Guest Commentary: Church Should Remain With Episcopal Diocese

From Falls Church-

As descendants of John Trammell, who donated land for the Falls Church Episcopal Church, my brothers and I strongly believe the property should remain with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia as it has for over 270 years. From our research and family histories, there is nothing to indicate that John Trammell intended anything other than that the land be used by the established, traditional church of that time, whose vestry would include George Washington and other establishment figures.

The official website of the church states in the lead paragraph of the section on its history: "The first church to be built after it was established by the Colonial General Assembly in 1732 was a wooden building on this site as a part of Truro Parish. It was completed in 1734 by Richard Blackburn on land donated by John Trammell. Until that time, this area was served by [a] clergyman who lived near present-day Quantico, and the nearest church was Occoquan Church near Lorton."

Our great (6) grandfather (that is our great-grandfather's great-grandfather's grandfather), the John Trammell cited above, carved out enough land from his 250 acre farm for the new church to be built and deeded that land to what would become the Episcopal Church for that purpose. The historical marker at 312 Park Avenue in Falls Church notes the gift from the Trammell tract.
John Trammell's farm was near what is now the intersection of Routes 7 and 29 in downtown Falls Church on land he had acquired in the 1720s.

He was the son of indentured servants, Thomas and Dorothy Trammell, who, as teenagers, had secured their 1670 passage to the New World. After his four years of indenture, Thomas successfully sued for his freedom and then moved his family up the Potomac from Westmoreland County, where he and Dorothy had originally come, arriving at the area of the falls of the Potomac. Their children and grandchildren helped settle this area of northern Virginia, homesteading various parcels of land in what are now Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax and Loudon Counties.

More here-

http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/local/9424-guest-commentary-church-should-remain-with-episcopal-diocese.html