New Church History is Given
Written by Sue Brittingham, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Brittingham, of New Church, Va. She is 14 years of age and in the 8th grade of Atlantic High School.
According to some of the histories of the Eastern Shore, particularly Accomack County, this village of about three hundred fifty people got its name from a new Episcopal church located in this area about 1760. The early histories of the Shore show land grants and settlers appeared here as early as 1635. Among some of the settlers who were here around that time included these names: Selby, Massey, Tull, Marshall, Watson, Hargis, Brittingham, Pitts and Gillette.
During colonial days, all supplies coming to this section came to Pitts Wharf, a public wharf located about five miles from here. They came to this point by sail boat down the Pocomoke River. Around 1860, the first steam boats came into use in this section. In 1884 the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad, which is now the Pennsylvania Railroad, was completed. Today most freight traffic here is done by railroad and by truck.
In 1830 New Church was one of the four voting places in Accomack County. At that time New Church was known as Bloxom's Tavern and the voting was done in a building called Bloxom's Tavern. The other three voting places were Mappsville, DrummondTown, and Pungoteague. There were forty-nine voters here in the 1830 election.
The first postoffice in New Church was established in 1837. This postoffice was discontinued during the Civil War, but was established again in 1863. Another postoffice was established in 1891 near the railroad which was called Massey. In 1916 this one was discontinued and New Church Office was located in the center of the village.
Before the coming of the railroad, New Church had one tavern, which was called Bloxom's Tavern, six houses, stores, blacksmith shop, and the usual places of repairs. The six houses were of the parlor, parlor chamber, colonnade and kitchen type. The funeral parlor here now, originally was a carriage shop and it is also the oldest building in New Church. The oldest house is now owned by H. E. Kelley and is occupied by Robert Mills. It was originally the Jim Nelson home.
In 1892, Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third president of the United States, came to New Church for a vacation and to go quail shooting. He arrived on a special train in which he spent the night he was here. He came with some of his friends. One day while they were here, as they were returning from a hunting trip, they stopped in at a farm house for supper. They were made welcome and were served a delicious meal of ham and eggs. The family which they were visiting had children and the president asked one of the small boys his name. The boy answered "Grover Cleveland Brittingham." The president then handed him a ten dollar bill. This incident caused quite a laugh around here for a good time after that, since Benjamin Harrison was a Republican and Grover Cleveland, his Democratic opponent in the election, and this family were all staunch Democrats. Although there is no record of George Washington having slept here, it is a well known fact that Benjamin Harrison slept here two nights.
The first church here was the Episcopal church which was built around 1760. It burned down some years later and the only thing saved was the original Prayer Book, which is now preserved on the Eastern Shore. A deed was recorded in the Courthouse for a grant of land that was sold in 1806 for the sole purpose of building a meeting house for a Baptist church. The church was built a short time after this, and became known as the Chincoteague Baptist Church. This church was originally an Old School Baptist Church, which later became known as the Missionary Baptist Church. It is located about three quarters of a mile from the actual village. In 1885, a Methodist Protestant Church was built here which is known as the Berea Methodist Church. This church is the only Methodist church in this community. In 1909, a second Baptist Church was built in the center of the village, which was named the First Baptist Church of New Church.
In 1833 a piece of land was deeded for building the first schoolhouse in this area. It is located about one mile northeast of here on the road leading to Chincoteague Baptist Church. It was a one room building and in recent years it has been used as a Negro school. Several years later an eight room building was built in the center of New Church. Today there are nine teachers and about two hundred seventy pupils going there. The New Church school is now servicing many pupils from the Chincoteague Naval Base, which is located near here.
Today in New Church there are three churches, a postoffice, hardware stores, feed store, grocery stores, fire company, funeral parlor, canning factory, bottling plant, blacksmith shops, and many homes. Also, out of three truck weighing scales in the state of Virginia, one is located at New Church. It is attended by State Troopers day and night.