Third Church at Kecoughtan

Third Church at Kecoughtan. Notable Burials in the Churchyard. You are standing within the foundations of the third church at Kecoughtan (present-day Hampton). The first church (1616–1624) was located 1.5 miles south of here and the second one was constructed across the Hampton River about two miles east. It was abandoned and replaced with this building after the hurricane of 1667. This church measured fifty by twenty-seven feet, was of wood-frame construction, and had glass windows. This site was less subject to storms and floods than the second one and was convenient to the main roads in Elizabeth City County., By 1691, about eight hundred persons lived in the county. They paid their church tax and the minister’s salary in tobacco, the cash crop and medium of exchange. The county court usually fined those who failed to attend church fifty pounds of tobacco., Among the eight persons having gravestones here in the churchyard, two were parish ministers: James Wallace and Andrew Thompson. Others include Thomas Curle, a justice on the Elizabeth City County court, Admiral John Neville of the British Navy, who died at sea, and Peter Heyman, who was killed by pirates., During the sixty years (1667–1727) that the church was located here, Hampton developed as a port notable for shipping and shipbuilding. As the town grew, so did the desire of residents to relocate the church to a more convenient site near Hampton. In 1728, the fourth parish church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, was completed. It stands today a mile east, the earliest surviving building in Hampton, and continues to serve the oldest active Anglican parish in America., (sidebar) , Epitaph of Peter Heyman, This stone was given by his , Excellency Francis Nicholson , Esq Lieutenant and Governor , Of Virginia; in memory of Peter , Heyman Esq grandson to Sir , Peter Heyman of Sumerfield in , ye County of Kent. He was , Collector of ye Customs in the , Lower District of James River , and went voluntarily aboard , ye king’s shipp Shoreham in , pursuit of a pyrate who greatly , infested this coast after he had , behaved himself seven hours , with undaunted courage was , killed with small shot ye , 29th day of April, 1700 in , Ye engagement he stood next ye , Govenour upon the quarter , deck and was here honorably , interred by his order., Bringing History to Life , For more visitor information visit: www.VisitHampton.com , In partnership with Virginia Civil War trails, www.civilwartrails.org . This historical marker was erected by Bringing History to Life. It is in Downtown in Hampton Virginia