Sapony Essay by Joe Patterson

Sapony Episcopal Church (Sapony Shrine) Edna: The following information comes from my memory of what I have been told or read. I have researched the records I have available without much success. Your father knows much more than I do and of course James ****** is a valuable resource. As settlers were moving westward, the Episcopal Establishment decided churches should be built in order for them to have places for services. The original plan was for a church at present-day Darvills, at Hatcher’s Run, and one close to Sappony Creek. A carpenter by the name of Caldwell (I think his first name was Ernest). He took this job for 1000 pounds of tobacco. By the way, four of his descendants came to a First Sunday Service at Sapony about 3 years ago. Two were from Georgia, one from North Carolina, and one from Virginia. The most famous minister at Sapony was the Rev. Devereux Jarratt. In fact, his ministry is taught in many of our seminaries. He was T***** ** True Evangelist. It is said that when two or three people gathered around him, anywhere, he would begin preaching. A William & Mary college professor, named Blair, was not impressed with him and called him “arrogant.” Jarratt was born and raised in New Kent County and decided early in life to become a preacher. Since there were no seminaries in the colonies, he went to England and became ordained there. One of Jarratt’s best friends, and co-worker, was a Methodist minister named Asbury. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Doctrine,