meantime, Virginia’s parishes continued their re-organization to accommodate the population’s westward migration. In 1730, Hamilton Parish was formed from the northern portion of Overwharton Parish and an old Overwharton chapel ‘above the Occoquan Ferry’ was taken as Hamilton’s parish church. In 1732, when the new Truro Parish was taken from Hamilton’s eastern flank along the Potomac, that church at Occoquan went with Truro. Hamilton then took an old church on the Quantico near the future town of Dumfries as its parish church and started building a chapel closer to the hub of parish activity in the area near Shenandoah Hunting Path and Elk Run. In 1744, with the act that divided Hamilton Parish yet again, the old Quantico church was assigned to the new (Dettingen) parish and the wooden chapel was designated Hamilton’s parish church, thereafter called Elk Run Church.

By 1755, the parish had grown sufficiently to require a second church, St. Mary’s (“the Turkey Run Church”), near the crossing of the Marsh and Rappahannock roads just south of what would become the neighborhood (now Warrenton) around the Fauquier Court House, first established when Fauquier County was carved out of Prince William in 1759. The wooden church at Elk Run was eventually replaced by a brick cruciform structure, the subject of this preservation project.

Itinerant preachers may have served Hamilton Parish at these several early sites, but Rev. James Keith was Hamilton’s first permanent minister. Although ministering to the Elk Run congregation was chief among Keith’s responsibilities, he also performed services at other parish sites – preaching at Quantico until that church was transferred to Dettingen Parish, for example, as well as officiating and baptizing at Truro Parish when that parish had no minister.

By the time he arrived in late 1733 or early 1734, he and Mary Isham had married, and the first of their eight children was born in 1734. It seems safe to assume that during his Hamilton ministry in the 1730s and 1740s, Rev. Keith and his growing family lived at the parsonage on the original glebe near Elk Run church.

In 1744, defining the formation of Dettingen Parish, the Virginia General Assembly required that after September 1746 the original Hamilton glebe be put up for sale . . . and that “the money arising by such sale be equally paid and divided between the said two parishes of Dettingen and Hamilton, to be applied towards the purchase of glebes, more convenient to each.” The General Assembly further stipulated that until it was sold, the original glebe was to be used by “the present minister” of Hamilton Parish – and in 1744, that would have been Rev. James Keith. In 1746, Hamilton Parish Church Wardens John Wright and Joseph Blackwell purchased two parcels of land on Licking Run in Germantown for the parish’s new glebe. The old glebe did not sell until 1748, but Keith had purchased adjoining parcels of land south of Pignut Ridge in the summer of 1747, and he could well have moved his family there in anticipation of the old glebe’s sale before a new parsonage could be constructed. The new parsonage, “about eight and a half miles” north of Elk Run Church, was not finished until the 1750s, and it is unlikely that the Keith family ever took residence there.

James Keith died sometime in the winter of 1752 – his will was proved in June 1753 at Prince William County Court, but there is no known documentation of his death date – leaving Mary Isham with eight children between the ages of 18 and 4 years. Of their five sons, one was to spend his life as a lawyer and the other four were to fight in the Revolutionary War.

James Keith Jr., born about 1734, was admitted to the law in Frederick County in 1757, where he served as County Clerk for over 60 years. John Keith, born in 1735, served as a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. Thomas Randolph Keith, born in 1736, married Judith Blackwell, daughter of Joseph Blackwell, in a wedding officiated by soon-to-be Justice John Marshall. Keith served as Captain in the Revolutionary War, living first in Leeds Parish then moving to Georgia in 1800 where he was buried in the Keith Burying Ground in Columbia several years later. Many of his descendents returned to Fauquier County. His grandson James Keith (1839-1918) studied at the University of Virginia and began a law practice in Warrenton, interrupted during the Civil War by several years in the Black Horse Troop. On returning after the war, he began rehabilitation of “Woodbourne,” his birthplace home, and resumed his law practice. He was elected to the House of Delegates and, as Judge in the 11th Circuit Court, later served many years as President of the Virginia Appellate Court (today the Supreme Court of Virginia) where he is reputed to have “shed luster on the bench and bar.”

The first of three daughters, Mary Randolph Keith, was born in 1737. She married Thomas Marshall of Westmoreland County and bore him fifteen children. Their firstborn son, John Marshall (1755-1835), was schooled at home, then studied law at the College of William and Mary before moving to Richmond where he became a member of the Virginia Assembly, working on ratification of the United States Constitution. He served as Secretary of State in President John Adams’ cabinet and, most famously, as fourth Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, shaping constitutional law for over thirty years. A second daughter, Judith Keith, was born in 1738, and a third, Elizabeth Keith, in 1745.

Isham Keith, born in 1739, served as a Lieutenant, 3rd Virginia State Regiment, in the Revolutionary War. Rev. James Keith’s and Mary Isham’s eighth child, Alexander, born in 1748, served in several Virginia regiments in the Revolutionary War, moving later to Tennessee and finally to Mississippi.

Mary Isham lived into old age, residing in Leeds Parish under the guardianship of her son Thomas who, with his wife Judith, was then residing on a portion of the Pignut Ridge land inherited from his father.

© Gail Raney Fleischaker

[an 8th-generation Keith, down the Ford-Swetnam-Raney line from Elizabeth Keith]

---------------------------

Family

From John Franklin Keith, II in an email dated February 1st, 2013 to Erin Spiceland:

My name is John Franklin Keith, II and I am descended from the Rev. James Keith & Mary Isham Randolph via their youngest son, Capt. Alexander Keith - who served with distinction during the Revolutionary War. My lineage is as follows and is documented in rootsweb-world connect project in Connecting Families of Tippah Co., MS entered by Steven Rutherford:

Rev. James Keith (b 1696-Scotland) & Mary Isham Randolph (b. 1717 - VA) Alexander Keith (b. 1748 VA) & Mary Yancey (b. 1751 VA) William Alexander Keith (b. 1776 VA) & Sarah Hampton (b. 1783 NC) Sterling Yancey Keith (b. 1811 NC) & Eliza P. Jones (b.1814 GA) Franklin Pearce Keith (b. 1853 MS) & Eliza C. Hopper (b.1862 MS) William Learcus Keith (b. 1885 MS) & Elizabeth Jane (Lizzie) (b.1886 MS) John Franklin Keith (b. 1910 MS) & Venie Matilda Cannon (b.1910 MS) Please note that a mini-museum was erected at the site of the old Elk Run Anglical Church in Fauquier Co., VA and dedicated on the 200th.-Anniversary of the establishing of Fauquier Co., VA. I was fortunate to be able to attend this dedication with my son, John Franklin Keith, III and grandson, John Franklin Keith, IV. It was most educational and I was able to speak with a number of distant cousins.

In your entry #100932 ; updated 2013-01-07 you included a number of incidents in the life of Rev. James of which I am unable to verify from the data I have available and passed down in family lore. Rev. James and his cousins, George and James Francis Edward, were involved in the "First Jacobite" uprising and were forced to flee Scotland. Rev James returned to Scotland and was invested in the Anglican church and returned to Virginia, married, and was went to the frontier parish where he helped found the Elk Run Church which was the first non-wooden church on the VA frontier. Please note that four of his sons and three-sons-in-law served in the colonial army during the American Revolution.

Here is a corrected listing of the children of Rev. James and Mary Isham Randolph:

James Keith b. 1734 John Keith b. 1735 Thomas Randolph Keith b. 1735 (?1736) Mary Randolph Keith b.1737 -- Chief Justice John Marshall's mother Judith Keith b.1738 Isham Keith b.1739 Elizabeth Keith b.1745 Alexander Keith b. 1748 I hope that this data may be useful to you. Two cousins, Jane Frazier Flynn and Rhonda Keith Sargent , are noted family researchers and I would be happy to send you their contact data. Jane has all the Sommerville DAR data and is currently entering it into "Ancesters". A number of my family members has used this data to qualify for DAR membership. Best Regards,

J. Frank Keith, PhD, Retired Professor, University of South Carolina

There have been a number of genealogists and amateur genealogists who have made the claim that wrongly conflates the Rev. James Keith with Field Marshall James Francis Edward Keith (the brother of the 10th and last Earl Marischal of Scotland). Here is a published refutation of that claim in the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy. (Mag Va Gen_Vol55 No4, pg. 270):

"The claim that Rev. James Keith was born in Scotland in 1696:
A 1696 birth in Scotland is commonly cited for the Rev. James Keith, with or
without further claims as to ancestral heritage.81 And yes, records of the Scottish
peerage do indeed show such a birth time and place: for James Edward Frances
Keith, brother to George Keith, the 10th Earl Marischal of Scotland, born in 1696
at the Castle of Inverugie near Peterhead, Scotland.82 The facts of that man’s
birth, education, participation in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, and service in
Spain, Ukraine, and finally, in Prussia as Field Marshall under Frederick the
Great, are not debated here or elsewhere, but there is nothing among those facts
that points to the Rev. James Keith of Virginia. Field Marshall James Keith
would have been well known in the late nineteenth century when the earliest
claimants here were publishing; Scotland is not an unlikely birthplace for a
surnamed Keith, nor is a birth year of 1696 totally unreasonable for an adult
arriving in the colonies in the 1720s, so without looking further, this may have
been a simple case of mistaken identity. Yet the fact that Field Marshall James
Keith died having never married83 contradicts what was known of the Rev.
James Keith in the late nineteenth century and should have precluded casting the
former’s life events as Rev. James Keith’s heritage."

"79. Sources for the Marischal lineage: Sir James Balfour Paul, ed., The Scots Peerage — Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland Containing An Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of That Kingdom (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1909), 6: 25–65; Cokayne, George Edward [G.E.C.], ed., The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All Its Members from the Earliest Times, Revised and Much Enlarged by The Hon. Vicary Gibbs (London: St Catherine Press, 1932), 8: 464-487. Sources for the Kintore lineage: Paul, The Scots Peerage (1908), 5: 240–242; Cokayne, The Complete Peerage (1929), 7: 327–329."
"82. Paul, 6: 61; Cokayne, 8: 485.
83. Paul, 6: 62; Cokayne, 8: 486."

The ancestral tree the Earl Marischals (Figure 5) is the entirety of the article's pg. 271..

---------------------------
NOTE: The the exception of Gail Fleischaker's meticulously researched and documented article on the Reverend Mr. James Keith, the reader would be cautioned to take the legends quoted below as merely legend. These legends may -- or may not -- contain kernels of truth, but the legends have overwhelmed the limited facts and cannot be relied upon to convey any real primary sourced evidence to corroborate the claims of these legends. Sadly, it may well be that we will never be able to know Rev. Keith's parentage or provenance with any degree of certainty. But the reader is invited to enjoy the legends, which are colorful and intriguing, provided they are careful not to succumb to the strong temptation to cite these legends as fact. -- KDE
---------------------------

From KEITH: The Collected Genealogies of Keith, Keath, and Keeth Families in North America, by Larry Keith (Gateway Press, 1997):

  The Reverend James Keith (b. 6 Nov 1696, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) m. 21 Mar 1733 to Mary Isham Randolph, daughter of Thomas and Judith Fleming Randolph of "Tuckahoe" in Henrico County, VA; d. 10 Dec 1752, Hamilton Parish, Prince William (now Fauquier) County, VA. On March 4, 1728, received a King's Bounty to go to Virginia. His first church was St. John's Church, sometimes referred to as Curl's / Curles Church, on the lower Potomac, Henrico County, where he was rector between 1728 and 1733. From 1733, and until his death, he was rector in the Warrenton neighborhood of Prince William (now Fauquier) Co., VA. "He preached at Quantico until that church was transferred to the new parish of Dettingen in 1745. On the division, Mr. Keith's services were retained by Hamilton, where he officiated until his death." His will was proved at Manassas Court House, Prince William County, 25 June 1753.

  James and his wife are said to be buried under the chancel of old Elk Run Church, Prince William County, now destroyed. The ruins of this old church were purchased during the 1940s by a descendent, John Keith Browning of Cincinnati, with the idea of making it a memorial to "Parson James," as he is called in Virginia history.

  On 8 September 1778, a deed of petition was recorded in Prince William County by Thomas, Alexander and Isham Keith, in which they say the land was divined to them by their father, the Reverend James Keith. By this deed, "Huntly" (containing 543 acres) was assigned to Thomas Keith; "Roslin" and "Stony Wood" containing 552 acres, to Alexander Keith, and "Soldiers' Retreat" and "South Run" (552 acres), to Isham Keith.

  Rev. James and Mary Isham (Randolph) Keith had eight children, all believed born in Prince William County, Virginia. Five sons fought in the Revolutionary War.  Their children were:

     James Keith (b. ca 1734; d. 16 Oct 1824

     John* Keith (b. 1735; d. ca 1809)

     Thomas Randolph Keith (b. 14 Mar 1736, d. 1810)

     Mary Randolph Marshall (Keith) (b. 28 Apr 1737; d. 18 Sep 1809)

     Judith Key (Keith) (b. 1738; d. ?)

     Isham Keith (b. 1739; d. 1787)

     Elizabeth Ford (Keith) (b. 1745; d. 1821)

     Alexander Keith (b. 2 Jul 1748; d. 7 Feb 1822)

REV. JAMES KEITH=1696-1752 (1753?)

[NOTE: While there are details of Rev. Keith's parentage and ancestry listed in various quoted sources below, there is some question as to exactly who Rev. James Keith's father and mother were. Family legends, handed down from generation to generation have claimed that 1) he was a close relation (possibly first cousins) with the 10th Earl Marischal, George Keith, and his brother, Field Marshal James Francis Edward Keith (who is sometimes confused with the Rev. or Parson James Keith because their names are very similar and they appear to have been born contemporaneously with each other); and 2) he was raised and lived, at least for a time, with the brothers, George and James Francis Edward Keith, at their family home, Inverugie, which is only a few miles west of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where Rev. James is said to have been born. But while Rev. James Keith came to America first in about 1715, as a lay person, and seems to have later returned to Scotland to take his Orders in the Anglican Church, Field Marshal James Keith was forced to flee to the Continent after the attempted Jacobite uprising of 1719. (His movements around Europe, particularly to Spain, where he was in the military service of King Philip, and eventually to Prussia, where he became a close military advisor and friend to Frederick the Great, and was killed in battle.) Despite a fairly common line of thought that Rev. James was the son of a professor at Marischal College in Aberdeen, who may have been named Robert, and who may have been a bishop in the Anglican Church, this does not appear to have been documented in any reliable way. Thus, at least for now, it does not seem that the blood link to the hereditary Earls Marishal of Scotland can be definitively established. -- KDE]

"THE MARSHALL FAMILY", by W.M Paxton......page 24 The Keiths are descended from Robert Keith, Mareschal of the Scottish army under Bruce. George Keith, born at Kincardine, Scotland, in 1685 - died near Potsdam, Prussia, May 25, 1778, was the tenth and last Earl that bore the name. His race had been long Mareschals of Scotland, and were possessed of large estates. The family were adherents of the Stuarts, and took an active part in the Rebellion of 1715, in favor of the Pretender. Alexander, and James afterward Field Marshal of Russia and Prussia, were younger brother of the Earl. James Keith, afterward known as Parson Keith, a cousin of the Earl, was a son of a professor in the Mareschal College Aberdeen. The professor was Bishop of the Episcopal church, and the uncle ad guardian of the Earl and his brothers. His son, James ( Rin15442 - the Parson) had been educated with his cousins, and in 1715 was a youth of nineteen. The Earl and his brothers took part in the rebellion, and had to leave for the continent. Here, through their cousin James, they still fomented discontent, and in 1719 entered Scotland, and were repulsed. Their secret correspondence with their friends had been conducted through their cousin, James, and he when discovered took refuge in the Colony of Virginia. The Keith estates were confiscated, and their names attainted for treason; but afterward, through the colicitations of Frederick of Prussia, a portion of the property was restored. The titles descended in the female line, and are now (in 1884) merged in the united houses of Keith-Elphinstone. James Parson Keith, had been educated for the Church. Coming to Virginia, he settled in Fauquier County and married Mary Isham Randolph (Rin 15443), daughter of Thomas Randolph, of Tuckahoe.

It is charged that their marriage was concealed from her brothers, and that she stole away to accompany her husand, when he returned to Scotland for orders. Even the name of Parson Keith is blackened by tradition with the charge of licentiousness. But there is better reason to believe that he was a good and holy man. He continued to preach throughout his life, and his name is handed down with veneration. Bishop Meade, vol. 2, p. 216, thus speaks of him:

Of Rev. Mr. Keith and his descendants I have not been able to obtain all the information I desire, or hope for. From all that I can learn, he was a worthy man. He was a native of Scotland. Being involved in the Rebellion in favor of the Pretender, he was forced to fly his county and to come to Virginia. Returning to England for orders, he was settled in Hamilton parish, and performed the duties of his office there for a long time - probably until 1757 or 1758. A daughter married Col. Thomas Marshall (Rin 1957), "Oakhill" Fauquier County, the seat of the Marshalls to this day (1857).

Links

http://rdhardesty.blogspot.com/2013/12/clishmaclaver.html The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. By Kentucky Historical Society, Jennie (Chinn) Morton, Harry Vernon McChesney, Bayless Evans Hardin. page 66 On page 30 of 'THE MARSHALL FAMILY" there is a Keith Legend as follows:

James Keith (the Parson) was educated at the Mareschal College, at Aberdeen, Scotland. Though a divinity student, yet he was tainted with infidelity, like most of the youth of his day. He had an intimate associate and fellow student, named William Frazier, who also doubted the truth of the Bible, and a state of future rewards and punishments. These youths often talked upon religious topics. In full confidence in each other, they often expressed their doubts. Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought if one should return to them from the dead, they would believe. They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge, that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. This compact was written and sealed in their own blood.

Years past, and the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth. Keith went to America and Frazier to India. Keith had taken orders in the Episcopal Church. His doubts, however, had not been wholly removed, and his life was not consistent with his professions. In his family was a white servant named McLeod. She attended to the dairy.

One evening after the Parson had grown old, while Mrs. McLeod was employed at her usual duties, a stanger, in military garb, appeared before her and said that he was the spirit of William Frazier, who had just died in India, and who in early life had been the companion of Mr. Keith. He told of the compact, and ordered her to tell her master that the Christian religion was true, and that there was a state of future rewards and punishments. She was further to state that her master would live but one year, and that he should at once prepare for death. The woman was alarmed, and being afraid of her master, failed to make the report as required. The next evening the soldier appeared again, and severly threatening her, exacted a promise that she would tell her master. When Parson Keith heard the story from Mrs. McLeod, and had the description of the man, he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, and was satisfied of the truth of the Bible. He set on foot inquirieds for William Fraz ier, and found that he had died in India only a few days prior to his appearance in America. He changed his mode of life, became an exemplary Christian, and died one year after the apparition.

This tradition is supported by the credence of all the older members of the family, and is corroborated, by the fact that the McLeod family, of Baltimore, have a record of it is their possession. In 1868, two descendants of Mrs. McLeod came to Kentucky, from Maryland, to confer with Martin P. Marshall (Rin 16810) and Col. Charles A. Marshall (Rin 15433) both of Washington, KY. They represented that they were descended from Mrs. McLeod, and that their ancestress was an heir to estates in Scotland, and they were in search of evidence to establish their claim. They represented that her Bible was still an heirloom, and reference was there made to the same story. This confirmation of the old legend caused surprise to all parties.

Whether this story may be entitled to our respect, or not, it is strange that no descendant of Parson Keith, that Mr. Paxton had ever known or heard of, had more than temporarily denied the truth of Christian revelation. Dr. Louis Marshall and J.A. McClung, for a time had their doubts, but both devoted their last years to the redeemer. Senator Humphrey Marshall had no Keith blood in his veins. His wife was a pious believer.

ARE THE KEITHS DESCENDED FROM POCAHONTAS ?

The author has not taken sides in the controversy over this question, but contented hisself with presenting the issue.

The line of Pocahontas is as follows: l. Pocahontas m. John Rolfe 2. Thomas Rolfe m. Miss Poythress 3. Jane Rolfe m. Col. Robert Bolling 4. Major John Rolling m. Miss Blair. Their dr.; l. Mary Bolling m. Col. John Fleming, Jan. 20, 1727 l. A daughter, Judith m. Thomas Randolph, of Curls l. Mary Isham Randolph m. Rev. James Keith l. Mary Randolph Keith m. Col. Thomas Marshall If this genealogy is correct, the Keiths and Marshall are tainted with Indian blood. It is denied that Thomas Randolph married a Fleming, but confidently asserted that his wife was Judith Churchill. From Mr. Paxton's earliest recollections, he had heard it asserted by the aged members of the Keith and Marshall families that the proud and noble blood of Pocahontas coursed their veins. Bishop Meade, and Campbell, the Virignia historian, say that Thomas Randolph's wife was a Fleming. Judge Keith, of Warrenton, so asserts most positively. Col. Thomas M. Green, the best living (in 1884) authority, has no doubt on the question. John Randolph, of Roanoke, who ought to have known, said that his great uncle married a Fleming.

But a writer in the Richmond "Standard" on September 24, 1881, mentions only two daughters of Col. John Fleming, who married, respectively, Barnard and Branch. The following paper, furnished by Alex. Brown, of Norwood, named a third daughter, and embodied the evidence that Thomas Randolph did not marry a Fleming:

"Extract from the Descendants of Pocahontas, by Ex-Gov. Wyndham Robertson: Mary Bolling m. Col. John Fleming, and had issue, 8 children, of whom two were daughters; l. Mary Fleming m. William Barnard, and 2. Caroline m. James Deane." "According to John Randolph of Roanoke, the wife of Thomas Randolph, of Tuckahoe, second son and child of the emigrant William Randolph, was a Miss Fleming; but according to Richard Randolph, he married Miss Judith Churchill. Mrs. Ellen Wayles Randolph Harrison, of "Edge-Hill", Albemarle Co., VA, (a descendant) states that the name was "Judith Churchill", and that no marriage between a Randpolph and Fleming took place until a later period." "Mr. Wilson Miles Cary, of Baltimore writes in 1882; "In the conflict of authorities as to the wife of Thomas Randolph or Tuckahoe, I have always accepted Richard Randolph's account rather than that of John Randolph, of Roanoke, because the former was a professed antiquary, and more likely to be correct than, the eccentric and erratic statesman, who probably took no pains to verify his opinion by general research; - there being no extracts from parish records, there is nothing left but to choose between their statements aided by such corroborating testimony as one can obtain at this late day." "Like Mr. Cary, Mr. Paxton does not rely on John of Roanoke, as an antiquary. The children of this couple were: l. William, b. about 1715, d. prior to 1785 m. Maria Judith Page in 1736......2. Judith, b. about 1718 m. Rev. William Steth, the historian, July 18, 1738.....3. Mary b. about 1720 m. Rev. James Keith of Scotland, who came to Virginia prior to 1730, in Henrico parish the 2nd of March 1733, said to have removed to Maryland in 1735; but from some time trior to 1745, to about 1758, he was in Hamilton parish, Prince William Co., VA. Legend of Parson James Keith (1696-1753) and William Frazier

From The Marshall Family by William M. Paxton (Cincinatti, Robt Clarke & Co, 1885), page 30-31.

It was my purpose, when I commenced this work, to eschew all legends, but I find ---

Tis better the past be embellished with story,

Of maiden and lover, or hero and glory,

Than left a dark void which the fancy may fill,

With fiends to affright us, or monsters to kill.

James Keith (the Parson) was educated at the Mareschal College at Aberdeen, Scotland. Though a divinity student, yet he was tainted with infidelity, like most of the youth of his day. He had an intimate associate and fellow student, named William Frazier, who also doubted the truth of the Bible, and a state of future rewards and punishments. These youths often talked upon religious topics. Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought that if one should return to them from the dead, they would believe. They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge, that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. This compact was written and sealed in their own blood.

Years past, and the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth. Keith went to America and Frazier to India. Keith had taken orders in the Episcopal Church. His doubts, however had not been wholly removed, and his life was not consistent with his professions. In his family was a white servant named McLeod. She attended to the dairy. One evening, after the Parson had grown old[1], while Mrs. McLeod was employed at her usual duties, a stranger, in military garb, appeared before her and said that he was the spirit of William Frazier, who had just died in India, and who in early life had been the companion of Mr. Keith. He told of the compact, and ordered her to tell her master that the Christian religion was true, and the there was a state of future rewards and punishments. She was further to state that her master would live but one year, and that he should at once prepare for death. The woman was alarmed, and being afraid of her master, failed to make the report as required. The next evening the soldier appeared again, and severely threatening her, exacted a promise that she would tell her master. When Parson Keith heard the story from Mrs. McLeod, and had the description of the man, he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, and was satisfied of the truth of the Bible. He set on foot inquiries for William Frazier, and found that he had died only a few days prior to his appearance in America. He changed his mode of life, became an exemplary Christian, and died one year after the apparition.

This tradition is supported by the credence of all the older members of the family, and is corroborated by the fact that the McLeod family, of Baltimore, have a record of it in their possession. In 1868, two descendants of Mrs. McLeod came to Kentucky, from Maryland, to confer with Martin P. Marshall and Col. Charles A. Marshall, both of Washington, Ky. They represented that they were descended from Mrs. McLeod, and that their ancestress was an heir to estates in Scotland, and they were in search of evidence to support their claim. They represented that their Bible was still an heirloom, and reference was there made to the same story. This confirmation of the old legend caused surprise to all parties.

Whether this story may be entitled to our respect or not, it is strange that no descendant of Parson Keith that I have ever known or heard of, has more than temporarily denied the truth of Christian revelation. Dr. Louis Marshall and J. A. McClung, for a time, had their doubts, but both devoted their last years to the Redeemer. Senator Humprey (sic) Marshall had no Keith blood in his veins. His wife was a pious believer.

And for another version, ex libris Keith Douglas Fort, Chicago:

After Many Days

(Rev. James Keith, of Fauquier County)

from Virginia Ghosts, by Marguerite Dupont Lee (1682-1936), Virginia Book Co., Berryville VA. First published in 1930. Republished and ©1966 by Dorothy Vandergrift Lee, Library of Congress # 66-14984. Page 153-155.

George Keith, 10th and last hereditary Earl Mareschal of Scotland that bore that name, born in 1685 and died May 25, 1778, was the eldest son of William Keith. He was descended from Robert Keith, Mareschal of the Scottish Army under Bruce. His youngest brother James, born in 1696, wounded at the battle of Sherrifmuir, and later Frederick the Great’s greatest field marshal, was killed at the battle of Hochkirchen, October 14, 1758, after an eventful military career. His cousin James Keith was the son of a bishop of the Episcopal Church. The bishop was a professor in Mareschal College, Aberdeen, and also uncle and guardian of the Earl and his brothers. James Keith was born at Peterhead, Scotland and educated with his cousins, who later took part in the rebellion of 1715, fled to the continent, from where through James they continued to foment rebellion.

In the course of time the secret correspondence was discovered, James fled to France, and after a sojourn in Spain came to Virginia. He was educated for the church, but like most of the youth of his day was tainted with infidelity. He had in Scotland a very close friend and fellow student, one William Frazier. Their confidential discussions led them to disbelieve in the truth of the Bible, and in a state of future reward and punishment. “Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought if one should arise from the dead they would believe.” They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. The contract having been written and sealed in their own blood, the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth – Frazier to India, Keith later returned to England from Virginia, for Orders. His first church was St John’s, Richmond, in Henrico Parish, prior to 1730. This charge he resigned October 2, 1733.

The first minister known to have officiated at the Dumfries Church was Mr. Keith, and while minister of Hamilton Parish he continued to preach at Dumfries until that church was transferred to the new parish of Dettingen in 1745. Mr. Keith’s services were then retained at Hamilton where he officiated until his death, in 1751, terminating an interesting and eventful life.

This Scotch clergyman was buried beneath the altar of “Old Elk Run Church”, about fifteen miles below Fauquier Court House, in that day a substantial brick building near a small stream from which it took its name. It is said the Reverend James Keith’s doubts were never wholly removed. He married Mary Isham Randolph and became the grandfather of Chief Justice John Marshall, his daughter having married Colonel Thomas Marshall of Oakhill, Fauquier County. It is of interest to note that Chief Justice Marshall always wore a ring with an amethyst setting, upon which was the motto Veritas Vincit, the same engraved on a silver coin brought by James Keith from Scotland.

Years passed. Nothing had been heard from William Frazier. In 1750 there lived at the rectory a white servant, a Mrs. McLeod, who attended to the dairy and milked the cow. One evening while engaged in her duties a stranger in military garb appeared before and said he was the spirit of William Frazier who had just died in India, and who in life had been the friend of James Keith. He told of the compact and ordered her to tell her master the Christian religion was true, that he must prepare for death as he would die within on e year. The woman, alarmed and afraid of her master, failed to deliver the message. The following evening the soldier again appeared, and threatening her exacted a promise she would give Keith the message.

When the clergyman heard the story and description of the man he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, exclaiming “That was my friend Frazier!” He immediately began to set his affairs in order. He died six months later.

It is stated inquiries were initiated and in course of time it was ascertained William Frazier had died in India a few days prior to his appearance in America.

“This tradition is supported by the evidence of all the older members of the family “ – (Wm. M. Paxton, “The Marshall Family”), and is corroborated by the fact that the McLeod family of Baltimore have a record of it in their possession. In 1868 two descendents of Mrs. McLeod went to Kentucky to confer with Markham P. and Colonel Charles A. Marshall concerning a Scottish inheritance. They represented that Mrs. McLeod’s Bible was still an heirloom, and reference to the apparition had been written in it by Mrs. McLeod. This confirmation of the old family legend was of much interest to the Marshalls. Rev. James Keith had a sister to whom he was very devoted, and who died in Scotland when a child. He brought to Virginia her nurse, who apparently possessed clairvoyant powers. In the year 1751 a malignant fever was a scourge in Fauquier County, and as Mr. Keith rode off daily to visit the sick, Janet would say, “He is all right for I see the child with him.” Finally the clergyman himself was stricken, and when Mrs. Keith and Janet would enter his room the old nurse spoke of seeing that little spirit pass out.

Mr. Keith’s daughter married Colonel Thomas Marshall. One of her sons was Colonel James Markham Marshall. His grand-daughter Miss Mary Ambler tells me her grandfather related these facts concerning her grandfather.

Ex libris Keith Douglas Fort, Chicago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] This would have been in June of 1753. Keith was the pastor at Elk Run Church in Fauquier VA.

Updated from WikiTree Genealogy via daughter Mary Randolph Marshall (born Keith) by SmartCopy: Apr 2 2015, 7:05:54 UTC

"THE MARSHALL FAMILY", by W.M Paxton......page 24 The Keiths are descended from Robert Keith, Mareschal of the Scottish army under Bruce. George Keith, born at Kincardine, Scotland, in 1685 - died near Potsdam, Prussia, May 25, 1778, was the tenth and last Earl that bore the name. His race had been long Mareschals of Scotland, and were possessed of large estates. The family were adherents of the Stuarts, and took an active part in the Rebellion of 1715, in favor of the Pretender. Alexander, and James afterward Field Marshal of Russia and Prussia, were younger brother of the Earl. James Keith, afterward known as Parson Keith, a cousin of the Earl, was a son of a professor in the Mareschal College Aberdeen. The professor was Bishop of the Episcopal church, and the uncle ad guardian of the Earl and his brothers. His son, James ( Rin15442 - the Parson) had been educated with his cousins, and in 1715 was a youth of nineteen. The Earl and his brothers took part in the rebellion, and had to leave for the continent. Here, through their cousin James, they still fomented discontent, and in 1719 entered Scotland, and were repulsed. Their secret correspondence with their friends had been conducted through their cousin, James, and he when discovered took refuge in the Colony of Virginia. The Keith estates were confiscated, and their names attainted for treason; but afterward, through the colicitations of Frederick of Prussia, a portion of the property was restored. The titles descended in the female line, and are now (in 1884) merged in the united houses of Keith-Elphinstone. James Parson Keith, had been educated for the Church. Coming to Virginia, he settled in Fauquier County and married Mary Isham Randolph (Rin 15443), daughter of Thomas Randolph, of Tuckahoe.

It is charged that their marriage was concealed from her brothers, and that she stole away to accompany her husand, when he returned to Scotland for orders. Even the name of Parson Keith is blackened by tradition with the charge of licentiousness. But there is better reason to believe that he was a good and holy man. He continued to preach throughout his life, and his name is handed down with veneration. Bishop Meade, vol. 2, p. 216, thus speaks of him:

Of Rev. Mr. Keith and his descendants I have not been able to obtain all the information I desire, or hope for. From all that I can learn, he was a worthy man. He was a native of Scotland. Being involved in the Rebellion in favor of the Pretender, he was forced to fly his county and to come to Virginia. Returning to England for orders, he was settled in Hamilton parish, and performed the duties of his office there for a long time - probably until 1757 or 1758. A daughter married Col. Thomas Marshall (Rin 1957), "Oakhill" Fauquier County, the seat of the Marshalls to this day (1857).

Links

• http://rdhardesty.blogspot.com/2013/12/clishmaclaver.html
• The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.  By Kentucky Historical Society, Jennie (Chinn) Morton, Harry Vernon McChesney, Bayless Evans Hardin. page 66

On page 30 of 'THE MARSHALL FAMILY" there is a Keith Legend as follows:

James Keith (the Parson) was educated at the Mareschal College, at Aberdeen, Scotland. Though a divinity student, yet he was tainted with infidelity, like most of the youth of his day. He had an intimate associate and fellow student, named William Frazier, who also doubted the truth of the Bible, and a state of future rewards and punishments. These youths often talked upon religious topics. In full confidence in each other, they often expressed their doubts. Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought if one should return to them from the dead, they would believe. They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge, that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. This compact was written and sealed in their own blood.

Years past, and the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth. Keith went to America and Frazier to India. Keith had taken orders in the Episcopal Church. His doubts, however, had not been wholly removed, and his life was not consistent with his professions. In his family was a white servant named McLeod. She attended to the dairy.

One evening after the Parson had grown old, while Mrs. McLeod was employed at her usual duties, a stanger, in military garb, appeared before her and said that he was the spirit of William Frazier, who had just died in India, and who in early life had been the companion of Mr. Keith. He told of the compact, and ordered her to tell her master that the Christian religion was true, and that there was a state of future rewards and punishments. She was further to state that her master would live but one year, and that he should at once prepare for death. The woman was alarmed, and being afraid of her master, failed to make the report as required. The next evening the soldier appeared again, and severly threatening her, exacted a promise that she would tell her master. When Parson Keith heard the story from Mrs. McLeod, and had the description of the man, he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, and was satisfied of the truth of the Bible. He set on foot inquirieds for William Fraz ier, and found that he had died in India only a few days prior to his appearance in America. He changed his mode of life, became an exemplary Christian, and died one year after the apparition.

This tradition is supported by the credence of all the older members of the family, and is corroborated, by the fact that the McLeod family, of Baltimore, have a record of it is their possession. In 1868, two descendants of Mrs. McLeod came to Kentucky, from Maryland, to confer with Martin P. Marshall (Rin 16810) and Col. Charles A. Marshall (Rin 15433) both of Washington, KY. They represented that they were descended from Mrs. McLeod, and that their ancestress was an heir to estates in Scotland, and they were in search of evidence to establish their claim. They represented that her Bible was still an heirloom, and reference was there made to the same story. This confirmation of the old legend caused surprise to all parties.

Whether this story may be entitled to our respect, or not, it is strange that no descendant of Parson Keith, that Mr. Paxton had ever known or heard of, had more than temporarily denied the truth of Christian revelation. Dr. Louis Marshall and J.A. McClung, for a time had their doubts, but both devoted their last years to the redeemer. Senator Humphrey Marshall had no Keith blood in his veins. His wife was a pious believer.

ARE THE KEITHS DESCENDED FROM POCAHONTAS ?

The author has not taken sides in the controversy over this question, but contented hisself with presenting the issue.

     The line of Pocahontas is as follows:

    l. Pocahontas m. John Rolfe

    2. Thomas Rolfe m. Miss Poythress

    3. Jane Rolfe m. Col. Robert Bolling

    4. Major John Rolling m. Miss Blair.  Their dr.;

        l. Mary Bolling m. Col. John Fleming, Jan. 20, 1727

            l. A daughter, Judith m. Thomas Randolph, of Curls

                l. Mary Isham Randolph m. Rev. James Keith

                    l. Mary Randolph Keith m. Col. Thomas Marshall

If this genealogy is correct, the Keiths and Marshall are tainted with Indian blood. It is denied that Thomas Randolph married a Fleming, but confidently asserted that his wife was Judith Churchill. From Mr. Paxton's earliest recollections, he had heard it asserted by the aged members of the Keith and Marshall families that the proud and noble blood of Pocahontas coursed their veins. Bishop Meade, and Campbell, the Virignia historian, say that Thomas Randolph's wife was a Fleming. Judge Keith, of Warrenton, so asserts most positively. Col. Thomas M. Green, the best living (in 1884) authority, has no doubt on the question. John Randolph, of Roanoke, who ought to have known, said that his great uncle married a Fleming.

But a writer in the Richmond "Standard" on September 24, 1881, mentions only two daughters of Col. John Fleming, who married, respectively, Barnard and Branch. The following paper, furnished by Alex. Brown, of Norwood, named a third daughter, and embodied the evidence that Thomas Randolph did not marry a Fleming:

    "Extract from the Descendants of Pocahontas, by Ex-Gov. Wyndham Robertson: Mary Bolling m. Col. John Fleming, and had issue, 8 children, of whom two were daughters; l. Mary Fleming m. William Barnard, and 2. Caroline m. James Deane."

"According to John Randolph of Roanoke, the wife of Thomas Randolph, of Tuckahoe, second son and child of the emigrant William Randolph, was a Miss Fleming; but according to Richard Randolph, he married Miss Judith Churchill. Mrs. Ellen Wayles Randolph Harrison, of "Edge-Hill", Albemarle Co., VA, (a descendant) states that the name was "Judith Churchill", and that no marriage between a Randpolph and Fleming took place until a later period."
"Mr. Wilson Miles Cary, of Baltimore writes in 1882; "In the conflict of authorities as to the wife of Thomas Randolph or Tuckahoe, I have always accepted Richard Randolph's account rather than that of John Randolph, of Roanoke, because the former was a professed antiquary, and more likely to be correct than, the eccentric and erratic statesman, who probably took no pains to verify his opinion by general research; - there being no extracts from parish records, there is nothing left but to choose between their statements aided by such corroborating testimony as one can obtain at this late day."
"Like Mr. Cary, Mr. Paxton does not rely on John of Roanoke, as an antiquary. The children of this couple were: l. William, b. about 1715, d. prior to 1785 m. Maria Judith Page in 1736......2. Judith, b. about 1718 m. Rev. William Steth, the historian, July 18, 1738.....3. Mary b. about 1720 m. Rev. James Keith of Scotland, who came to Virginia prior to 1730, in Henrico parish the 2nd of March 1733, said to have removed to Maryland in 1735; but from some time trior to 1745, to about 1758, he was in Hamilton parish, Prince William Co., VA.
Legend of Parson James Keith (1696-1753) and William Frazier

From The Marshall Family by William M. Paxton (Cincinatti, Robt Clarke & Co, 1885), page 30-31.

It was my purpose, when I commenced this work, to eschew all legends, but I find ---

Tis better the past be embellished with story,

Of maiden and lover, or hero and glory,

Than left a dark void which the fancy may fill,

With fiends to affright us, or monsters to kill.

James Keith (the Parson) was educated at the Mareschal College at Aberdeen, Scotland. Though a divinity student, yet he was tainted with infidelity, like most of the youth of his day. He had an intimate associate and fellow student, named William Frazier, who also doubted the truth of the Bible, and a state of future rewards and punishments. These youths often talked upon religious topics. Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought that if one should return to them from the dead, they would believe. They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge, that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. This compact was written and sealed in their own blood.

Years past, and the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth. Keith went to America and Frazier to India. Keith had taken orders in the Episcopal Church. His doubts, however had not been wholly removed, and his life was not consistent with his professions. In his family was a white servant named McLeod. She attended to the dairy. One evening, after the Parson had grown old[1], while Mrs. McLeod was employed at her usual duties, a stranger, in military garb, appeared before her and said that he was the spirit of William Frazier, who had just died in India, and who in early life had been the companion of Mr. Keith. He told of the compact, and ordered her to tell her master that the Christian religion was true, and the there was a state of future rewards and punishments. She was further to state that her master would live but one year, and that he should at once prepare for death. The woman was alarmed, and being afraid of her master, failed to make the report as required. The next evening the soldier appeared again, and severely threatening her, exacted a promise that she would tell her master. When Parson Keith heard the story from Mrs. McLeod, and had the description of the man, he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, and was satisfied of the truth of the Bible. He set on foot inquiries for William Frazier, and found that he had died only a few days prior to his appearance in America. He changed his mode of life, became an exemplary Christian, and died one year after the apparition.

This tradition is supported by the credence of all the older members of the family, and is corroborated by the fact that the McLeod family, of Baltimore, have a record of it in their possession. In 1868, two descendants of Mrs. McLeod came to Kentucky, from Maryland, to confer with Martin P. Marshall and Col. Charles A. Marshall, both of Washington, Ky. They represented that they were descended from Mrs. McLeod, and that their ancestress was an heir to estates in Scotland, and they were in search of evidence to support their claim. They represented that their Bible was still an heirloom, and reference was there made to the same story. This confirmation of the old legend caused surprise to all parties.

Whether this story may be entitled to our respect or not, it is strange that no descendant of Parson Keith that I have ever known or heard of, has more than temporarily denied the truth of Christian revelation. Dr. Louis Marshall and J. A. McClung, for a time, had their doubts, but both devoted their last years to the Redeemer. Senator Humprey (sic) Marshall had no Keith blood in his veins. His wife was a pious believer.

And for another version, ex libris Keith Douglas Fort, Chicago:

After Many Days

(Rev. James Keith, of Fauquier County)

from Virginia Ghosts, by Marguerite Dupont Lee (1682-1936), Virginia Book Co., Berryville VA. First published in 1930. Republished and ©1966 by Dorothy Vandergrift Lee, Library of Congress # 66-14984. Page 153-155.

George Keith, 10th and last hereditary Earl Mareschal of Scotland that bore that name, born in 1685 and died May 25, 1778, was the eldest son of William Keith. He was descended from Robert Keith, Mareschal of the Scottish Army under Bruce. His youngest brother James, born in 1696, wounded at the battle of Sherrifmuir, and later Frederick the Great’s greatest field marshal, was killed at the battle of Hochkirchen, October 14, 1758, after an eventful military career. His cousin James Keith was the son of a bishop of the Episcopal Church. The bishop was a professor in Mareschal College, Aberdeen, and also uncle and guardian of the Earl and his brothers. James Keith was born at Peterhead, Scotland and educated with his cousins, who later took part in the rebellion of 1715, fled to the continent, from where through James they continued to foment rebellion.

In the course of time the secret correspondence was discovered, James fled to France, and after a sojourn in Spain came to Virginia. He was educated for the church, but like most of the youth of his day was tainted with infidelity. He had in Scotland a very close friend and fellow student, one William Frazier. Their confidential discussions led them to disbelieve in the truth of the Bible, and in a state of future reward and punishment. “Though they had Moses and the Prophets, yet they thought if one should arise from the dead they would believe.” They therefore made to each other the solemn pledge that he that died first would return to the other and impart the truth or falsity of the Bible. The contract having been written and sealed in their own blood, the young men went to opposite extremities of the earth – Frazier to India, Keith later returned to England from Virginia, for Orders. His first church was St John’s, Richmond, in Henrico Parish, prior to 1730. This charge he resigned October 2, 1733.

The first minister known to have officiated at the Dumfries Church was Mr. Keith, and while minister of Hamilton Parish he continued to preach at Dumfries until that church was transferred to the new parish of Dettingen in 1745. Mr. Keith’s services were then retained at Hamilton where he officiated until his death, in 1751, terminating an interesting and eventful life.

This Scotch clergyman was buried beneath the altar of “Old Elk Run Church”, about fifteen miles below Fauquier Court House, in that day a substantial brick building near a small stream from which it took its name. It is said the Reverend James Keith’s doubts were never wholly removed. He married Mary Isham Randolph and became the grandfather of Chief Justice John Marshall, his daughter having married Colonel Thomas Marshall of Oakhill, Fauquier County. It is of interest to note that Chief Justice Marshall always wore a ring with an amethyst setting, upon which was the motto Veritas Vincit, the same engraved on a silver coin brought by James Keith from Scotland.

Years passed. Nothing had been heard from William Frazier. In 1750 there lived at the rectory a white servant, a Mrs. McLeod, who attended to the dairy and milked the cow. One evening while engaged in her duties a stranger in military garb appeared before and said he was the spirit of William Frazier who had just died in India, and who in life had been the friend of James Keith. He told of the compact and ordered her to tell her master the Christian religion was true, that he must prepare for death as he would die within on e year. The woman, alarmed and afraid of her master, failed to deliver the message. The following evening the soldier again appeared, and threatening her exacted a promise she would give Keith the message.

When the clergyman heard the story and description of the man he was convinced of the reality of the apparition, exclaiming “That was my friend Frazier!” He immediately began to set his affairs in order. He died six months later.

It is stated inquiries were initiated and in course of time it was ascertained William Frazier had died in India a few days prior to his appearance in America.

“This tradition is supported by the evidence of all the older members of the family “ – (Wm. M. Paxton, “The Marshall Family”), and is corroborated by the fact that the McLeod family of Baltimore have a record of it in their possession.  In 1868 two descendents of Mrs. McLeod went to Kentucky to confer with Markham P. and Colonel Charles A. Marshall concerning a Scottish inheritance.  They represented that Mrs. McLeod’s Bible was still an heirloom, and reference to the apparition had been written in it by Mrs. McLeod.  This confirmation of the old family legend was of much interest to the Marshalls.  

Rev. James Keith had a sister to whom he was very devoted, and who died in Scotland when a child. He brought to Virginia her nurse, who apparently possessed clairvoyant powers. In the year 1751 a malignant fever was a scourge in Fauquier County, and as Mr. Keith rode off daily to visit the sick, Janet would say, “He is all right for I see the child with him.” Finally the clergyman himself was stricken, and when Mrs. Keith and Janet would enter his room the old nurse spoke of seeing that little spirit pass out.

Mr. Keith’s daughter married Colonel Thomas Marshall. One of her sons was Colonel James Markham Marshall. His grand-daughter Miss Mary Ambler tells me her grandfather related these facts concerning her grandfather.

Ex libris Keith Douglas Fort, Chicago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] This would have been in June of 1753. Keith was the pastor at Elk Run Church in Fauquier VA.

From John Franklin Keith, II in an email dated February 1st, 2013 to Erin Spiceland:

My name is John Franklin Keith, II and I am descended from the Rev. James Keith & Mary Isham Randolph via their youngest son, Capt. Alexander Keith - who served with distinction during the Revolutionary War. My lineage is as follows and is documented in rootsweb-world connect project in Connecting Families of Tippah Co., MS entered by Steven Rutherford:

• Rev. James Keith (b 1696-Scotland) & Mary Isham Randolph (b. 1717 - VA)
• Alexander Keith (b. 1748 VA) & Mary Yancey (b. 1751 VA)
• William Alexander Keith (b. 1776 VA) & Sarah Hampton (b. 1783 NC)
• Sterling Yancey Keith (b. 1811 NC) & Eliza P. Jones (b.1814 GA)
• Franklin Pearce Keith (b. 1853 MS) & Eliza C. Hopper (b.1862 MS)
• William Learcus Keith (b. 1885 MS) & Elizabeth Jane (Lizzie) (b.1886 MS)
• John Franklin Keith (b. 1910 MS) & Venie Matilda Cannon (b.1910 MS)

Please note that a mini-museum was erected at the site of the old Elk Run Anglical Church in Fauquier Co., VA and dedicated on the 200th.-Anniversary of the establishing of Fauquier Co., VA. I was fortunate to be able to attend this dedication with my son, John Franklin Keith, III and grandson, John Franklin Keith, IV. It was most educational and I was able to speak with a number of distant cousins.

In your entry #100932 ; updated 2013-01-07 you included a number of incidents in the life of Rev. James of which I am unable to verify from the data I have available and passed down in family lore. Rev. James and his cousins, George and James Francis Edward, were involved in the "First Jacobite" uprising and were forced to flee Scotland. Rev James returned to Scotland and was invested in the Anglican church and returned to Virginia, married, and was went to the frontier parish where he helped found the Elk Run Church which was the first non-wooden church on the VA frontier. Please note that four of his sons and three-sons-in-law served in the colonial army during the American Revolution.

Here is a corrected listing of the children of Rev. James and Mary Isham Randolph:

1. James Keith b. 1734
2. John Keith b. 1735
3. Thomas Randolph Keith b. 1735 (?1736)
4. Mary Randolph Keith b.1737 -- Chief Justice John Marshall's mother
5. Judith Keith b.1738
6. Isham Keith b.1739
7. Elizabeth Keith b.1745
8. Alexander Keith b. 1748

I hope that this data may be useful to you. Two cousins, Jane Frazier Flynn and Rhonda Keith Sargent , are noted family researchers and I would be happy to send you their contact data. Jane has all the Sommerville DAR data and is currently entering it into "Ancesters". A number of my family members has used this data to qualify for DAR membership. Best Regards,

J. Frank Keith, PhD, Retired Professor, University of South Carolina

• Updated from WikiTree Genealogy via daughter Mary Randolph Marshall (born Keith) by SmartCopy: Apr 2 2015, 7:05:54 UTC

-------------------------------------

Ministers and schoolmasters of the Church of England who went to western colonies in return for a bounty from the King. From the Rawlinson MSS. Receipt Book of Secret Service Money, April 20, 1689, to June 1691, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.

Reverend Keith: Reverend James Keith and the Elk Run Church When the young James Keith arrived on the Virginia shore, he could not have known that he would marry a daughter of the Randolphs, one of the most extended and influential families of the Old Dominion, nor that several among his descendents would be distinguished in county, colonial, and, most famously, federal courts of law..

It is believed that Keith came from Scotland but there are scant records of his life before his arrival in Virginia. Family legend claims he was born in direct descent of the noble Earls Marischal of Scotland, but examination of genealogical records of Scots peerage shows that this is not possible. James Keith was ordained a priest in the Church of England in January 1729 and in March 1729 obtained the King’s Bounty that secured his passage to Virginia. His first ministry was at Curle’s (later St. John’s) Church, located on Richard Randolph’s plantation in Henrico Parish, where he served from 1729 until resigning in October 1733. At the time of his resignation, Rev. Keith was romancing Mary Isham Randolph, daughter of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe. Two other Randolphs were active in the administration of Henrico Parish: Richard Randolph, Mary Isham’s uncle, was a vestryman and William Randolph, her brother, was Church Warden. In his later report to the Bishop of London, Commissary Blair wrote of Keith and Mary Isham that family and “friends did so dislike his character that they would not let her marry him,” so it may well be that Keith’s resignation was forced by the Randolphs. Whatever the case, Keith left the county and Mary Isham apparently went with him..

In the meantime, Virginia’s parishes continued their re-organization to accommodate the population’s westward migration. In 1730, Hamilton Parish was formed from the northern portion of Overwharton Parish and an old Overwharton chapel ‘above the Occoquan Ferry’ was taken as Hamilton’s parish church. In 1732, when the new Truro Parish was taken from Hamilton’s eastern flank along the Potomac, that church at Occoquan went with Truro. Hamilton then took an old church on the Quantico near the future town of Dumfries as its parish church and started building a chapel closer to the hub of parish activity in the area near Shenandoah Hunting Path and Elk Run. In 1744, with the act that divided Hamilton Parish yet again, the old Quantico church was assigned to the new (Dettingen) parish and the wooden chapel was designated Hamilton’s parish church, thereafter called Elk Run Church..

By 1755, the parish had grown sufficiently to require a second church, St. Mary’s (”the Turkey Run Church”), near the crossing of the Marsh and Rappahannock roads just south of what would become the neighborhood (now Warrenton) around the Fauquier Court House, first established when Fauquier County was carved out of Prince William in 1759. The wooden church at Elk Run was eventually replaced by a brick cruciform structure, the subject of this preservation project..

Itinerant preachers may have served Hamilton Parish at these several early sites, but Rev. James Keith was Hamilton’s first permanent minister. Although ministering to the Elk Run congregation was chief among Keith’s responsibilities, he also performed services at other parish sites - preaching at Quantico until that church was transferred to Dettingen Parish, for example, as well as officiating and baptizing at Truro Parish when that parish had no minister..

By the time he arrived in late 1733 or early 1734, he and Mary Isham had married, and the first of their eight children was born in 1734. It seems safe to assume that during his Hamilton ministry in the 1730s and 1740s, Rev. Keith and his growing family lived at the parsonage on the original glebe near Elk Run church..

In 1744, defining the formation of Dettingen Parish, the Virginia General Assembly required that after September 1746 the original Hamilton glebe be put up for sale . . . and that “the money arising by such sale be equally paid and divided between the said two parishes of Dettingen and Hamilton, to be applied towards the purchase of glebes, more convenient to each.” The General Assembly further stipulated that until it was sold, the original glebe was to be used by “the present minister” of Hamilton Parish - and in 1744, that would have been Rev. James Keith. In 1746, Hamilton Parish Church Wardens John Wright and Joseph Blackwell purchased two parcels of land on Licking Run in Germantown for the parish’s new glebe. The old glebe did not sell until 1748, but Keith had purchased adjoining parcels of land south of Pignut Ridge in the summer of 1747, and he could well have moved his family there in anticipation of the old glebe’s sale before a new parsonage could be constructed. The new parsonage, “about eight and a half miles” north of Elk Run Church, was not finished until the 1750s, and it is unlikely that the Keith family ever took residence there..

James Keith died sometime in the winter of 1752 - his will was proved in June 1753 at Prince William County Court, but there is no known documentation of his death date - leaving Mary Isham with eight children between the ages of 18 and 4 years. Of their five sons, one was to spend his life as a lawyer and the other four were to fight in the Revolutionary War..

James Keith Jr., born about 1734, was admitted to the law in Frederick County in 1757, where he served as County Clerk for over 60 years. John Keith, born in 1735, served as a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. Thomas Randolph Keith, born in 1736, married Judith Blackwell, daughter of Joseph Blackwell, in a wedding officiated by soon-to-be Justice John Marshall. Keith served as Captain in the Revolutionary War, living first in Leeds Parish then moving to Georgia in 1800 where he was buried in the Keith Burying Ground in Columbia several years later. Many of his descendents returned to Fauquier County. His grandson James Keith (1839-1918) studied at the University of Virginia and began a law practice in Warrenton, interrupted during the Civil War by several years in the Black Horse Troop. On returning after the war, he began rehabilitation of “Woodbourne,” his birthplace home, and resumed his law practice. He was elected to the House of Delegates and, as Judge in the 11th Circuit Court, later served many years as President of the Virginia Appellate Court (today the Supreme Court of Virginia) where he is reputed to have “shed luster on the bench and bar.”.

The first of three daughters, Mary Randolph Keith, was born in 1737. She married Thomas Marshall of Westmoreland County and bore him fifteen children. Their firstborn son, John Marshall (1755-1835), was schooled at home, then studied law at the College of William and Mary before moving to Richmond where he became a member of the Virginia Assembly, working on ratification of the United States Constitution. He served as Secretary of State in President John Adams’ cabinet and, most famously, as fourth Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, shaping constitutional law for over thirty years. A second daughter, Judith Keith, was born in 1738, and a third, Elizabeth Keith, in 1745..

Isham Keith, born in 1739, served as a Lieutenant, 3rd Virginia State Regiment, in the Revolutionary War. Rev. James Keith’s and Mary Isham’s eighth child, Alexander, born in 1748, served in several Virginia regiments in the Revolutionary War, moving later to Tennessee and finally to Mississippi..

Mary Isham lived into old age, residing in Leeds Parish under the guardianship of her son Thomas who, with his wife Judith, was then residing on a portion of the Pignut Ridge land inherited from his father..

[RESEARCH: James Keith's parents may have been James Keith and Mary Thayer Keith, according to a) "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SGR3-87J : accessed 2015-07-21), entry for James /KEITH/.; b) "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SGR3-875 : accessed 2015-07-21), entry for Mary /THAYER/. ]

same as [Rev. James Keith] - NEED TO BE CLEANUP

Don't be confused with [Field Marshall James Francis Edward Keith]

Photo is photo of [Field Marshall James Francis Edward Keith], but not this Rev James Keith

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Keith-694#Claim1

"Correcting and Expanding the Record of the Rev. James Keith of Hamilton Parish," Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 55, No. 4 (November 2017), pp257-276; digital images, Ancestry.com < Ancestry media >