Figure of the Week

Jaquelin Marshall Meredith (1833-1920) was the son of Dr. Reuben Meredith (1791-1860) and Mary Lucinda Clarkson (1802-1880) and spent much of his younger life in Fauquier County, Virginia.  He was an Episcopal minister who served in the 47th Virginia Infantry during the War Between the States.  He became rector of Aquia Episcopal Church in Stafford County in 1864 and served, with but a few breaks, until 1880.  To supplement his nearly nonexistent minister’s salary, Jack ran a timber business in Stafford. He lived on a farm called Rectory in upper Wide  Water and cut timber from the adjoining Providence tract.  Jack married Ellen Bankhead (1838-1916) whose family had lived in Caroline County.  It was largely through Jacqelin M. Meredith’s leadership and efforts that Aquia Church was preserved from utter collapse as a result of damage and neglect during the Civil War.  Jack also served briefly as rector of Bruton Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.